Israeli, Hezbollah strikes strain region as negotiators meet in Cairo for ceasefire talks

Lina Portman4 weeks ago

5 1 minute read

Israeli, Hezbollah strikes strain region as negotiators meet in Cairo for ceasefire talks

An Israeli military chief said this morning that the country's forces were able to stop at least part of an attack planned by Hezbollah in retaliation for Israel's assassination of a senior Hezbollah commander last month.

At a news conference, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said that Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants were preparing to launch a rocket attack on northern Israel using thousands of rocket launchers. The operation was scheduled to begin at 5 a.m., he said, before being thwarted, in part, by Israel's preemptive strike.

The Israeli assault included 100 aircraft that targeted thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers at 40 launch zones, Shoshani said.

Hezbollah continued its mission, he said, firing hundreds of rockets and drones toward northern Israel and not overlooking areas with homes and civilians.

“This is part of a larger attack that was planned,” Shoshani said, “and we were able to thwart a lot of it.”

Hezbollah said in a statement earlier in the day that it had struck 11 targets, all military bases, barracks or artillery positions.

Shoshani made it clear that Israel views Hezbollah's plans as a serious threat to its civilian population. “Israel will not tolerate Hezbollah's attacks on our civilians, and we retain the right to defend our people,” the lieutenant colonel said.

He added that it was not yet certain whether Hezbollah had carried out its attack as planned. “We are still assessing the situation,” he added.