Israel and Hezbollah have both issued warnings of intensified cross-border attacks, disregarding international pleas to de-escalate and avoid full-scale conflict.
The Israeli military reported that around 150 projectiles, including rockets and missiles, were launched into its territory from Lebanon overnight on Saturday and early Sunday.
Some of these projectiles reached further into Israel than previous attacks, compelling thousands of residents to seek shelter and causing damage to homes near Haifa.
In response, Israel conducted retaliatory strikes on southern Lebanon, claiming to have destroyed a significant number of Hezbollah’s rocket launchers.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted on Sunday that Israel would take “whatever action is necessary to restore security” and ensure the safe return of people to their homes along the border with Lebanon.
He emphasized that Israel had delivered “a series of blows on Hezbollah that it could have never imagined.”
Meanwhile, Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem declared at the funeral of senior commander Ibrahim Aqil, “Threats will not stop us… We are ready to face all military possibilities.” He further stated, “We have entered a new phase, namely an open reckoning,” indicating an escalation in hostilities.
Ibrahim Aqil, a high-ranking Hezbollah commander, was killed in an Israeli strike on Friday in Beirut.
The attack resulted in 45 fatalities, including Aqil and 15 of his men. Aqil had been a prominent figure in Hezbollah and was wanted by the United States, which had placed a $7 million bounty on him for his alleged involvement in attacks on the U.S. Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut during the 1980s, which killed hundreds of Americans.
During Aqil’s funeral in the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahieh, just streets away from the site of the airstrike, thousands of mourners attended. The atmosphere was charged with anger and defiance, with chants of “death to America” resonating among the crowd.
Lebanese officials confirmed that about 30 civilians were also killed in Friday’s airstrike, including entire families. Relatives of the victims lingered at the scene, holding onto hope that remains of their loved ones might still be recovered.
Lebanon’s Minister for Public Works, Ali Hamie, linked with Hezbollah, accused Israel of instigating the conflict. “At the end, Lebanon is not seeking the war,” he stated, adding, “Even the Lebanese people. But Israel is calling us worldwide, come to war. Come to war.” When asked about the likelihood of war, he responded, “I don’t know, we will see.”
The confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel has intensified since October 8, 2023, following a deadly attack by Hamas militants from Gaza that left around 1,200 Israelis dead and over 250 taken hostage.
Hezbollah, which is aligned with Hamas and part of Iran’s so-called “Axis of Resistance,” began targeting Israeli positions in the north, prompting a large-scale evacuation of 60,000 people from the area due to daily rocket attacks.
As a precaution, medical teams in Haifa have moved patients to an underground emergency facility. In Kirayt Bialik, a suburb of Haifa, a resident described a rocket attack early Sunday morning, “Around 06:30 there was an alarm and then immediately afterwards a big explosion – very, very big explosion – even three or four houses from here. Our window in the main room was completely destroyed.”
The recent spike in violence has raised international concerns. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of the potential for Lebanon to become “another Gaza,” while Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN special coordinator in Lebanon, highlighted the danger of an “imminent catastrophe.”
Both the EU and UK have called for an immediate ceasefire. US President Joe Biden stated that the United States would do “everything we can to keep a wider war from breaking out.”
Further complicating the situation, the Israel Defense Forces reported intercepting several projectiles, including two launched from Iraq.
An Iranian-backed group, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, claimed responsibility for these attacks, stating they had used cruise missiles and explosive drones against Israel.
Amid the escalating tensions, the US State Department has urged its citizens to leave Lebanon while commercial flights are still operational.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry has issued similar advice to its nationals, advising them to depart Lebanon as soon as possible, highlighting the gravity of the situation and the uncertainty of what lies ahead.
