Smoke billows from an area targeted by an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Qsair on August 25, 2024, amid escalations in the ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Picture: AFP
Israel launched air strikes into Lebanon on Sunday, saying it had thwarted a large-scale Hezbollah attack, while the Lebanese group said it had carried out its own raid to avenge a top commander's killing.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets had destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers "aimed toward northern Israel and some were aimed toward central Israel“.
The powerful Iran-backed Lebanese group countered that Israel was making "empty claims" of having thwarted an attack, and said its own operation for Sunday "was completed and accomplished".
Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah was due to speak on the "latest developments" at 5pm (SAST), the group said.
Hezbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces throughout the Gaza war, in a campaign Hezbollah says is in support of Palestinian ally Hamas.
But fears of a wider regional conflagration soared after an Israeli strike on Beirut in late July killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, prompting vows of revenge.
Hezbollah said its militants "began an air attack with a large number of drones" sent across the border, followed with "more than 320" Katyusha rockets launched at "enemy positions".
The Lebanese movement said its attack was an "initial response" to Shukr's killing, adding that it had "ended with total success", although the extent of the damage on the Israeli side was not immediately clear.
An Israeli military spokesman, Nadav Shoshani, said the fire from Hezbollah was "part of a larger attack that was planned and we were able to thwart a big part of it this morning".
The government declared a 48-hour state of emergency. By 6am (SAST) flights had resumed at Israel's main international airport after a brief suspension, the aviation authority said.
Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a media briefing that the Israeli strikes were meant "to remove the threats aimed at the citizens of Israel".
Lebanon's health ministry reported at least one dead in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the country's south. No casualties were immediately reported in Israel.
AFP