Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones against Israel on Sunday in retaliation for the assassination of a senior commander in Beirut last month, the Iranian-backed movement said.
Hezbollah said it had launched more than 320 Katyusha rockets towards Israel and hit 11 military targets. It said the barrage had completed “the first phase” of its response to the assassination of Fuad Shukr, a senior commander, in Beirut but that the full response would take “some time”.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would do whatever necessary to defend itself.
“We have conducted precise strikes in Lebanon to thwart an imminent threat against the citizens of Israel. We are closely following developments in Beirut, and we are determined to use all the means at our disposal to defend our citizens,” Gallant said in a statement.
Israeli jets hit targets in Lebanon shortly before the strikes as the military assessed that Hezbollah was preparing to begin the barrage, the military said.
Most of the Israeli strikes were hitting targets in southern Lebanon but the military was ready to strike anywhere there was a threat, an Israeli military spokesperson said.
Gallant declared a state of emergency, and flights to and from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv were suspended. Still, the airport authority said normal operations were expected to resume by 7 a.m.
In northern Israel, warning sirens sounded and multiple explosions were heard around several areas as Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defense system shot down rockets coming from southern Lebanon. Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said it was on high alert all over the country.
