Israeli air strikes target Lebanon as Hezbollah fires rockets to avenge killing

Israel launched a wave of air strikes across southern Lebanon early on Sunday in what it called a pre-emptive strike to avert a large Hezbollah rocket and missile attack.

The militant group said it fired hundreds of rockets and drones to avenge the killing of a top commander last month.

Both sides halted the heavy exchange of fire by mid-morning, signalling no immediate further escalation.

The exchange came as Egypt hosted high-level talks aimed at a ceasefire in the 10-month-old Israel-Hamas war in Gaza that diplomats hope will ease regional tensions.

Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said its attack had been delayed to give ceasefire talks a chance and the target was an Israeli military intelligence base close to Tel Aviv.

Israel’s military said one soldier with the navy was killed and two others were wounded either by an interceptor for incoming fire, or by shrapnel from one.

Two Hezbollah fighters and a militant from an allied group were killed, the groups said.

Hezbollah called its attack on Israeli military positions an initial response to the killing of Fouad Shukur in an Israeli air strike in Beirut last month.

Mr Nasrallah said assaults on Israel will continue “because there is still the response of (allies) Iran and Yemen”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military eliminated thousands of rockets that were aimed at northern Israel and shot down drones heading for the centre of the country.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog told CBS that Israel’s actions “prevented an escalation to a major war” but the threat remained.

Air raid sirens were reported throughout northern Israel and Israel’s international airport closed and diverted flights for about an hour.

Israel’s Home Front Command later lifted restrictions in most areas.

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said Hezbollah intended to hit targets in northern and central Israel.

He said initial assessments found “very little damage” but the military remained on high alert. He said around 100 Israeli aircraft took part in the strikes.

Hezbollah said its attack involved more than 320 Katyusha rockets aimed at multiple sites in Israel and a “large number” of drones.

Hezbollah said the strikes would allow it to launch more attacks deeper into Israel, but a later statement said “military operations for today have been completed”.

It dismissed Israel’s claim to have thwarted a stronger attack. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah provided evidence for their claims.

US President Joe Biden was “closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon”, according to Sean Savett, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Institute, called the exchange of fire “still within the rules of engagement and unlikely at this point to lead to an all-out war”.

Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after the start of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack into southern Israel.

Hezbollah is a close ally of Iran, which has also threatened to retaliate against Israel for the killing of a senior Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last month.

Israel has not said whether it was involved.

The US and other mediators see a ceasefire in Gaza as key to averting a wider war in the region. Hezbollah has said it will halt its strikes on Israel if there is a ceasefire.

Egypt was hosting high-level talks in Cairo on Sunday aimed at bridging the gaps in a proposal for a truce and the release of scores of hostages held by Hamas.

The talks include CIA director William Burns and David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.

Hamas sent a delegation to be briefed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators but was not directly taking part in negotiations.