Hezbollah unleashes rockets on Israel as IDF storms Lebanon border

Hezbollah has unleashed a barrage of rockets on several Israeli settlements hours after Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF) launched raids on southern Lebanon and were met with heavy resistance. The Lebanese group targeted the border villages of Shtula, Metula and Avivim while sending dozens of rockets streaming toward the city of Haifa – a major port city in Israel’s north – and Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, the IDF reported troops who crossed the UN-demarcated ‘Blue Line’ that separates Israel from Lebanon were embroiled in bitter fighting with Hezbollah militants as day broke. The Israeli military said the operations in Lebanon began on Monday night and involved the elite 98th division, which was deployed to the northern front two weeks ago from Gaza where they had been fighting against Hamas for months.

It said its air force and artillery supported ground troops engaged in ‘limited, localised, and targeted ground raids’ against Hezbollah in southern Lebanese villages. ‘These localised ground raids will target Hezbollah strongholds that threaten Israeli towns, kibbutzim and communities along our border,’ said military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, adding: ‘Hezbollah turned Lebanese villages next to Israeli villages into military bases ready for an attack on Israel.’

But more hardline elements of Israel’s government, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, this morning called for a wider operation to ‘crush the terrorist organisation’. Dystopian images that emerged early this morning showed Israeli flares and munitions lighting up the night sky in southern Lebanon, softening up Hezbollah positions in preparation for the IDF incursion. The ground operation, which comes nearly a year on from Hamas ‘ October 7 attacks, was given the green light yesterday, three days after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was confirmed dead following a devastating attack in Beirut .

Meanwhile, Israel’s air force continued to pound targets across Lebanon with brutal airstrikes, while also hitting Damascus in Syria and various locations in Gaza. Israel has dealt heavy blows to Hezbollah in the past two weeks. It successfully pulled off a ruthless covert operation that saw thousands of rigged communication devices explode in the hands of Hezbollah members, and proceeded to launch a devastating campaign of airstrikes.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah (pictured) – a towering figure who turned the group into Lebanon’s top military and political force – was assassinated last week along with several other senior commanders in one of those strikes. Now, Israel has indicated it is primed for a full-fledged invasion of Lebanon, with the stated aim of enabling thousands of its citizens who fled Hezbollah rockets to safely return to their communities near the northern border.

The deployment of boots on the ground overnight to conduct raids on southern Lebanese villages closest to the border represents a significant escalation in Israel’s war against its enemy to the north. The IDF said that its incursion, dubbed ‘Operation Northern Arrows’, will continue ‘according to the situational assessment and in parallel to combat in Gaza and in other arenas’.

Officials warned Lebanese citizens not to drive south of the Litani river to avoid being caught up in the intense fighting that erupted between IDF troops and Hezbollah militiamen early this morning. The IDF’s incursion into southern Lebanon came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stark warning to Iran , whom Hamas and Hezbollah are both backed by. He said: ‘There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach. There is nowhere we will not go to protect our people and protect our country.’

Hezbollah’s acting leader, Naim Kassem (pictured), said Monday the group will fight any Israeli troops who try to occupy parts of Lebanon. Lebanon’s prime minister meanwhile said his country was facing ‘one of the most dangerous phases of its history’, urging the United Nations to provide aid for one million people displaced by Israeli air strikes.

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