Israeli forces conducted a series of airstrikes targeting hundreds of Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon over the weekend, while Hezbollah launched its deepest rocket attacks on Israel since the start of the Gaza conflict.
This intensification of hostilities led a UN official to warn of an “imminent catastrophe” in the region.
Israeli jets struck Hezbollah missile launchers and infrastructure overnight, resulting in one fatality and an injury, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
In retaliation, Hezbollah launched over 140 rockets and drones at northern Israel, with many landing near Haifa.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that rockets targeted civilian areas, marking an escalation in the ongoing conflict. Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service reported treating four civilians for shrapnel wounds, including a 76-year-old near Haifa.
In response, hospitals in northern Israel began transferring patients to protected facilities.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, UN special coordinator for Lebanon, expressed grave concern: “With the region on the brink of an imminent catastrophe, it cannot be overstated enough: there is NO military solution that will make either side safer.”
As tensions rise, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for rocket barrages aimed at Israel’s Ramat David airbase, located 50km from the Lebanon border, its deepest strike since the war began. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, speaking from the same airbase, warned that the conflict had entered a “new phase.”
Saturday’s closure of Israeli airspace followed the assassination of Ibrahim Aqil, a high-ranking Hezbollah commander, along with more than a dozen militants.
The Israeli airstrike also claimed the lives of 37 people, including children and women, in Beirut. While Israel has not formally claimed responsibility, Hezbollah and Lebanese authorities blamed Israel for the operation.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted, “In the last few days, we have inflicted on Hezbollah a sequence of blows that it did not imagine. If Hezbollah did not understand the message, I promise you – it will understand the message.”
Despite intensifying clashes in Lebanon, Israel has maintained its military focus on Gaza, where it continues to target Hamas positions. On Saturday, Israeli forces bombed a Gaza school sheltering civilians, killing at least 22, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israel stated that the school was being used by Hamas as a base.
The recent escalation signals a possible strategic shift by Israel, balancing its military operations in Gaza with increasing attention to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah’s entry into the conflict, following Hamas’s attack on Israel in early October, has turned the northern border into a new front, heightening fears of an expanded regional conflict.
Adding to the tension, an Iraqi coalition of pro-Iran armed groups claimed responsibility for a drone attack on Israel early Sunday, further complicating the situation. Israel’s military confirmed the interception of multiple aerial threats from Iraq.