According to Netanyahu

Hezbollah planned invasion “bigger than October 7”

According to Israel, Hezbollah was planning an invasion via tunnels. The picture shows a shot from the Gaza Strip, from where Hamas struck on October 7, 2023.

(Bild: x.com/IDF)

Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon of planning a major attack on Israel along the lines of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. "They have planned an invasion," said Israel's Prime Minister on Wednesday.

Israel had discovered a tunnel system about 100 meters behind the Lebanese border through which Hezbollah wanted to attack with "off-road vehicles, motorcycles and rockets", Netanyahu told French media. The dimensions of the planned attack were "larger than those of October 7", he added. In mid-October, the Israeli head of government had said that the Israeli army had found a large quantity of "state-of-the-art Russian weapons" in Hezbollah hideouts in southern Lebanon.

Israel again bombarded with rockets
Hezbollah declared on Wednesday that it had prevented the Israeli army from advancing into Lebanese territory by firing rockets and artillery fire. The Israeli troops had been forced to "retreat behind the border" from the area around the southern Lebanese town of Aytaroun. In addition, the Iranian-backed militia said it had carried out further rocket attacks on Israeli soldiers in Lebanese border villages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

(Bild: APA/AFP/POOL/ABIR SULTAN)

According to the Israeli army, an air alert was triggered in central Israel due to missiles fired from Lebanon. Four projectiles reached Israeli territory, while others were fended off.

Immediately after the start of the Gaza war more than a year ago following the unprecedented attack by militant Hamas on southern Israel, Hezbollah in Lebanon opened a second front with constant rocket attacks on northern Israel. In response, Israel fired at targets in the neighboring country.

1500 dead in Lebanon, hundreds of thousands on the run
In recent weeks, the Israeli army has significantly stepped up its airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and also began ground operations against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon around three weeks ago. According to a count by the AFP news agency based on official Lebanese figures, more than 1,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since September 23. According to the UN, around 800,000 people have been displaced and almost 500,000 others have fled to Syria.

Meanwhile, a Lebanese news agency reported "the heaviest attacks in Beirut since the beginning of the war" between Israel and Hezbollah. Six buildings were destroyed in a suburb of Beirut in the heaviest airstrikes to date. According to the information, there were at least 17 airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday evening, in which one person is said to have been killed and five others injured.