Israel said it has launched ‘pre-emptive’ air strikes with about 100 jets on Lebanon against Hezbollah.
According to CNN, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said on Sunday, August 25, that its fighter jets “struck and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels, aimed for immediate fire towards northern and central Israel. More than 40 launch areas in Lebanon were struck during the strikes.”
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari in a statement called the Israeli strike a ‘self-defence act’ while accusing Hezbollah of ‘preparing to fire missiles and rockets towards Israeli territory.’
He said, “We conducted preemptive strikes after seeing Hezbollah starting to get ready to attack us. We will do all it takes to protect Israel.”
Meanwhile, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group criticised Israel’s allegations and called them ‘baseless claims that contradict the facts on the ground.’
Moreover, the Israeli strike came after Hezbollah early on Sunday said that it was carrying out strikes in response to the Israeli strike that killed the top military commander, Fu’ad Shukr, and other women and children last month.
Later, the militant group announced that the ‘first phase’ of the strikes against Israel, which included 320 rockets, ‘has ended with complete success.’
