Hezbollah begins retaliation against Israel after Shukr assassination

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Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones against Israel on Sunday in what it called the first retaliation for the killing of a senior commander, a wide-scale assault that Israel claims to have thwarted and that risks escalating into a full-blown war.
However, the attacks, which were preceded by preemptive Israeli strikes and then targeted responses, appear to have been carefully calculated by both sides to avoid further escalation in a Middle East already deeply entangled in the war in Gaza.
The Lebanese militant group said it targeted 11 Israeli military sites with more than 320 Katyusha rockets, with most of its projectiles launched against military bases in the Galilee region of northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights. It added in a later statement that its military operation for Sunday was over.
Earlier in the day, Hezbollah announced the start of a large-scale attack in retaliation for the assassination of its senior commander Fouad Shukr. It said it “launched an aerial attack using a large number of drones” on Israeli territory.
The statement said that Hezbollah is at its “highest level of readiness”, warning that if civilians are harmed in Lebanon, “the punishment will be severe and very harsh”.
A woman in the northern Israeli city of Acre was lightly wounded by shrapnel and sustained injuries to her face and limbs, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said on X. It remains unclear whether the shrapnel was from Hezbollah rockets or Israeli interceptors.
Israel’s international Ben Gurion airport cancelled all take-offs and landings for several hours, the airport authority said.
“Due to the security situation, the morning departures from Ben Gurion International Airport will be postponed, and will not take off in the next few hours,” the authority said. “Flights en route to Ben Gurion will be directed to land at alternative airports in the region.”
The airport has since reopened.
The Israeli Ministry of Defence declared a state of emergency across the entire territory of Israel for 48 hours.
About an hour before the statement, the Israeli army said it launched pre-emptive strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“A short while ago, the IDF identified the Hezbollah terrorist organisation preparing to fire missiles and rockets towards Israeli territory”, Israeli military spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Sunday.
‌‏”In a self-defence act to remove these threats, the IDF is striking terror targets in Lebanon, from which Hezbollah was planning to launch their attacks on Israeli civilians.” He added that more than 40 launch sites were attacked.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the emergency national security cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv that the Israeli army has “destroyed thousands of rockets” aimed at the north of the country.
“We are determined to do everything to protect our country, return the residents of the North safely to their homes and continue to follow a simple rule: Whoever harms us – we harm them,” he added.
Hezbollah in a statement denied Israeli claims that Israel’s preemptive strikes were able to “thwart” the group’s attack, adding that they will be “refuted” by leader Hassan Nasrallah in a speech “later today”.
Israeli bombing in southern Lebanon was continuing on Sunday morning after Hezbollah announced the completion of the “first stage” of its retaliation.
“We are removing threats against the Israeli home front. Dozens of IAF jets are currently striking targets in various locations in southern Lebanon,” Mr Hagari said.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported two casualties in the chain of Israeli strikes on Sunday morning: a Lebanese with minor injuries and a Syrian with moderate injuries.
Additionally, it reported that one man was killed in an Israeli strike in Khiam, as the Amal Movement, a Hezbollah-allied group, announced the death of one of its fighters, identified as Ayman Idris.
Fears of a regional war have spread after the double assassination of Mr Shukr in Beirut and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, both attributed to Israel.
Both Iran and Hezbollah had vowed retaliation.
At least than 601 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the cross-border conflict broke out in October in parallel with Israel’s war on Gaza. While most deaths have been Hezbollah members or allied fighters, at least 131 civilians have also been killed.
The Israeli authorities have announced the deaths of at least 23 soldiers and 26 civilians since the fighting began, including in the annexed Golan Heights.
The escalation in attacks on Sunday comes amid growing fears of a regional war and talks in Cairo between aimed at reaching a ceasefire deal in Gaza. Hezbollah and other Iran-backed proxy groups in the region have said they will abide by a truce if Hamas agrees to it.
“We continue to closely monitor the situation and have been very clear that the US is postured to support the defence of Israel,” Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said following the strikes.