Hezbollah in the sights

“Comprehensive attack” on southern Lebanon

Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah positions in the south of Lebanon

(Bild: APA/AP)

Israel is continuing its massive air strikes against the Shiite Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon. "Dozens" of fighter jets were involved in the operation against Hezbollah targets, army spokesman Daniel Hagari announced on Saturday evening.

The Israeli army had previously announced that it had destroyed thousands of rocket launchers in the south of Lebanon during the course of the day. They were "ready for immediate launch in the direction of Israeli territory". The Hezbollah militia had attacked 180 targets. The Israeli armed forces also announced that the Hezbollah militia had fired around 90 rockets at Israel from Lebanon by late afternoon on Saturday. 

(Bild: APA/AFP/Ammar Ammar)

Only on Friday, Israel had killed a senior commander of the pro-Iranian militia in the northern neighboring country. In addition to Ibrahim Aqil, at least 15 other Hezbollah fighters fell victim to the attack on a southern suburb of Beirut. Hezbollah announced that Ahmed Wahbi, a commander in Aqil's elite Radwan unit, was also killed.

Lebanese ministry: children among the dead
According to the report, Wahbi led the military operations of the Radwan unit in support of the radical Islamic Hamas between October 7 and the beginning of the year. The Lebanese Ministry of Health said on Saturday that 37 people were killed in the attack, including three children and seven women. 

According to Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari, the attack was directed against commanders "who were involved in planning operations with anti-tank missiles, rocket fire and the planned invasion of Israeli territory". According to the report, Aqil and the other Hezbollah commanders killed in the attack were planning an attack on northern Israel in which, like the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas, they intended to "infiltrate Israeli communities and murder innocent civilians" on 7 October. 

Defense Minister: "Enemies no longer have a refuge"
Following the killing of Aqil, the Israeli army assured on Friday that it was not aiming to expand the conflict in Lebanon. "We are not aiming for a broad escalation in the region," Hagari told journalists. Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote in the online service X that Israel's "enemies" no longer had a "sanctuary".