Israel strikes Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon; IDF warns residents to stay near bomb shelters

Israeli officials on Thursday were warning residents in the north to stay inside or remain near bomb shelters after the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck hundreds of Hezbollah military targets inside Lebanon. 

The IAF, using intelligence from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), struck some 100 launchers and additional “terrorist infrastructure sites” comprising about 1,000 barrels. 

Israeli officials said these barrels “were ready to be used in the immediate future to fire toward Israeli territory.” 

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties. 

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The strikes come after two days of attacks targeting thousands of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies that have been widely blamed on Israel.

Speaking for the first time since back-to-back attacks Thursday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah described the mass bombing of devices as a “severe blow” and threatened retaliation. 

During his speech, Hezbollah struck at least four times in northern Israel, and two Israeli soldiers were killed in a strike earlier in the day. Israeli warplanes flew low over Beirut while Nasrallah spoke and broke the sound barrier, scattering birds and prompting people in houses and offices to quickly open windows to prevent them from shattering.

Earlier Thursday, Hezbollah said it had targeted three Israeli military positions near the border, two of them with drones. Israeli hospitals reported eight people lightly or moderately injured. 

The attacks have heightened fears that 11 months of near-daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel will escalate into an all-out war. Hezbollah says its strikes on Israel are a show of support for Hamas. Israel’s nearly year-old war with Hamas in Gaza began after its militants led the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

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Israel has responded to Hezbollah’s attacks with strikes in southern Lebanon and has struck senior figures from the group in the capital, Beirut. The exchanges have killed hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents on each side of the border.

Israeli leaders have stepped up warnings in recent weeks of a potential larger military operation against Hezbollah, saying they are determined to stop the group’s fire to allow tens of thousands of Israelis to return to homes near the border. 

In a briefing Thursday, the Israeli defense minister said Hezbollah would “pay an increasing price” as Israel seeks to make conditions near its border with Lebanon safe enough for residents to return.

“The sequence of our military actions will continue,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.