Israeli Air Force hits over 400 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jets conducted massive airstrikes on Hezbollah targets across Lebanon on Monday morning to prevent the Iranian-backed terror army from firing rockets across the border.

As of Monday afternoon, the IAF had attacked more than 400 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Alongside the update, the army published a video of Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi approving the attacks from the military’s underground command room at the Israel Defence Forces headquarters in Tel Aviv.

IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari warned that the IAF strikes would continue in the immediate timeframe, and criticized Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, accusing the terror leader of “dragging Lebanon and the entire region into escalation.”

Addressing the possibility of ground manoeuvres in Lebanon, he said that “we will do whatever is necessary to return residents (of northern Israel) to their homes. We have detailed plans, which we have presented to the political leadership.”

Hagari on Monday warned Lebanese civilians living along the border that Hezbollah was using their homes to store weapons, and that for their safety they should evacuate immediately. He also revealed during the press briefing that terrorists had recently attempted to launch a cruise missile from a civilian residence, which was thwarted, providing documentation of the preventive strike.

The cruise missile was a DR-3 model with a flight range of 200 kilometres carrying a warhead of up to 300 kilograms, according to the IDF.

“I have recorded a clear message for all residents of Southern Lebanon — in the past few hours, we identified an intention to attack Israel, and soon we will strike,” said Hagari. “For more than 20 years, Hezbollah has placed weapons inside homes and armed them, turning Southern Lebanon into a combat zone. We are monitoring this activity, locating the weapons and destroying them in precise strikes. We urge you to move away from them immediately, for your safety. Hezbollah is endangering you.”

The IDF sent text messages to residents of Southern Lebanon to stay away from Hezbollah buildings, and Hagari’s video message was subtitled in Arabic: “Anyone who is near or inside houses where Hezbollah is hiding weapons is requested to move away from them immediately.”

Jerusalem has ramped up its rhetoric and escalated attacks on Hezbollah since recently adding the return of residents to the north as an official war goal. More than 60,000 Israelis remain internally displaced after nearly a year of near-daily rocket, missile and drone attacks by Hezbollah in support of Hamas in Gaza.

Hezbollah-affiliated media in Lebanon reported on injuries from the widespread Israeli attacks, which reached deep into Lebanese territory in the Bekaa Valley.

Meanwhile, rocket alarms were heard in the Safed area of Israel’s Upper Galilee, with many explosions heard and dozens of interceptions reported. A major barrage was also reported deep into the Lower Galilee.

The Magen David Adom medical emergency response group said two Israelis sustained light wounds when a rocket hit in the area of the Golani intersection, located in the Lower Galilee between Tiberias and Nazareth. The men, 25 and 59, were evacuated to a medical centre near Tiberias for treatment.

In Giv’at Avni, located adjacent to the Sea of Galilee, a fire broke out after a Hezbollah rocket scored a direct hit on a house, local media reported. The residents had barricaded themselves in their bomb shelter and emerged unharmed following the attacks, according to the reports.

Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid welcomed the IAF strikes in Lebanon in a statement.

“Supporting the Air Force, the IDF, and the security forces in their operation in Lebanon. The time has come. Be strong and courageous, and act — do not fear or be dismayed until all the residents of the north return to their homes safely,” the Yesh Atid Party leader tweeted.