Israel and Hezbollah exchange messages calling for de-escalation
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Israel and Hezbollah have reportedly exchanged messages via intermediaries aimed at preventing further escalation after both sides traded heavy fire on Sunday.
The development comes hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned “this is not the end of the verse” after Israel launched “pre-emptive strikes” against Hezbollah in Lebanon in the early hours of Sunday.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said nearly all the targets it struck were short-range rockets aimed at northern Israel.
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, said it fired drones and hundreds of rockets at Israel on Sunday morning in response to the killing of one of its top commanders in the Lebanese capital Beirut last month.
The group said it had hit an Israeli military intelligence site near Tel Aviv as part of the barrage.
IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the Lebanese group was planning to “harm Israeli civilians” and managed to launch “only about 230 rockets” and around 20 drones.
“Most of them either fell on their way to Israeli territory, landed in open areas, or were intercepted by Israeli air force defence systems and Israeli navy ships,” he said.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the group’s attack against Israel went “as planned” and dismissed IDF statements that its strikes had prevented a larger assault.
He also said Hezbollah’s attack had been delayed to give Gaza ceasefire talks a chance, and so fellow Iran-backed groups could discuss with Iran whether to attack Israel all at once.
Mr Nasrallah said Hezbollah “will now reserve the right to respond at a later time if the results of Sunday’s attack aren’t sufficient”, adding that allied Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and Iran had yet to respond.
He told the Lebanese people: “At this current stage, the country can take a breath and relax.”
Hezbollah and Israel said they aimed only at military targets during their attacks.
Israel said no military target was hit by Hezbollah but that one soldier with its navy was killed and two others were wounded either by an interceptor for incoming fire or by shrapnel from one.
Photo: Israeli soldiers as they patrol near the border village of Ghajar, on the Israeli-Lebanon border in northern Israel. EPA-EFE/ATEF SAFADI
