Israel bombs Lebanon as Hizbollah rockets hit Haifa suburbs

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Israel and Hizbollah ratcheted up their exchanges of fireplace on Sunday, with Israeli jets mounting a few of the heaviest bombing raids in Lebanon for the reason that begin of the combating final yr and the militant group firing rockets in the direction of the town of Haifa.

The salvos capped every week of spiralling cross-border tensions which have fuelled fears that the hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese militant group might be on the verge of erupting right into a full-blown struggle.

The Israeli navy mentioned Hizbollah had launched about 150 projectiles early on Sunday, with rockets aimed deeper into Israel than in earlier salvos. Whereas most had been intercepted, Kiryat Bialik and Tsur Shalom in Haifa’s suburbs, and different areas within the nation’s north, sustained hits.

Hizbollah mentioned the barrages had been in retaliation for “repeated” Israeli assaults, in addition to an “preliminary” response to mass detonations of its communications gadgets earlier this week that killed 37 individuals and injured greater than 3,000 throughout Lebanon. Hizbollah has blamed the machine explosions on Israel, which has indirectly confirmed or denied duty.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned on Sunday: “Over the previous few days we hit Hizbollah with a collection of blows it hadn’t imagined . . . If Hizbollah didn’t get the message, I promise you, they may.”

Netanyahu additionally reiterated that his nation would take “no matter motion is critical to revive safety” and permit its residents displaced by the combating to return to their houses.

Israeli paramedics mentioned that they had handled a number of individuals for shrapnel accidents from Hizbollah’s barrage on Sunday, although there have been no instant experiences of casualties.

However in an indication that Israel was bracing for an additional escalation, authorities restricted gatherings within the north of the nation. Additionally they advised colleges to shut and hospitals to function from services with safety in opposition to rocket fireplace.

As tensions rise throughout the area, Israel mentioned it had additionally shot down a drone fired from the east — which was claimed by militants in Iraq who mentioned that they had additionally focused Israel with cruise missiles — and launched a raid within the Palestinian metropolis of Ramallah to close the native Al Jazeera workplace for 45 days.

Israel has accused the media group of being a mouthpiece for militants. Al Jazeera has rejected the claims and the Overseas Press Affiliation mentioned it was “deeply troubled” by the transfer. “Proscribing overseas reporters and shutting information channels alerts a shift away from democratic values,” mentioned the affiliation’s board.

Nadav Shoshani, a spokesman for Israel’s navy, accused Hizbollah of “concentrating on civilians” in its newest spherical of strikes, and the navy mentioned it will proceed to strike to degrade the Lebanese group’s capabilities.

The Israeli navy mentioned earlier on Sunday it had hit about 290 targets in Lebanon within the previous 24 hours, destroying 1000’s of rocket launcher barrels and different infrastructure belonging to Hizbollah. The Lebanese well being ministry mentioned three individuals had been killed by the strikes.

Hizbollah and Israeli forces have been exchanging cross-border fireplace for the reason that Iran-backed militant group launched rockets at Israel the day after Hamas’s October 7 assault on the Jewish state.

However within the final week, the hostilities have escalated dramatically. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the assault on Hizbollah’s pagers and different communications gadgets despatched shockwaves by way of Lebanon.

Then, on Friday, an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Ibrahim Aqil and different senior commanders in Hizbollah’s elite Radwan power, in arguably essentially the most damaging blow Israel has landed in opposition to the militant group because it was based within the Nineteen Eighties.

Lebanese authorities mentioned on Sunday that the dying toll from the strike, which destroyed a residential constructing within the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, had risen to 45, together with at the very least 10 civilians, amongst them three youngsters.

This week’s escalation got here after Israel mentioned it was coming into a “new section” of its nearly year-long battle with Hizbollah, which was till now largely contained to the Israeli-Lebanese border area.

Jeanine Hennis, the UN’s particular co-ordinator for Lebanon, warned that the exchanges had introduced the area to “the brink of an imminent disaster” and known as for either side to de-escalate.

“It can’t be overstated sufficient: there’s NO navy answer that may make both aspect safer,” she wrote on X.