Israel struck several targets in Lebanon on Sunday, pushing Iran-backed Hezbollah into further attacks after it dealt a serious blow with the killing of the group's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
The Israeli military said the air force “attacked dozens of Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon, including launchers aimed at Israeli territory, structures storing weapons and additional Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure.”
The Navy intercepted a projectile approaching Israel from the Red Sea area and one other eight projectiles from Lebanon fell in open areas, a press release said.
Nasrallah was killed on Friday in an enormous Israeli airstrike on the group's headquarters in Beirut's southern suburbs. It was a serious blow to Hezbollah and Iran, ousting an influential ally who had helped make Hezbollah the linchpin of Tehran's network of allied groups within the Arab world.
Israel announced his killing on Saturday and Hezbollah later confirmed his death.
In its announcement, Hezbollah said it could proceed the fight against Israel and continued to fireplace rockets at Israel, including a volley on Sunday morning.
Nasrallah's death capped a traumatic two weeks for Hezbollah, which began with the detonation of 1000’s of its members' communications devices.
Israel was widely believed to have carried out this motion, however it has neither been confirmed nor denied.
The escalation has heightened fears that the conflict could spiral uncontrolled, potentially affecting each Iran and the United States, Israel's closest ally.
Hezbollah and Israel have been fighting Hamas because the Iranian-backed Palestinian group attacked Israel on October 7, parallel to Israel's war in Gaza.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, 33 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon on Saturday. This brings the entire variety of casualties since hostilities broke out on October 8 last yr to over 1,670, including 104 children.
In Beirut, displaced families spent the night on the benches at Zaitunay Bay, a string of restaurants and cafes on Beirut's waterfront where private security guards typically shoo away any loiterers.
By Sunday morning, families with nothing greater than a duffel bag stuffed with clothes had rolled out mats to sleep on and poured themselves tea.
“You will not be able to destroy us, no matter what you do, no matter how much you bomb, no matter how much you displace people, we will stay here. We won't go. This is our country and we are staying,” said Francoise Azori, a Beirut resident, jogging through the world.
The United Nations World Food Program said in a press release on Sunday that it had launched an emergency operation to offer food to as much as one million people affected by the conflict in Lebanon.
'Balance of power'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Nasrallah's assassination was a crucial step to “change the balance of power in the region for years to come.”
“Nasrallah was not a terrorist, he was the terrorist,” Netanyahu said in a press release, warning of adverse days ahead.
Israel said it killed senior Hezbollah official Ali Karaki and other commanders together with Nasrallah.
US President Joe Biden called Nasrallah's death an indication of justice for his many victims, including 1000’s of Americans, Israelis and Lebanese, and said the US fully supports Israel's right to self-defense.
But asked whether an Israeli ground attack in Lebanon was inevitable, Biden told reporters on Saturday: “It's time for a ceasefire.”
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was taken to a secure location in Iran following Nasrallah's assassination, sources told Reuters. Khamenei said Nasrallah's death can be avenged and his path within the fight against Israel can be followed by other militants.
Tehran called for a UN Security Council meeting on Israel's actions in Lebanon and elsewhere within the region and warned of attacks on its diplomatic facilities and representatives.
A senior member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, deputy commander Abbas Nilforoushan, was also killed in Friday's attacks, Iranian media reported.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel's war just isn’t against the Lebanese people. His office said he held discussions late Saturday a few possible expansion of Israel's military offensive on the northern front.
Hezbollah has said it would not stop fire until Israel's Gaza offensive ends. Hamas and other Hezbollah allies issued statements mourning his death.
Christian condolences
Lebanon's top Christian cleric, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, said Nasrallah's killing had “opened a wound in the hearts of the Lebanese.”
Rai had previously criticized the Shiite Islamist Hezbollah and accused it of dragging Lebanon into regional conflicts.
“We express our personal condolences to the family and community of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” he said in a sermon.
Hezbollah's arsenal has long been some extent of contention in Lebanon, a rustic with a history of civil wars. Lebanese critics of Hezbollah claim the group has unilaterally drawn the country into conflict and weakened the state.
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