Israel Launched "Preemptive" Strike On Hezbollah In Lebanon 'To Prevent Major Attack'
Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon, exchanged some of the heaviest fighting in months on Sunday as fears mount that a direct Iranian retaliatory strike on Israel could spark an all-out regional war.
Israel's military launched preemptive strikes in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah's high-value targets after allegedly detecting movement on the ground that militia forces were preparing to launch a barrage of missiles, rockets, and kamikaze drones into Israel.
Hezbollah announced in a statement that Israel's claim that it launched a pre-emptive attack against Hezbollah's forces to thwart a missile attack was "baseless," further saying, "These are empty claims." The militia said approximately 320 rockets and drone waves were launched into Israel. The IDF said the militia launched about 200 rockets. Hezbollah called the operation a "complete success."
๐จ๐ฎ๐ฑ IRON DOME INTERCEPTIONS UNDERWAY IN WESTERN GALILEE
โ Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) August 25, 2024
Numerous Iron Dome interceptions have been reported over the Western Galilee.
Footage shows the Iron Dome system engaging rockets fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon.
Source: Times of Israel https://t.co/DlVE96ibPD pic.twitter.com/UJ8oyGvpPy
Nadav Shoshani, the Israeli military spokesman, said hundreds of rockets and drones were fired by Hezbollah forces into residential areas of northern Israel, noting, "This is part of a larger attack that was planned, and we were able to thwart a big part of it this morning."
Meanwhile, the preemptive strikes by the IDF involved over 100 fighter jets that bombarded Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels across southern Lebanon. The IDF said over 40 high-value targets were destroyed.
๐BREAKING: In a self-defense act to remove Hezbollahโs threat, the IDF is striking targets in south Lebanon, from which the Iranian-backed Lebanese terror organization was planning to launch their attacks on Israeli civilians.
โ Israel ืืฉืจืื (@Israel) August 25, 2024
Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks are targetingโฆ pic.twitter.com/BtuUAqtgsv
๐๐๐ : ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฃ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ค ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ก ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ค๐๐ญ ๐ฅ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ, ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐งโฆ pic.twitter.com/kGtVJXgQVk
โ Israel ืืฉืจืื (@Israel) August 25, 2024
Still needs to be confirmed.
๐จ๐ฑ๐ง๐ฎ๐ฑISRAEL WARSHIP HIT BY HEZBOLLAH?!
โ Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) August 25, 2024
A scene has surfaced showing the exact moment an Israeli Navy's Dvora-class warship was struck by Hezbollah, resulting in the death of a soldier on board.
The attack occurred during initial response operations following the assassinationโฆ pic.twitter.com/OaxVSoVbFa
The cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah was some of the most severe in months, resulting in at least three fatalities in Lebanon, according to the country's health ministry. However, within hours after the fight began, both sides appeared to de-escalate, with Hezbollah declaring its military operations "finished for the day." In a further indication that the situation was stabilizing, Israel, which shuttered Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv earlier, reopened the airport later in the day.
Furthermore, Israel's military lifted most of the emergency orders it imposed nationwide during the pre-emptive strike mission and resulting missile and drone strikes into Israel by militia forces.
8,000 + rockets.
โ Israel ืืฉืจืื (@Israel) August 25, 2024
Every rocket has an address.
What would you do if that address was yours? pic.twitter.com/gN5WZVpWoV
The UN missions in Lebanon pleaded to "refrain from further escalatory action" and urged "a return to the cessation of hostilities" between both sides due to the risks of regional conflict.
Hezbollah is heavily armed with missiles and drones. CNN provides a threat map of the militia's missile ranges.
The IDF outnumbers Hezbollah forces by a significant margin.
Before Sunday, regional conflict risks across the Middle East have been elevated following Israel's assassinations of senior leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, with Tehran warning about retaliatory strikes.
Meanwhile, an Israeli delegation will head to Egypt on Sunday to advance cease-fire talks and hostage deals in Gaza, according to NYTimes, citing two Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Senior officials from Qatar, the US, and Egypt were brokering the talks. Hamas officials arrived in Cairo on Saturday night, though it wasn't entirely clear if they would participate in the direct negotiations.
In markets last week, Brent crude rebounded to $79/bbl after sliding to $76/bbl.
Here is Goldman's Lindsay Matcham's take on crude markets last week:
Crude; bullish factors include positioning which has dropped to an all-time low, global oil commercial stocks have pivoted to modest draws and brent call options implied vol skew jumped to its highest level since April as Iran reiterated its intentions to retaliate against Israel and amid Ukraine's incursion into Western Russia.
GS shows Brent's net managed money positioning plunged to its all-time low in data going back to 2011.
Traders are split between geopolitical concerns and a slowdown in China and the US, and there is no clear direction in Brent price action.
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