Retaliatory strike
Hezbollah attacks Israel with 320 rockets
The Lebanese Hezbollah militia has carried out a retaliatory attack on Israel. According to its own statements, it had previously hit eleven Israeli military facilities, fired more than 320 rockets and sent drones into northern Israel.
A state of emergency was declared in Israel, whose military eventually attacked dozens of targets in Lebanon. Shortly afterwards, the Shiite militia, which is allied with Iran, announced on Sunday that the retaliatory strike was over - it was a reaction to the killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr by Israel last month.
"Iron Dome" intercepted rockets
Warning sirens sounded in northern Israel. Explosions were also heard in several areas after the "Iron Dome" air defense system fired rockets from southern Lebanon. The Israeli rescue service declared that it was on high alert throughout the country.
The Israeli army had previously announced that it had attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Sunday. It had been discovered that Hezbollah was "preparing to fire rockets and projectiles into Israeli territory". In a statement, the army warned that Hezbollah's actions could lead to further escalation in the region.
The Israeli cabinet is due to meet this morning, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. Flights to and from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv have been suspended, but according to army spokesman Daniel Hagari, air traffic should resume as planned from 7 a.m. local time (6 a.m. CEST).
The defense minister declared a state of emergency. No war against Lebanon is being sought, but action will be taken depending on developments, the Foreign Ministry stated.
USA supports "Israel's right to self-defense"
According to the White House, US President Joe Biden is following the current escalation between Israel and Lebanon closely. He was in contact with his national security team on 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," said Sean Savett, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council.
Israel targeted and killed Hezbollah commander Shukr in Beirut on July 30. He is said to have been responsible for the shelling of the Golan Heights a few days earlier, which left twelve dead.
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 shelling 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 Gaza will also prevent an escalation of the conflict with Hezbollah and Iran and thus a conflagration in the Middle East. The talks are due to continue in Cairo on Sunday.
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