Israel threatens to wipe out Hezbollah in 'total war' as militants fire fresh barrage of rockets from Lebanon
- Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, and Israel have been trading near-daily fire since Oct. 7
Lebanon's Hezbollah fired a fresh barrage of more than a dozen rockets into northern Israel today just hours after Israel warned that it could wipe out the Iran-backed militant group should 'total war' break out.
Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, and Israel have been trading near-daily fire since the Gaza war was triggered by the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on southern Israel.
But ongoing clashes have seemingly riled Israeli officials in recent weeks, with thousands of Israelis still living in temporary accommodation after being evacuated from their homes near the northern border months ago.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz warned Hezbollah on Tuesday that it would be destroyed in the event of a 'total war' and said Tel-Aviv is considering ramping up hostilities.
'We are very close to the moment when we will decide to change the rules of the game against Hezbollah and Lebanon,' he said in a statement issued by his office hours after a US envoy visited Beirut in an attempt to help de-escalate the conflict.
'In a total war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be hit hard.'
Mourners carry the coffin of Sally Skaiki, a day after she was killed along with Dalal Ezzedine in an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese village of Jannata, during their funeral in Deir Kanoun, east of Tyre on June 15, 2024
An interception of a rocket launched from Lebanon to Israel over the border, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, close the Israeli border with Lebanon June 13, 2024
Smoke billows from fires ignited by Israeli shelling on the forested areas of the southern Lebanese village of Deir Mimas on June 15, 2024
An Israeli soldier checks a house that was hit by a Hezbollah rocket in Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel near the Lebanon border, on June 16, 2024
Mourners and relatives carry the coffins of Dalal Ezzedine and Sally Skaiki, a day after they were killed in an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese village of Jannata, during their funeral in Deir Kanoun, east of Tyre on June 15, 2024
'Approximately 15 projectiles were identified from Lebanon toward the area of Kiryat Shmona, several of which were intercepted by IDF (army) aerial defence array,' the Israeli military said in a statement today.
'IDF artillery struck the sources of fire,' it said, adding the incoming fire did not cause any casualties.
The military said its warplanes also struck a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Tyre and infrastructure in Khiam in Lebanon.
Hezbollah meanwhile said on Wednesday it fired 'dozens of Katyusha rockets and artillery rounds' at a barracks in Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel in retaliation for the 'Israeli enemy attacks' on Yarun and Khiam.
It also said that the Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed three Hezbollah fighters, giving no further details.
The latest tit-for-tat comes as US presidential envoy Amos Hochstein visited Israel and Lebanon this week, calling for an 'urgent' de-escalation on the border.
But his efforts to broker a ceasefire between the IDF and Hezbollah were not successful, as the Israeli military said yesterday this week it had approved speculative operational plans in the event chiefs ordered a military offensive in Lebanon, adding to fears that the IDF may find themselves fighting a war on two fronts.
The Israel-Lebanon clashes have killed at least 473 people in Lebanon, according to several tallies.
Most of those killed were fighters but at least 80 of the victims were civilians.
Israeli authorities say at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed in the country's north.
A view of the targeted area after Hezbollah carried out one of the largest missile attacks on northern Israel on June 12, 2024
An Israeli soldier checks a house that was hit by a Hezbollah rocket in Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel near the Lebanon border, on June 16, 2024
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) shakes hands with the Senior Advisor to US President, Amos Hochstein (L), during their meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, 18 June 2024
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli air strike in the southern Lebanese town of Khiam, as seen from an area near Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, 19 June 2024
Relatives visit the graves of killed Hezbollah fighters during Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura near the border with Israel on June 17, 2024
With the Israeli offensive in Gaza now in its ninth month, international criticism has grown steadily over the US' support for Israel's air and ground attacks.
The top United Nations court has concluded there is a 'plausible risk of genocide' in Gaza due to the indiscriminate nature of Israel's bombing campaigns.
Israel strongly denies these allegations and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, saying militants operate among the population.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Tuesday that the United States was withholding weapons needed for the war in Gaza.
But US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that those 2,000-pound bombs are the only weapons under review.
He told reporters that 'Everything else is moving as it normally would.'
Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 37,100 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
The war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians who are facing widespread hunger.
Israel launched the war after Hamas' October 7 attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and abducted about 250.
