Israel targets Hezbollah in Lebanon airstrikes
The Israel Defense Forces said some 290 Hezbollah targets, including thousands of launchers and additional terrorist facilities, had been struck in southern Lebanon over the past day.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday that they were continuing major attacks on terrorist targets in southern Lebanon for a second day after detecting Hezbollah preparing to launch artillery attacks on Israeli territory.
“Dozens of Israeli Air Force aircraft are currently striking terrorist targets and rocket launchers to eliminate the threat to Israeli civilians,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a translated statement at a press conference on Saturday.
The attack killed at least two top Hezbollah commanders and more than a dozen of the group’s members.
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Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (left) assesses the situation. (Ariel Hermoni)
“As we have done all day, we are systematically targeting and degrading Hezbollah’s launch capabilities and eliminating their commanders and terrorists,” Haghari said. “In total, we struck approximately 400 Hezbollah launchers today, including several thousand rocket launchers.”
Hagari told Israelis: “There is a possibility that rockets and other threats may be launched towards Israeli territory in the near future. I urge you to strictly adhere to Home Front Command’s defense guidelines. We are in the middle of a war and it is important that we remain vigilant.”
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Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (center) assesses the situation on Saturday along with the IDF chief of staff, the Defense Ministry secretary-general and other senior defense officials. (Ariel Hermoni)
He said on Friday that the IDF had killed Hezbollah’s operational chief, Ibrahim Akil, and 15 commanders of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Unit.
Ahmed Wahbi, who led military operations for Hezbollah’s special forces, Radwan, until early 2024, was also killed in the attack.
Mourners in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday raised their hands and shouted slogans during a funeral procession for a Hezbollah fighter killed in an Israeli strike on Friday. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussain)
“They met to plan terror attacks and infiltration into Israeli territory, but we knew their location and we preempted them with a precise and powerful operation led by our intelligence services and the Israeli air force,” Hagari said.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also called for an emergency meeting of his special security cabinet at the Israel Defense Forces headquarters in Tel Aviv on Saturday night over the Lebanon attacks.
The State Department also issued an advisory on Saturday, urging Americans to withdraw from Lebanon “while commercial options still remain.”
“At this time, commercial flights are available but at reduced capacity. If the security situation worsens, civilian options for exiting the country may be unavailable,” the Lebanese “do not travel” advisory said. “U.S. Embassies may not be able to assist U.S. nationals who wish to remain.”
The Israel Defense Forces said some 290 targets had been struck in Lebanon over the past day, including thousands of “launchers and additional terrorist infrastructure.”
Fox News Digital’s Ben Evansky contributed to this report.
