The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) hammered southern Lebanon with airstrikes on Thursday afternoon, two days after thousands of Hezbollah pagers exploded, maiming hundreds, in an apparent Israeli sabotage operation. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has pronounced the attacks “a declaration of war.”
Thousands of pagers – a low-tech and supposedly secure method of communication used by Hezbollah members – simultaneously detonated across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing a dozen people and injuring 3,000 more.
A second round of explosions took place on Wednesday, this time affecting handheld radios. As of Thursday, a total of 37 people have been killed, including at least two children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
While Israel has not taken responsibility for the blasts, American, Israeli, and Lebanese sources have identified Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency as the culprit.
Immediately after the explosions, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that “a new phase” of Israel’s almost year-long war was beginning, this one focused on Hezbollah rather than Hamas.
19 September 2024
Britain has joined the calls for an end to hostilities between Israel and Lebanon.
“Tonight I’m calling for an immediate ceasefire from both sides,” Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Reuters. London wants “a negotiated political settlement so that Israelis can return to their homes in northern Israel and indeed Lebanese to return to their homes,” he added.
In a statement on Thursday night, the IDF said that its warplanes struck some 30 Hezbollah launchers and sites that contained “150 launcher barrels that were ready to fire projectiles toward Israeli territory.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has joined Emmanuel Macron in calling on both sides to show restraint. “France and the United States are united in calling for restraint and urging de-escalation when it comes to the Middle East in general and when it comes to Lebanon in particular,” Blinken said in Paris, after a meeting with his French counterpart, Stephane Sejourne.
“We don’t want to see any escalatory actions by any party,” he added, warning that escalation would endanger the goal of a ceasefire in Gaza.
Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting military commanders to discuss Israel’s military operations against Hezbollah, Israel’s Army Radio has reported. “The military will outline several possible courses of action, and the political leadership will face important decisions,” security officials told the broadcaster.
Israeli commanders are being instructed to wait for a response from Hezbollah before launching a major new operation against the group, the Jerusalem Post has reported, citing “various sources.” According to the newspaper, the IDF has no plans for a ground invasion of Lebanon at the moment.
French President Emmanuel Macron has appealed to Hezbollah and its allies to “act responsibly in order to avoid an escalation.” In a statement released by his office, Macron also expressed the “deepest concern” that Israel’s apparent sabotage operation on Hezbollah pagers and radios would trigger “a dangerous escalation of tensions in the region,” and announced that he would urge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “avoid war.”
Lebanon was governed as a French protectorate between 1920 and 1944, and French peacekeepers served in the country throughout the 15-year Lebanese Civil War.
Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Hossein Salami has vowed that Israel will face a “crushing response from the axis of resistance,” according to Iranian media.
”Such terrorist acts are undoubtedly the result of the Zionist regime’s despair and successive failures. This will soon be met with a crushing response from the axis of resistance and we will witness the destruction of this bloodthirsty and criminal regime,” Salami reportedly said in a message to Nasrallah.
The ‘Axis of Resistance’ refers to an informal grouping of Iranian-aligned and anti-Israel forces in the Middle East, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthi forces in Yemen, and Shia militias in Iraq and Syria.
Any attempt by Israel to invade southern Lebanon will give Hezbollah a “historic opportunity” and have “dire consequences” for the IDF, Nasrallah has said.
Regardless of whether the IDF sends troops into Lebanon, “there will be a just punishment” for the Jewish state after this week’s attacks, he continued, adding: “I will not say when, where or how. You will know when the time comes.”
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in Hezbollah missile and drone attacks along the Israel-Lebanon border on Wednesday, the IDF has said in a statement. Nine other IDF troops were wounded in the attacks.
Nasrallah conceded that the attack of Tuesday and Wednesday represented an “unprecedented” security blow against Hezbollah. However, he claimed that the group’s senior command infrastructure “was not touched,” and that it is “more resolved” than ever to continue operations against Israel.
As Nasrallah spoke, Israeli fighter jets swooped over Beirut, dropping flares and creating loud sonic booms in an apparent bid to disrupt the Hezbollah leader’s address.
At least one strike appeared to hit a residential area of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, around 20km north of the Israel-Lebanon border, according to footage posted on social media.
In a statement announcing the airstrikes, the IDF claimed that Hezbollah has “turned south Lebanon into a war zone” and concealed weapons in civilian homes.