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The conflict in the Middle East continue to intensify as Israel launched a wave of air and naval strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, hours after the latter, which is an Iranian-backed group, fired rockets and drones at the Israeli city of Haifa.
Hezbollah said its attack was in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and for continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon following the collapse of a November 2024 ceasefire. Sirens sounded across northern Israel early Monday, but the Israeli military said most projectiles were intercepted or landed in open areas, with no casualties reported.
Israel responded with heavy bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahieh, and parts of southern Lebanon. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the strikes targeted senior Hezbollah operatives, command centres and weapons storage sites. Lebanese authorities said at least 52 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Monday.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed that Hezbollah would pay a “heavy price” and described the group’s leader, Naim Qassem, as a “marked target for elimination.” The IDF said more than 70 weapons facilities and launch sites were hit during the day, and warned residents of over 50 villages in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of further strikes.
Thick smoke rose over Dahieh as buildings caught fire, and roads leading out of Beirut were jammed with residents fleeing the area. Witnesses described scenes of panic as explosions rocked neighbourhoods near the airport.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned Hezbollah’s rocket fire as “irresponsible” and announced that the government was banning the group’s military activities, stating that decisions of war and peace rest with the state alone. President Joseph Aoun also denounced the Israeli strikes while warning against dragging Lebanon into a broader regional conflict.
Hezbollah defended its actions, saying it would continue to confront what it called Israeli and US aggression. The group, which has close ties to Iran, had been widely expected to enter the escalating conflict between Iran, Israel and the United States.
The wider crisis erupted after joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran’s leadership and military infrastructure over the weekend, followed by Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel and Gulf states hosting US bases. The region now faces the prospect of prolonged fighting, with Israel’s military chief warning of “many prolonged days of combat ahead.”