EXPLANATION
The Hezbollah attack had been expected for weeks, given Israel’s recent targeted killings and growing concerns about escalation in the region.
Hezbollah and the Israeli military have exchanged attacks across the Lebanese-Israeli border, significantly escalating their mutual attacks that have been ongoing since October 7.
Here’s everything you need to know about what happened on Sunday morning.
What exactly happened?
Israeli fighter jets attacked southern Lebanon in the early hours of Sunday morning, saying it was a preemptive strike against Hezbollah rocket launchers preparing to attack Israel.
The Israeli military said it realized Hezbollah would fire hundreds of rockets toward central Israel at 5 a.m., Israel Army Radio reported, so it launched an attack with 100 Israeli jets half an hour earlier.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it launched its attack on northern Israel with rockets and drones in retaliation for the killing of commander Fuad Shukr last month.
Was anyone hurt?
The Lebanese news agency NNA reported that one person was seriously injured in a drone strike in Qasimia, southern Lebanon, and that a later Israeli airstrike in the Lebanese town of Khiam killed one person.
There are also reports of some injuries from the Israeli city of Akko.
Who hit what?
According to their own statements, their attack hit eleven Israeli military facilities, including the Meron base and four sites in the occupied Golan Heights.
Israel says it hit thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers.
So what is happening?
The situation seems to have calmed down, at least temporarily.
Hezbollah has rejected Israel’s claims that it hit its launch bases, adding that it had successfully completed the “first phase” of its retaliatory attack on Israel.
Israel has issued security instructions for the north of the country, but otherwise the situation appears to be calmer after Ben Gurion Airport reopened after being closed for several hours.
Why today?
The day of the attacks coincides with Arbaeen, 40 days after the assassination of Imam al-Hussein, the third Shiite Imam. According to a statement by Hezbollah, it chose this day because it remembers it as a day of martyrdom.
Does this mean a war between Hezbollah and Israel?
According to Sami Nader, director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, there is the potential to drag the entire region into a full-scale war. But Hezbollah and Israel are “trying to prevent that.”
The Reuters news agency quoted Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz as saying: “Israel is not seeking a full-scale war, but will act according to developments on the ground.”
What happens next?
It is not clear.
Analyst Sami Nader told Al Jazeera that these events signalled a “significant escalation in the scope and intensity of the operation”.
However, according to Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, the language used by Israel focuses on “self-defense” and protecting Israelis from attacks, suggesting that Israel will not seek escalation at this time.
