Can Israel’s Hezbollah attacks help return civilians to the north?
Israel’s deadly attacks on Hezbollah have been dramatic and damaging to the Lebanese group, but whether they’ll help in the stated military goal of returning tens of thousands of Israeli civilians to the country’s north remains to be seen, a Beirut-based analyst says.
Security and political affairs analyst Ali Rizk says the plan to safely returning Israelis is still in jeopardy as Hezbollah continues to fire rockets and drones at will.
“These operations do make for show and allow Netanyahu to further promote himself as being ‘Mr Security’, but on the ground I’m not sure how much a difference they’re going to make,” Rizk told Al Jazeera.
“Hezbollah will always possess this capability to carry out these missile attacks.”
‘Everything is ready,’ says Israeli air force chief
Israel’s air force says fighter jets attacked “thousands” of Hezbollah rocket-launch sites pointing towards the country.
Heavy artillery was also fired into several areas in southern Lebanon over the last few hours, the army said in a statement.
“We are continuing to maintain the highest possible level of readiness in the air force – especially in defence, but this has been for a while, and in the offence. We placed all the air force’s capabilities … on the shelf. Everything is ready,” said air force chief Major-General Tomer Bar.
“Now, in accordance with the developments, we are taking the plans that are most suitable for the context.” The military “continues to damage and degrade the terrorist capabilities and infrastructure of the terrorist organization Hezbollah”, it said.
Israeli fighter jets striking ‘widely’ in southern Lebanon: Military
The Israeli military said dozens of warplanes are attacking Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon as cross-border exchanges intensify amid growing fears of all-out war with Lebanon.
Israel also announced additional security measures for the country’s north.
“In the last hour we are attacking widely in southern Lebanon following the identification of Hezbollah’s preparations to fire into Israeli territory,” military spokesperson Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement.
“Dozens of air force aircraft are currently attacking terror targets and launchers to eliminate threats against the citizens of Israel.”
Earlier the military said it hit “thousands” of rocket launcher barrels and other targets belonging to Hezbollah.
