New Delhi:

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) on Sunday conducted a series of precision strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, thwarting what Israeli officials described as a large-scale attack. The strikes, which began at 5 am local time, were part of a military campaign aimed at neutralising Hezbollah’s growing threat along Israel’s northern border.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released a video showcasing the operation, stating, “Our operation in Lebanon targeted the terrorist infrastructure Hezbollah planned to use against us, protecting Israeli families and homes.”

WATCH how the IAF acted precisely today to stop a large-scale terrorist attack from Hezbollah.

Our operation in Lebanon targeted the terrorist infrastructure Hezbollah planned to use against us, protecting Israeli families and homes. pic.twitter.com/2J3sqAnFWB

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 25, 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing his cabinet later that day, warned that the military action was far from over. “We are striking Hezbollah with surprising, crushing blows,” Netanyahu said. “This is another step towards changing the situation in the north and safely returning our residents to their homes. And, I repeat, this is not the final word.”

Netanyahu highlighted the success of the operation, noting that the military had destroyed thousands of short-range rockets, all of which were intended to harm civilians and forces in the Galilee region of Israel. He also confirmed that the IDF had intercepted all the drones that Hezbollah launched at a strategic target in central Israel, which Israeli media reported to be the headquarters of its spy agency Mossad. 

Over 100 Israeli warplanes participated in the preemptive assault, targeting thousands of Hezbollah missile launchers across southern Lebanon. The strikes were based on what Israeli officials described as “precise intelligence” indicating that Hezbollah was on the verge of launching a massive missile barrage at northern Israel, as well as drone attacks on key intelligence centres.

In the immediate aftermath of the strikes, Israel declared a 48-hour state of emergency and temporarily shut down its main airport, leading to the cancellation of several flights. Despite Hezbollah’s retaliation, which involved firing over 300 projectiles into Israel, the damage was minimal. Israeli officials reported that one soldier was killed by falling debris, while three fatalities were reported in Lebanon.

Diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the broader conflict in the region continued. Negotiations in Cairo, aimed at establishing a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, proceeded as planned. However, the talks faced challenges, with Hamas accusing Israel of setting new conditions and prolonging the cease-fire negotiations.

 

Jerusalem:

An Israeli military commander said Friday that troops in the country’s north were preparing for “a decisive offensive” against Lebanon’s Hezbollah after months of deadly cross-border exchanges.

Israeli forces have traded near-daily fire with Hamas ally Hezbollah since the Palestinian group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel started the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

Major General Ori Gordin, Israel’s commanding officer in the north, told troops that “we have already eliminated more than 500 terrorists in Lebanon, the great majority of them from Hezbollah”, an army statement said.

According to an AFP tally, more than nine months of violence have killed at least 523 people in Lebanon.

Most of them, 342 people, have been confirmed to be Hezbollah operatives but the tally also includes 104 civilians. Gordin did not mention civilian casualties.

In northern Israel, at least 18 Israeli soldiers and 13 civilians have been killed, according to the military.

The exchanges of fire have been largely restricted to the border areas and displaced tens of thousands of Lebanese as well as Israeli residents.

The Israeli military has “destroyed thousands” of targets across the border, Gordin said.

The statement said troops were now preparing “for the transition to offence”.

“When the moment comes and we go on the offensive, it will be a decisive offensive,” Gordin added.

Iran-backed Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Hamas with its attacks on Israel since October 8.

The escalating violence and unsuccessful mediation efforts have raised fears of all-out conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which last went to war in 2006.

Israel has demanded that parts of southern Lebanon be cleared of Hezbollah operatives in line with a UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Rmeich, Lebanon:

At Lebanon’s border with Israel, residents of a Christian village are hoping war can be avoided even as they prepare for the possibility of worsening hostilities between the Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah and Israel.

Located just a couple of kilometres (miles) from the frontier, the village of Rmeich has already suffered fallout from three weeks of clashes along the border between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, the dominant force in south Lebanon.

Half of its residents have fled north since shells began crashing into hills nearby. With the olive harvest disrupted, their livelihoods have also been affected by south Lebanon’s worst violence since Hezbollah and Israel went to war in 2006.

The village, along with the rest of Lebanon, is feeling the turbulence unleashed by the conflict raging some 200 km away between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, an ally of the heavily armed Hezbollah.

Those who remain in Rmeich appear reluctant to discuss the politics of the crisis that has brought conflict to their doorstep, trying to preserve some normalcy in the village whose 18th century church still holds a mass three times a day.

“I won’t say we’re feeling safe but the situation is stable,” the village priest Toni Elias, 40, said as a military drone buzzed overhead.

“If we don’t hear the drone, we think something odd is going on. We’re used to it everyday, 24/7,” Elias said.

Rmeich is one of around a dozen or more Christian villages near the border with Israel in predominantly Shi’ite Muslim south Lebanon. During the 2006 war, some 25,000 people from surrounding towns sought shelter in Rmeich.

Memories of the 2006 conflict loom large. Rmeich locals and charities have set up a makeshift hospital at a school, in case the clashes between Hezbollah and Israel – so far largely contained to areas at the border – get worse.

“We won’t use it unless there is a war and roads get closed, and inshalla (God willing) this won’t happen,” said Georges Madi, a doctor from the village.

WAR AND PEACE

The tensions are weighing on the local economy, compounding hardship for people still suffering the effects of Lebanon’s devastating financial collapse four years ago.

“If the war is prolonged, we can’t stay here. There is no work or money,” said Charbel Al Alam, 58, who makes his living from farming tobacco, historically an important industry for south Lebanon.

“In the 2006 war, tobacco plants dried out in the fields and no one was able to harvest it. No one compensated us,” he said.

While farmers had been able to gather this year’s crop, they worry whether they will be able plant next year’s. Business in Rmeich has generally come to a halt, several local said.

Unlike the surrounding areas, there is no sign of the yellow and green Hezbollah flag in Rmeich.

While avoiding any criticism of Hezbollah, Rmeich mayor Milad Al Alam said the Lebanese army should be the sole military force in Lebanon – a view voiced by Hezbollah’s opponents who say its arsenal has undermined the state.

“We wish the decision of war and peace were in our hands. If it were, the situation would have been different,” he said.

The town has no shelter or official evacuation plan for its 4,500 remaining residents if war intensifies, he added. “People were stuck in the village for 17 days in 2006,” he said.

Elias, the priest, said he was confident Rmeich would not be hit: “As long we’re here, living in the village. We don’t want war, we’re a peaceful village … so the village remains safe if others flee to it.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)