Tensions escalated between Israel and Hezbollah over the weekend as the two struck one another with attacks.
First, on Friday, the IDF announced that it had taken out senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil following an airstrike on Beirut. Other senior leaders were eliminated in this strike as well. The announcement was made by IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari.
Hezbollah later confirmed Aqil’s death, referring to it as a “treacherous Israeli assassination.” The Lebanese terror organization said 15 other members were killed in the strike.
Israel decided to keep up the pressure with another set of airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday. According to IDF announcements, the military struck about 290 targets, which reportedly included “thousands of launcher barrels, alongside additional terrorist infrastructure in multiple areas in southern Lebanon.”
In retaliation, Hezbollah launched nearly 150 projectiles into Israel on Sunday as one Hezbollah leader declared an “open-ended battle” between his organization and Israel. Later in the evening, Hezbollah announced more specific attacks targeting military sites in northern Israel.
The IDF reportedly discovered that Hezbollah was looking to fire again on Israel. In another announcement posted to X, Hagari told the people of southern Lebanon to evacuate the area and allow Israel to eliminate the threat.
Since that announcement, Israel has renewed its targeted strikes on terrorist infrastructure in the region. It has attacked hundreds of targets so far, with reports of almost 200 deaths as a result. Those numbers are preliminary, but reports suggest that these strikes have become the deadliest barrage between Israel and Lebanon since their 2006 conflict.
Before these recent strikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reassured Israelis that he was focused on changing “the security balance” in their region.
The goal of these attacks is to “return the northern residents” of Israel “safely to their homes,” according to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
But the U.S. is displeased with Israel’s actions. US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told ABC’s “This Week” that a wider conflict with Lebanon is not in Israel’s “best interest.”