Reeling from a wave of audacious Israeli attacks, Hizbullah on Sunday responded with a barrage of missiles that went deeper into Israeli territory than most previous salvos, reinforcing fears of a broader regional war.
Air raid sirens went off in the early hours of Sunday in scores of towns in northern Israel, and officials tightened restrictions on public gatherings in areas including the Golan Heights and Galilee. But most of Hizbullah’s missiles, fired from Lebanon, where it is based, were intercepted by Israel’s air defence system, and there were reports of only minor injuries.
The barrage came after dozens of Israeli warplanes pounded southern Lebanon a day earlier. The Israeli military cast the strikes, on Hizbullah targets, as a pre-emptive move against the militant group’s missile attacks.
But air raid sirens continued to go off in northern Israel as the sun rose on Sunday. Hizbullah said it had targeted Israeli military bases, including one near the coastal city of Haifa.
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The situation was also tense in Lebanon, where the detonation of pagers and walkie-talkies — widely attributed to Israel — and an Israeli air strike have created chaos in recent days. The attacks killed dozens of people, including some of Hizbullah’s top commanders, and injured thousands. They also fuelled fears that Israel’s military was shifting its focus toward Hizbullah, and away from Hamas in the Gaza Strip, something it had been warning for months that it would do.
The war between Hamas and Israel is now nearly a year old. Over that period, Hizbullah has regularly fired missiles at Israel. But the most recent attacks represent a step-up in the conflict along Israel’s northern border.
Lebanese authorities said the death toll in Friday’s Israeli air strikes had risen to at least 37, including three children. Hizbullah confirmed the death of a top commander, Ibrahim Akil, who oversaw its operations against Israel. He was wanted by the US for his role in two 1983 bombing attacks in Beirut that killed more than 350 people.
Meanwhile, Israel has continued carrying out attacks in Gaza, saying it struck a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City on Saturday because it believed Hamas militants were using the building as a command centre. Palestinian health authorities said the attack killed 22 people.
Israeli troops on Sunday raided Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah in the West Bank, the network said. The news outlet’s journalists were ordered to leave the premises and told that their office would be shut. In May, Israeli officials ordered Al Jazeera to shut down operations in Israel.
- This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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