Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hezbollah and Iran that the recent airstrikes in Lebanon are a preliminary measure and not the final response.
On Sunday, in a Cabinet briefing, Netanyahu stated that the airstrikes had destroyed most of the short-range rockets that Hezbollah had intended to use to target Israeli civilians and military installations in the Galilee area. He also said that the IDF had intercepted all the drones launched by Hezbollah toward strategic sites in and around Tel Aviv, including the headquarters of the Mossad.
Nearly 100 Israeli warplanes undertook pre-dawn bombings, targeting "hundreds of armed launchers and thousands of launcher barrels," the majority aimed at northern Israel, said Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the IDF. It was described elsewhere as a preemptive strike against danger that was imminent. Hagari also confirmed that most of the rockets and drones launched by Hezbollah had been intercepted.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the firing of 320 rockets on a number of military sites in northern Israel and described the attack as a "first stage" response to the killing of its senior commander, Fouad Shokor, in Beirut. It said it also flew attack drones over central Israel and that it had done damage to the infrastructure.
IDF sources have denied military installations were hit or damaged and said no Israeli troops were killed in those operations, but a civilian woman was lightly injured from shards of bomb shrapnel.
"This morning's target was what translates to a military intelligence base deep inside Arab land, 110 kilometers from the border," said Nasrallah of the attacks, which likely struck at the Glilot military base in the center of the country that is home to the Mossad and other top military intelligence functions.
The conflict continues to destroy any chances of peace. Two Hezbollah fighters were killed, and a member of an ally group, militant, has reportedly lost his life. The other death was of an Israeli navy officer, whereas two others got injured when shrapnel from an interceptor missile hit their patrol boat.
On Sunday evening, Hamas's military wing announced that it had launched an "M90" rocket in the direction of Tel Aviv in response to "Israeli massacres against civilians." The IDF stated that sirens were set off in Rishon LeTsiyon, south of Tel Aviv, but the rocket fell in an open area.
Hamas, for its part, rejected new terms Israel has set for a cease-fire in Gaza, dimming prospects for any imminent progress in the latest round of US-brokered talks. A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan said, it will not accept any modifications of the terms that it accepted at a truce in 2, of July.
Nasrallah, for his part, downplayed the effect of Israeli raids and claimed his group had reached its goals in the latest air campaign. He added that Katyusha rockets were fired by Hezbollah in the attempt to guide Israel defense's Iron Dome in the wrong way, so drones could go through into Israeli airspace and return. The number of drones that hit their target Nasrallah did not disclose, although he said that the guided missiles of Hezbollah were still preserved and ready to be used in next attacks. He, therefore, mentioned that the previous reactions taken were not enough, hence other incidences of responses could be looked into.
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