Tel Aviv — Israel said a barrage of hundreds of rockets was fired into the north of the country on Sunday by Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in neighboring Lebanon. The assault took place after days of devastating strikes by the Israeli Defense Forceswhich said it was targeting Hezbollah sites around Beirut, the Lebanese capital.
Israeli officials said there were some injuries from Hezbollah rocket fire, but many weapons were intercepted by Israel’s advanced missile defense systems.
The IDF’s intense assault on Hezbollah saw the Israeli military fire missiles at buildings in longtime Hezbollah strongholds around Beirut over the weekend, killing dozens of people, according to IDF officials. Lebanese health.
Hezbollah began launching rockets into Israel in support of its Gaza-based Hamas allies the day after the attack began. ongoing war in the Palestinian territory with their Terrorist attack of October 7, 2023.
The exchange of fire between Israel and Iran’s so-called most powerful proxy group The situation has intensified in recent days despite new American diplomatic pressure for a ceasefire.
U.S. and Israeli officials said over the weekend, even as the death toll rose in Lebanon, that a truce deal between Hezbollah and Israel could be imminent.
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Mike Herzog told Israeli Army Radio on Monday that a ceasefire agreement could be reached “within a few days.”
The current deal “is supposed to keep Hezbollah out and allow people in the north (of Israel) to return home,” he said, referring to the Israeli government’s long-stated goal of allowing tens of thousands of residents to return home. returning to abandoned houses near the Lebanese border amid Hezbollah rocket fire.
He said that if a deal was reached, Israel would retain the right to respond to “disruptions” in the future. He said some unspecified points still needed to be finalized in the negotiations, but added: “We are close to an agreement” and “it can happen within a few days.”
Instead of any agreement so far, tension remained high Monday across Lebanon, where the the Ministry of Health said The Israeli offensive against Hezbollah killed more than 3,750 people on Sunday, injured an additional 15,630 and displaced around 1.4 million people from their homes. Most of the victims are women and children, according to the ministry.
Thaier Al-Sudani/REUTERS
All school and university classes in Beirut have been canceled by the national education ministry until January, citing security concerns following Israel’s devastating strikes last week.
This includes one of the deadliest strikes in central Beirut to date. Carried out over the weekend, the IDF attack left more than 80 dead, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The Israeli military said it was targeting Hezbollah weapons and fighters embedded within the civilian population and infrastructure around Beirut.
Beirut resident Abeer Darwish disputed the claim, saying Israel had “attacked peaceful people in their homes.”
Real Tucker And
contributed to this report.
