The Israeli military launched air strikes across southern Lebanon on Sunday, and Hezbollah responded with a massive drone and missile attack.
The Lebanese group said the offensive was in direct retaliation for the Israeli military’s assassination of top commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut in early July.
The escalation marks a significant increase in hostilities between the two sides, with its roots in long-standing tensions, particularly following Shukr’s killing, which Hezbollah considers a serious provocation.
Israel said it had foiled a large-scale Hezbollah attack, saying its fighter jets had destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers “aimed at northern Israel and some at central Israel.”
The Iranian-backed Lebanese group countered that Israel was making “empty claims” of foiling an attack and said its own operation on Sunday was “completed and carried out”.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported at least one death in an Israeli attack on a vehicle in the south of the country. No casualties were initially reported in Israel.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces carried out five massacres in the Gaza Strip in the last 48 hours, according to the Gaza Strip Health Ministry.
These attacks left 69 people dead and 212 injured. The victims were treated in local hospitals.
When Israeli tanks and bulldozers advanced into the central city of Deir el-Balah, more than 100,000 residents were forced to leave their homes within two days.
Since the beginning of the Israeli war, at least 40,405 people have been killed and 93,468 others injured in the Gaza Strip.
