28 August 2024

Israel Strikes Hezbollah in Lebanon and Says It Thwarted Major Attack

Aaron Boxerman, Isabel Kershner, Euan Ward and Julian E. Barne

Here are the latest developments.

Israeli warplanes bombarded dozens of targets in southern Lebanon early Sunday against the powerful militia Hezbollah, which then fired a barrage of missiles and drones toward Israel in one of the largest exchanges of cross-border fire since the war in the Gaza Strip began.

Both Israel and Hezbollah’s leaders declared their operations a success: Israel said its attack was a pre-emptive defense against Hezbollah rockets, and Hezbollah said it had retaliated for the killing of a senior commander in the Beirut suburbs last month.

Within hours of the predawn back-and-forth, the two sides were using the language of containment. Hezbollah said its military operation had “finished for the day” with its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, denying that Israel had disrupted its attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that while Israel had successfully intercepted the Hezbollah attack, “what happened today is not the final word,” and the Israeli military said it was still carrying out air attacks against Hezbollah targets.

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