One person was killed in an Israeli drone attack on a car in the town of Khiam in southern Lebanon on Sunday morning. At least four other people were reportedly injured in separate attacks, a medical source told the Guardian.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared a state of emergency for the next 48 hours.a declaration giving the Israeli military the authority to impose restrictions on the movement of civilians. The Israeli security cabinet was scheduled to meet at 7 a.m. local time.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would take all necessary measures to defend itself and harm anyone “who harms us.” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Israel would respond to developments on the ground but was not seeking a full-scale war.
Gallant spoke with his US counterpart Lloyd Austinabout the air strikes on Lebanon and assured the Minister of Defense that they were of a defensive nature.
US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said: “President Biden is closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon.” “At his direction, senior U.S. officials have been communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts,” Savett said. “We will continue to support Israel’s right to self-defense and remain committed to regional stability.”
Hezbollah said it had attacked an identified “special military target” as well as Israel’s Iron Dome platforms. and other sites, but the full response will take “some time,” Reuters reported. Hezbollah said its attack included more than 320 Katyusha rockets aimed at several sites in Israel, as well as a “large number” of drones.
The group later announced that the military operation was “completed” for the day. The Lebanese group denied that Israel’s preemptive strikes, carried out shortly before its own attack, had affected its own operation. “The enemy’s claims about the preventive measures it carried out, the targets it hit and the disruption of the resistance’s (Hezbollah) attack are empty,” Hezbollah’s statement said, adding that all drones were fired “at the desired targets” as planned.
Flights to and from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv have been temporarily suspendedand the Israeli cabinet was scheduled to meet at 7 a.m. (4 a.m. GMT), Israeli media reported. Air raid sirens were reported across northern Israel. Jordan’s national airline Royal Jordanian suspended flights to Beirut on Sunday “due to the current situation,” the state news agency reported, without specifying the exact period for the suspension.
The attacks came as Egypt is hosting a new round of talks aimed at ending Israel’s war with Hamas.now in the 11th month.
