Middle East updates: Israel, Hezbollah launch major strikes

The United Nations special coordinator's office in Lebanon (UNSCOL) and UNIFIL peacekeepers have called the situation at the border between Israel and Lebanon "worrying" as hostilities between the Israeli military and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia escalate. 

The two agencies on Sunday issued a joint statement in which they "call on all to cease fire and refrain from further escalatory action."

"A return to the cessation of hostilities, followed by the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701, is the only sustainable way forward," the statement said, adding: "We will continue our contacts to strongly urge for deescalation."

The statement comes after Israel struck various sites in Lebanon and Hezbollah said it launched attacks on Israeli positions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that his country will "do everything" to defend itself and ensure the security of residents in northern Israel.

His comments came after Hezbollah launched a flurry of rockets and drones at Israel in response to the killing of a senior commander last month. 

"We are determined to do everything possible to defend our country, to return the residents of the north safely to their homes and to continue to uphold a simple rule: Whoever harms us — we harm him," Netanyahu said at the start of a Cabinet meeting on Sunday. 

He said the military had eliminated "thousands of rockets that were aimed at northern Israel."

Israel's military said its fighter jets attacked thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers in Lebanon that were aimed at northern and central Israel.

"Approximately 100 IAF fighter jets ... struck and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels that were located and embedded in southern Lebanon," the military said in a statement. 

"Most of these launchers were aimed toward northern Israel, and some were aimed toward central Israel."

Military spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters that Hezbollah in turn "fired hundreds of rockets and UAVs toward northern Israel."

Shoshani said the rockets were "part of a larger attack that was planned, and we were able to thwart a big part of it this morning," but he did not specify what Hezbollah had targeted.

"We're still in a situation assessment of the aftermath of the attack ... there is still some fire happening," he added.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said that one person had died in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the town of Khiam. 

Local media in Lebanon also reported other strikes across the country's south.

Flights to and from Israel's main airport have resumed after they were briefly halted as the Israeli military carried out strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. 

Operations at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv resumed at 7:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT/UTC), Israel's Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson Roy Steinmetz said.

The "planes diverted to other airports will also take off from Ben Gurion again," he added. 

The United States has doubled down on its solidarity with Israel amid the ongoing hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated Washington's continued support for Israeli defense in a conversation with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said.

"Secretary Austin reaffirmed the United States' ironclad commitment to Israel's defense against any attacks by Iran and its regional partners and proxies," Ryder said in a statement.

In a separate statement, a Pentagon spokesperson added that the US has "been very clear" that it "is postured to support the defense of Israel."

The comments from Washington came as the Israeli military said it carried out preemptive strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, and as the group launched large-scale drone and rocket attacks in retaliation for the death of its military commander in an Israeli strike last month.
 

Hezbollah said that, in response to the killing of its top commander in a Beirut suburb last month, it had launched an attack on Israel with a large number of drones and rockets.

The Lebanon-based group said it targeted an identified "special military target as well as Israel's Iron Dome platforms and other sites but that the full response would take "some time."

"The number of Katyusha rockets launched until now is more than 320 ... towards enemy positions," a Hezbollah statement said.

The group added that it had targeted 11 Israeli bases and barracks. 

Iran-backed Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and several Sunni Arab countries.

Following Israeli air strikes in Lebanon, Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv began diverting incoming flights and delaying others scheduled to take off on Sunday.

Flight-tracking data showed at least two El Al flights diverting after the announcement.

There will also be no take-offs for the next few hours, the Times of Israel reported, citing the Israeli airport authority.

Incoming aircraft would be diverted to other airports in the area. The authority advised travelers to contact the airlines to find out about the flight schedule changes.

The Israeli military said early Sunday it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after identifying the group as "preparing to fire missiles and rockets toward Israeli territory."

"In a self-defense act to remove these threats, the [Israeli military] is striking terror targets in Lebanon, from which Hezbollah was planning to launch their attacks on Israeli civilians," Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said.

The Israeli military also issued a warning for people close to Hezbollah areas to leave.

"Anyone who is near areas where Hezbollah operates should leave immediately to protect themselves and their families," it said in Arabic.

The military also warned Israelis to expect incoming missiles and drones launched by Iranian-backed militia from across the border. Shortly after the warning, sirens sounded in northern Israel.

Meanwhile, Lebanese media reported strikes in the south of the country, without immediately giving further details. 

The Israeli attacks and warnings come amid fears that Iran and its allies have been preparing a retaliatory move after an Israeli strike in July killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Iran has also vowed a response after  Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran last month, which Iran blamed on Israel.

dh/ab (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)