Beirut, Aug 25 (EFE).- The Lebanese group Hezbollah announced the start of a large-scale “air attack” in retaliation against Israel with “a large number of drones,” which are directed to “qualitative Israeli objectives” within the country.
The group said this in two statements issued early Sunday morning, in which it also noted that the attacks launched in a first phase have “gone according to plan” and have hit at least eleven military bases both in Israeli territory and in the Golan Heights, artillery positions and barracks.
«The fighters of the Islamic Resistance (Hezbollah), began an air attack with a large number of drones against the Zionist interior (Israel) and against targets military “qualitative Israeli missile strikes, which will be reported later, in conjunction with attacks on targets in enemy positions, barracks and Iron Dome platforms in northern occupied Palestine with a large number of missiles,” the group’s statement said.
Operations in progress
According to them, these attacks are a response to the “brutal Zionist aggression in the southern suburbs of Beirut” that caused the death of Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr, in an Israeli bombing on July 30.
Hezbollah said that all ongoing operations “will take some time to complete” and stressed that the group is “on its highest state of alert and will remain strong and vigilant against “any Zionist aggression or transgression, especially if they harm civilians,” in which case “the punishment will be very harsh and severe.”
The group also indicated that the attack plan was to bombard Israeli bases and positions with a barrage of Katyusha rockets, more than 320, to open the way for “attack drones on their way to the depths of the Zionist entity.”
Early Sunday morning, the Israeli Army identified that Hezbollah was preparing to fire missiles and rockets towards Israeli territory, and in response to these threats, the Air Force launched bombings on “terrorist targets in Lebanon.”
State of emergency in Israel
Israel declared a military state of emergency and launched airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday to thwart what it said was an imminent large-scale attack by the Shiite group Hezbollah.
The Ministry of Defense said that the “state of emergency declaration allows the army to give instructions to the citizens of Israel. These include limiting gatherings and closing places when relevant.”
Shortly after, authorities announced restrictions across the territory north of Tel Aviv. These included limiting groups of people to 30 people outdoors and 300 indoors. Swimming was also banned on beaches near the border.
Since the announcement was made, air raid sirens have been sounding in the Israeli border area with Lebanon.
The Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom has raised its alert status to the highest level across the country. Meanwhile, it has not received any reports of casualties so far.
Hezbollah sided with the Islamist group Hamas in its war against Israel last October. Since then, violence on the border between Israel and Lebanon has become the most serious since the 2006 war.
The Lebanese Shiite group, an ally of Iran, has vowed to respond with a large-scale attack on Israel in retaliation for Shukr’s death.
The exchange of fire on the border has claimed the lives of at least 636 people since October. Among them more than 124 Lebanese civilians and 26 Israeli civilians.
