Israel Escalation in the Middle East: retaliatory attack by Hezbollah
According to its own statements, the Lebanese Hezbollah militia has begun its announced retaliatory attack on Israel. The Iran-backed Shiite militia said that 320 rockets had been fired at Israel in the early morning. According to Israeli media reports, 200 rockets and around 20 drones were fired at Israel from Lebanon. The Israeli missile defense system intercepted dozens of missiles.
25.08.2024, 08:24
SDA
According to Israel's army, it recognized "the immediate danger to the citizens of the State of Israel" and began attacking numerous targets in the south of Lebanon in an "act of self-defence". Around 100 fighter jets attacked Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, the army said. The missile defense, navy and air force were involved in the attacks. The statements by both parties to the conflict could not initially be independently verified.
Israel in a state of emergency
Israel declared a nationwide state of emergency. It has been in force since 6.00 a.m. local time (05.00 a.m. CEST) for the next 48 hours, said Defense Minister Joav Galant. According to the media, the emergency services declared the highest level of preparedness. Three residential buildings were hit in the Hezbollah attack, including one in the coastal city of Akko.
Hezbollah indicated that it would continue its retaliatory attack at a later date. "It will be some time before these military operations end," the militia said. According to Lebanese security sources, Israel attacked at least 40 targets in southern Lebanon. According to local authorities, two people were injured. The Lebanese state news agency NNA and security circles reported that fighter jets had hit electricity and water installations, among other things.
The New York Times quoted a Western intelligence official as saying that Israel's attack was directed against rocket launchers in Lebanon that had been programmed to fire in the direction of Tel Aviv at 05:00 local time.
The Israeli news website "ynet" reported, citing an unnamed source, that Hezbollah had planned an attack on a "strategic facility in the Tel Aviv area", including a possible attack on Ben Gurion Airport. According to Lebanese sources, Israel's fighter jets flew near the coastal town of Tyre in southern Lebanon and attacked several villages.
Israel speaks of thousands of launchers destroyed
Thousands of Hezbollah launchers were attacked and destroyed, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in an X-Post. Most of them were aimed at the north of Israel, but some were also aimed at the center. The Israeli coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv is located in the center of the country. Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv briefly ceased operations due to the threat situation.
According to the White House, US President Joe Biden followed the escalation closely. He was in contact with his national security team during the course of Saturday evening (local time), a spokesperson said. Senior representatives of the US government were in constant contact with their Israeli counterparts on Biden's instructions. "We will continue to support Israel's right to self-defense and we will continue to work for stability in the region," the spokesperson said.
Israeli army warns of further escalation
Hagari announced new instructions for civilians from the greater Tel Aviv area to Israel's northern border. In the area, people could go to work normally and send their children to summer camps - on the condition that shelters could be reached within a short time, Hagari said. The ongoing aggression by Hezbollah harbored the danger "that the Lebanese people, the Israeli people - and the entire region - will be drawn into a further escalation," he said.
Israeli Defense Minister Galant spoke with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin after the attacks began. The two ministers emphasized the importance of avoiding a regional escalation, they said. The USA is Israel's most important ally and had recently deployed additional warships, aircraft and a nuclear submarine equipped with missiles to the region - probably also in order to be able to support Israel in the event of an attack by forces in Lebanon or Iran. Austin reaffirmed the "ironclad commitment of the United States to defend Israel against any attacks by Iran and its regional partners and proxies", the Pentagon said in Washington.
The danger of a conflagration in the region has been looming since two leading figures from Hamas and Hezbollah were killed in attacks at the end of July. The foreign head of Hamas, Ismail Hanija, was killed in an explosion in an Iranian government guest house in the capital Tehran. Fuad Shukr, a kind of military chief of Hezbollah, was killed in an air strike in Beirut. Israel claimed responsibility for his targeted killing. It did not comment on the assassination attempt on Hanija.
Gaza negotiations continue
Since the beginning of the Gaza war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas more than ten months ago, the Hamas-allied Hezbollah militia from Lebanon has been firing at targets in neighboring northern Israel on an almost daily basis. The Israeli military, in turn, regularly attacks targets in the neighboring country.
The USA, Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating in the Gaza war, hope that an agreement in the negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of the hostages will also prevent an escalation of the conflict with Hezbollah and Iran and thus a conflagration in the Middle East.
Talks on this are to continue today in Cairo. According to the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz", an Israeli negotiating delegation led by the head of the foreign intelligence service Mossad, David Barnea, will travel to the Egyptian capital again today to continue the negotiations. CIA chief William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel will also take part in the top-level meeting. Representatives of Hamas are also present, but do not want to take part in the talks directly.
