MIDDLE EAST TINDERBOX Israeli jets launch ‘pre-emptive’ strikes at Hezbollah in Lebanon as terrorists fire 300 rockets back sparking WW3 fears
ISRAELI jets obliterated thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers in “pre-emptive” strikes as the group launched a revenge blitz for the assassination of a senior commander last month.
Hezbollah aimed to fire thousands of rockets towards the north and central Tel Aviv, Israel claims, but was only able to launch some 320 missiles after IDF strikes thwarted its plans.
Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) chiefs ordered the blitz at around 4.30am local time after detecting preparations for a huge attack from the Lebanon-based terror group.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said 100 fighter jets struck over 40 launch areas in southern Lebanon in an "act of self-defence".
Israel has engaged in tit-for-tat strikes with Hezbollah for 10 months since war broke out in the Gaza Strip.
But yesterday’s attacks were the biggest escalation launched by Hezbollah since last year’s October 7 attacks from Gaza and sent tensions skyrocketing in Israel.
It threatens to trigger an all-out war which could draw in the United States, Iran and militant groups across the region.
The IDF revealed on Sunday morning how Israeli intelligence had identified a planned attack by Hezbollah involving thousands of rockets with some earmarked for Tel Aviv.
They estimate the group was able to fire only 250 drones and missiles towards the north with "very little" damage after the pre-emptive strikes.
Israel’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling air defences were reported to have taken out all threats to populated areas and many projectiles landed harmlessly in open ground.
IDF spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said "This is a part of a larger attack that was planned, and we were able to thwart a big part of it this morning."
Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah said the operation was only “phase one” of its master plan to avenge the assassination of its commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut last month.
The group is thought to have been attempting to take out Israeli early warnings radar sites along the border when Israeli intelligence detected their move.
Thousands of launch tubes pointing towards Israel were destroyed as IDF chiefs claimed to have thwarted the major attack.
Israel warned civilians near Hezbollah launch sites to run for their lives as the blitz got under way before dawn.
Terror group commanders are believed to have deliberately sited launchers next to homes to used families as human shields against air attack.
Some 80,000 Israeli civilians have evacuated the north in the last 10 months, retired IDF general Amir Avivi told Sky news.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that Israel's pre-emptive strikes are "not the end".
He said: "Three weeks ago we eliminated his chief of staff, and today we foiled his attack plan.
"Nasrallah in Beirut [Hezbollah leader] and Khamenei in Tehran [supreme leader of Iran] should know that this is another step on the path to changing the situation in the north, and returning our residents safely to their homes.
"And I repeat - this is not the end of the verse."
Hezbollah, Iran's largest proxy army in the Middle East, claimed to have hit 11 Israeli military targets.
Flights were axed to and from Israel's primary Ben Gurion airport as the chaos unfolded - although they have since resumed.
Daniel Hagari said: "We are ready to do everything we need to defend the people of Israel."
He later revealed that IDF warplanes "attacked and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah's firing canisters, most most of them aimed towards the north of the country and some also towards central Israel".
The Sun warned only days ago that Hezbollah was planning to launch a huge attack on Israel.
Analysts monitoring years of military activity in southern Lebanon warned that October 7 could soon look “like a picnic” if and when the terrorists decided to unleash hell.
Experts told The Sun how civilians in Lebanon could end up paying the price for a fresh war in the Middle East - just as tens of thousands have in Gaza.
The Lebanon health ministry has said three people were killed in the strikes fired from Israel overnight.
They said one was killed by an "Israeli drone strike on a car in the village of Khiam" and "the Israeli occupation attack on the village of Tiri" killed two.
The Amal group - an ally of Hezbollah - later said a militant from Khiam had been killed.
It was not clear whether the other two were civilians or militants.
Some 605 people have been killed in Lebanon as a result of cross-border strikes between Israel and Hezbollah - with AFP estimating some 131 of them to be civilians.
Israeli officials in the north - including in the occupied Golan Heights - have said at least 23 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed.
Netanyahu said after the attack: "This morning we identified Hezbollah preparations to attack Israel.
“In consensus with the Defense Minister and the IDF Chief-of-Staff, we directed the IDF initiate action to eliminate the threat.
“Since then, the IDF has been taking strong action to foil the threats. It has eliminated thousands of rockets that were aimed at northern Israel.
“It is thwarting many other threats and is taking very strong action – both defensively and offensively.
“Citizens of Israel, I request that you adhere to the directives from IDF Home Front Command.
“We are determined to do everything to defend our country, to return the residents of the north securely to their homes and to continue upholding a simple rule:
“Whoever harms us – we will harm them."
UK cabinet minister Pat McFadden told Sky that the UK is "very concerned" by the overnight escalation and that a fresh war in the region is a "real danger".
"Even as this unfolds, the UK Government and the international community would urge all parties not to escalate further and to avoid a major regional war. That is the real danger facing the area," he said.
British Airways has suspended all flights between London and Tel Aviv until Wednesday.
Israel said later on Sunday that it had struck more Hezbollah missile launchers in southern Lebanon to "remove threats".
The United nations said last night's development is "worrying" and called for a cease fire across the war-torn region.
Recent tensions in the Middle East
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
After almost 10 months of war in Gaza, tensions hit an all new high following a series of deadly strikes and high-profile assassinations by Israel in late July and early August.
On Saturday July 27, a rocket strike fired from southern Lebanon hit a football pitch in Golan Heights - a Druze village occupied by Israel - killing 12 young people including children.
Israel and the US both said Hezbollah, the largest of Iran’s terror proxy groups, operating out of Lebanon, were responsible for the deadly strike.
On Monday July 28, the IDF dropped an airstrike on an area of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, killing Hezbollah’s most senior military commander Fuad Shukr.
Less than two days later, at around 2am on Wednesday July 30, Israel killed Hamas’ top political leader Ismail Haniyeh as he slept in Iran’s capital Tehran.
On the morning of Thursday August 1 morning the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) announced that a strike on Khan Younis, southern Gaza, had killed Mohammed Deif on July 13.
Dief had worked as head of Hamas' ruthless military wing, the al-Qassam brigades, since 2002.
It marked another major loss for Iran’s terror proxy groups in the region.
Early reports suggested Ismail Haniyeh was taken out in a precision strike, when a rocket was fired from a drone outside his window and detonated inside the room.
Then an investigation by the New York Times suggested a bomb had been planted in his room at the military-run compound where he was staying and detonated remotely.
Unnamed Iranian officials also shared the explosive theory with The Telegraph, further confusing the murky details around Haniyeh’s death.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), concluded its investigation into the humiliating security breach on Saturday August 1 and said he died after a “short-range projectile” was fired from outside the building.
Iran and its proxy groups; Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen all vowed to seek revenge on Israel over the assassination of Haniyeh.
Then, on the night of Saturday August 3, Hezbollah fired some 30 rockets from Lebanon towards Galilee in northern Israel.
Tel Aviv’s impressive Iron Dome Defence system launched into action, destroying “most” of the missiles and no one was hurt.
But the UK, US and France have all urged their citizens to evacuate from Lebanon as fears of a wider war breaking out in the region continue to spiral.
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