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Yesterday, the southern Lebanon front witnessed the most violent clashes between Israel and Hezbollah since the beginning of the exchange of fire last October, as Israel carried out 100 airstrikes, while Hezbollah fired 90 missiles at Israeli targets, days after three strong and successive Israeli strikes, the last of which was the elimination of party leaders near Beirut.
The Israeli army announced that it destroyed thousands of missile launchers and 180 targets that were ready for immediate use. It added that it will continue operations aimed at dismantling and destroying Hezbollah’s capabilities and infrastructure. Lebanon announced yesterday that at least 31 people were killed in the Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut the day before yesterday.
The Israeli army announced that it killed 16 Hezbollah leaders in the strike. With the violence of the clashes, the Israeli army decided yesterday to close the airspace in the northern regions for 24 hours.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stressed that “the risk of escalation in the Middle East is real and significant, and there are moments when escalation is more severe than others.” He considered that “the way in which Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah presented his recent speech opened up the northern front.” He said: “We will do our utmost to restore calm,” noting that “we have not yet reached the stage of a wider war between Israel and Lebanon.”
