In one of the most intense strikes since the conflict began in Gaza last October, Israel warplanes hit over 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers, which it claimed “were ready to be fired against Israel”, and destroyed "terrorist sites" including a weapons store on Sep 19 late evening, said Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
"Our warplanes struck approximately 100 launchers and additional terrorist infrastructure sites, consisting of approximately 1,000 barrels that were ready to be used in the immediate future to fire toward Israeli territory," the IDF said in a statement.
“The IDF will continue to operate to degrade the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s infrastructure and capabilities to defend the state of Israel," it added.
As of now, it remains unclear whether there were any casualties resulting from these consecutive strikes.
The IDF urged residents in northern Israel close to the Lebanese border to avoid large gatherings, guard their neighborhoods, and stay close to bomb shelters for their own safety.
In a retaliatory attack, Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon fired two anti-tank missiles on Sep 19 across the border, followed by drones, IDF said, adding, “Two Israeli soldiers were killed and a third seriously wounded”.
It said its chief of staff, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, had “recently completed approval of plans for the northern arena”.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Israel carried out at least 52 strikes in the south of the country, and that Lebanon responded by launching strikes on military sites in northern Israel.
In his televised address on Sep 19, Lebanese leader Hassan Nasrallah said, “The enemy crossed all rules, laws, and red lines. It didn't care about anything at all, not morally, not humanely, not legally."
“This is a massacre, a major aggression against Lebanon, its people, its resistance, its sovereignty, and its security. It can be called war crimes or a declaration of war - whatever you choose to name it, it is deserving and fits the description. This was the enemy's intention,” he added.
As Nasrallah spoke, the sonic booms caused by Israeli warplanes over Beirut - Lebanon's capital city- were particularly alarming for the population, which is already grappling with political instability, economic crises, and the ongoing conflict. Some other warplanes struck targets in southern Lebanon, according to media reports.
The Hezbollah leader acknowledged that this was an unprecedented blow for his group, but he insisted that its ability to command and communicate remains undeterred. His tone was defiant and he vowed a harsh retaliation. He reiterated that Hezbollah was not interested in an escalation of its current conflict with Israel.
“The group’s cross-border attacks were going to continue unless there was a ceasefire in Gaza, and that no killings or assassinations would return residents to northern Israel,” he said.
Notably, the tensions escalated between the two fighting nations following deadly explosions on Sep 17 and 18, which saw pagers and walkie-talkies explode simultaneously across Lebanon. Following the attacks, the Lebanese authorities said the explosions killed 37 people and wounded at least 3,000.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for recent “pager attacks” attacks but Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has on Sep 18 said Israel is embarking on a "new phase of the war", concentrating more of its efforts on the north.
Previously, the sporadic cross-border fighting escalated on Oct 8 last year- the day after the unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen from Gaza - when Hezbollah fired at Israeli positions, in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Since then hundreds of people, most of them Hezbollah fighters, have been killed in the ongoing cross-border fighting, and tens of thousands have also been displaced on both sides of the border.
Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of the Palestinian armed group Hamas. Both are backed by Iran and proscribed as terrorist organizations by Israel, Britain, and some other countries.
Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant recently said, "In the new phase of the war, there are significant opportunities but also significant risks.”
“Hezbollah feels that it is being persecuted and the sequence of military actions will continue. Our goal is to ensure the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes. Hezbollah will pay an increasing price as time goes by,” he added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sep 19 called for restraint on all sides.
"We don't want to see any escalatory actions by any party" that would make the goal of achieving a ceasefire in Gaza more difficult,” he said in a statement, as he joined European foreign ministers in Paris to discuss the widening crisis.
Britain Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who was also at the talks in Paris, called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
"We are all very, very clear that we want to see a negotiated political settlement so that Israelis can return to their homes in northern Israel and indeed Lebanese to return to their homes," he said.
