IRIA News

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Israel launched a series of airstrikes across southern Lebanon on August 25, 2024, targeting Hezbollah positions. Israel describes the attack as a preemptive attempt to thwart a large-scale rocket and missile attack by Hezbollah, a powerful Shiite militant group based in Lebanon and backed by Iran.

In response to Israeli airstrikes, Hezbollah retaliated by firing hundreds of rockets and drones into Israel, describing the barrage as a “response” to the assassination of a top commander, Fouad Shukur, in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month.

The exchange of fire between the two sides, which lasted several hours, marked one of the most intense confrontations since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

By mid-morning, both sides had halted their attacks, signaling a temporary cessation of hostilities. This pause in the fighting coincided with ongoing high-level talks in Cairo, where Egypt was hosting diplomats from various nations to secure a cease-fire in the 10-month-old Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The broader hope among diplomats is that a cease-fire in Gaza could help ease tensions across the region, including the volatile Israeli-Lebanese border.

🛑BREAKING: In a self-defense act to remove Hezbollah’s threat, the IDF is striking targets in south Lebanon, from which the Iranian-backed Lebanese terror organization was planning to launch their attacks on Israeli civilians.

Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks are targeting… pic.twitter.com/BtuUAqtgsv

— Israel ישראל (@Israel) August 25, 2024

Casualties and claims

Both Israel and Hezbollah asserted that their respective attacks were aimed solely at military targets. According to the Israeli military, one soldier from the navy was killed and two others were wounded, either by an interceptor or by shrapnel from one. Hezbollah reported the deaths of two of its fighters and a militant from an allied group during the exchange.

Hezbollah characterized its assault on Israeli military positions as an “initial response” to the killing of Shukur, with the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, expected to address the situation later in the day. Israel, for its part, claimed to have eliminated “thousands of rockets” that were aimed at its northern region and shot down several drones heading towards central Israel. “I repeat — this is not the end of the story,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned, suggesting that further military action could be forthcoming.

The escalation of violence had immediate repercussions for civilians on both sides of the border. Air raid sirens blared throughout northern Israel, leading to the temporary closure of Israel’s international airport and the diversion of flights. Israeli authorities also imposed restrictions on movement in several areas, though these were lifted later in the day.

Lebanon’s caretaker Economy Minister, Amin Salam, offered a cautiously optimistic assessment after an emergency government meeting, stating that officials were “feeling a bit more optimistic” about a de-escalation. “We feel more reassured since both sides confirmed that the expected operations ended,” Salam said.

The United States was also closely monitoring the situation. According to a National Security Council spokesperson, U.S. President Joe Biden was following developments in Israel and Lebanon. The Pentagon reported that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, while Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown, is also on a regional visit that included stops in Israel, Egypt, and Jordan.

Despite the pause in hostilities, analysts warned that the situation remains precarious. Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Institute, described the exchange of fire as “still within the rules of engagement and unlikely at this point to lead to an all-out war.” However, she cautioned that the situation could change rapidly.

Danny Citrinowicz, an expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, suggested that Hezbollah might be seeking to “balance the equation without escalating into war.” Both sides, he noted, are likely aiming to assert their narratives in a way that allows them to claim victory while avoiding a wider conflict.

Hezbollah’s decision to engage in hostilities is closely tied to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The militant group began attacking Israel shortly after Hamas launched its deadly incursion into southern Israel on October 7, which triggered the current conflict in Gaza. The exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah has since become an almost daily occurrence, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.

As the region braces for what may come next, all eyes are on the cease-fire talks in Cairo. Diplomats hope that a truce in Gaza could prevent the conflict from spilling over into a broader regional war, but the situation remains highly volatile. Hezbollah has indicated that it will halt its strikes on Israel if a cease-fire is reached in Gaza, but whether this fragile peace can hold remains to be seen.