After Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced today, Wednesday, that his forces’ retaliation for Israel’s assassination of commander Fouad Shukr had concluded following today’s attack, Israel issued a response.
War Will Come Later
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared that the war against Hezbollah would come “in the distant future,” not now.
He added that his army “foiled” Hezbollah’s operation today, despite the group launching hundreds of drones and rockets at dawn. Meanwhile, an Israeli army spokesperson told AFP on Sunday that he could “confirm that the Glilot base was not hit,” even though it was the primary target announced by Hezbollah. The military intelligence base, which also houses Mossad headquarters according to Israeli media, is located on the outskirts of Tel Aviv in central Israel.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah described it as the “primary target” of the wide-scale attack carried out in retaliation for the assassination of his military commander Fouad Shukr.
Earlier today, Nasrallah held Israel responsible for the escalation, emphasizing that the assassination of Shukr in Beirut’s southern suburbs crossed all red lines.
He added that his party delayed responding to Shukr’s assassination as a punishment to Israel, but ultimately retaliated in its own way, and now the response is over.
Nasrallah announced the attack on Israel’s Glilot base, which was a major and primary target for the party, affirming that his forces fired more than 300 Katyusha rockets during today’s strikes. He insisted that the entire Israeli narrative was false and that his attack succeeded, targeting sites related to Shukr’s assassination and striking deep into Israeli territory near Tel Aviv.
Struck 11 Israeli Military Sites
Previously, Israel claimed it had preempted a major Hezbollah attack planned for dawn and thwarted it, stating that it targeted hundreds of rocket launch sites in southern Lebanon. Israel also vowed to bomb all Lebanese areas posing a threat to its citizens.
Some Israeli sources speculated that Hezbollah intended to target Mossad headquarters and the 8200 intelligence base north of Tel Aviv. However, Hezbollah denied that its attack was thwarted, asserting that it was successfully executed by striking 11 Israeli military sites in northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights with rockets and drones.
Since late last month, international concerns have grown about the potential expansion of the conflict in the region, particularly between Israel on one side and Iran and its proxies on the other, following the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh on July 31 in Tehran and the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut’s southern suburb. Both Iranian officials and Hezbollah have vowed painful retaliation.
