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Israel said it destroyed 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers in one of the most intense bombing raids into Lebanon since the war began.
The IDF said fighter jets also struck additional “terrorist infrastructure sites” consisting of some 1,000 barrels, from which missiles are fired, that were ready to be used in the “immediate future” against Israel.
No one appears to have died in the Thursday night strikes, which were focused away from major population centres to avoid further escalation.
Shortly after the attack, the IDF instructed residents of seven communities along the Lebanese border, as well as communities in the northern Golan Heights, to minimize movements, avoid gatherings, control community gates and stay close to shelters.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon urged de-escalation, saying it had witnessed “a heavy intensification of the hostilities across the Blue Line”, a UN-drawn frontier that separates Israel from Lebanon in the absence of a mutual agreement.
Lebanon’s ambassador to London warned on Thursday that the country’s army, which receives some training from British soldiers, would not “stand idly” in the event of a major ground invasion from Israel. Rami Mortada said an attack could lead to a “doomsday” scenario and a radicalisation backlash in Europe.
Israel’s Thursday night attack comes as Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, warned Israel that it “crossed a red line” with this week’s pager and walkie talkie attacks that left over 3,000 wounded and dozens killed this week.
“The enemy went beyond all controls, laws and morals,” Nasrallah said in his speech on Thursday, adding that the attacks could be considered “war crimes or a declaration of war”.
“We have suffered a heavy blow. This is war, this is conflict. We know the enemy, not only Israel, but also the US and Nato, has technological superiority,” he said.
Nasrallah also ridiculed the prospects of an Israeli ground invasion of southern Lebanon: “What they see as a threat we see as an opportunity.”
The Hezbollah leader touted “impressive achievements in the north of Israel” while warning Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, that the residents of northern Israel will only return when a ceasefire in Gaza is reached.
“We will not stop our attacks as long as the enemy continues its war in Gaza,” Nasrallah said.
Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, also weighed in and warned that Israel would be met with “a crushing response from the axis of resistance and we will witness the destruction of this bloodthirsty and criminal regime”.
“Such terrorist acts are undoubtedly the result of the Zionist regime’s despair and successive failures,” Salami added.
Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, meanwhile predicted that there were “significant opportunities but also significant risks” in what he referred to as the “new phase of the war”.
Mr Gallant said that Hezbollah feels that it is being “persecuted and the sequence of military actions will continue”.
“Our goal is to ensure the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes. As time goes by, Hezbollah will pay an increasing price,” he added.
On Friday, authorities in Taiwan and Bulgaria denied involvement in the supply chain of thousands of pagers that detonated on Tuesday in Lebanon.
How or when the pagers were weaponised and remotely detonated remains a public mystery and the hunt for answers has involved Taiwan, Bulgaria, Norway and Romania.
Security sources said Israel was responsible for the pager explosions that raised the stakes in a growing conflict between the two sides. Israel has not directly commented on the attacks.