Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged attacks across the Lebanon-Israel border in a marked escalation of the tit-for-tat engagement they have been undertaking since October 7.
Here’s everything you need to know about what happened on Sunday morning.
What exactly happened?
Israeli jets attacked southern Lebanon in the early hours of Sunday morning, saying it was a preemptive strike against Hezbollah rocket launchers that were preparing to attack Israel.
The Israeli military said it detected that Hezbollah would launch hundreds of missiles towards central Israel at 5am, Israel’s Army Radio said, so it attacked half an hour beforehand with 100 Israeli jets.
The chief of the Lebanese group Hassan Nasrallah said that the group launched hundreds of drones and rockets on northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of commander Fuad Shukr last month.
In a televised speech, he also insisted that the Israelis had not uncovered the attack and rejected Israeli claims that its military had destroyed the Lebanese group’s rocket launchers.
“Talk about how the resistance [Hezbollah] was going to launch 8,000 or 6,000 rockets and drones and that [Israel] thwarted this … are false claims,” Nasrallah said, adding that “dozens of rocket launchers” were destroyed – but that this occurred after Hezbollah’s attack on Israel had already taken place.
Was anybody hurt?
Lebanon’s NNA news agency reported one person was critically injured in a drone attack in Qasimia in southern Lebanon, and a later Israeli air raid killed one person in the Lebanese town of Khiam.
There are also reports of some injuries in the Israeli city of Acre.
The Israeli military said a member of its navy was killed and two others wounded in combat in northern Israel.
“Petty Officer First Class, David Moshe Ben Shitrit, aged 21… fell during combat in northern Israel,” the military said in a statement, adding that he was from the navy and that two others were also wounded.
Who hit what?
Hezbollah says its attack hit 11 Israeli military installations, including the Meron base and four sites in the occupied Golan Heights.
In his televised speech, Nasrallah said that the main target of the operation was the Israeli intelligence based at Glilot, near Tel Aviv. He added that the group had no plans to hit targets in Tel Aviv, including Ben Gurion airport and the Israeli Defence Ministry building.
He added that while the Lebanese group had no intention to use precision missiles in today’s attack, it may use them in the near future.
Israel says it hit thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers.
So what’s happening right now?
The situation seems to have calmed, at least momentarily.
Hezbollah has denied Israel’s claims of hitting its launch sites. Nasrallah made clear that the group deemed its attack to be a success, but that it would wait and see what the Israeli response would be.
“At this current stage, the country can take a breath and relax,” Nasrallah said.
Israel has issued security directives for its north, but otherwise, matters seem calmer with Ben Gurion airport reopening after being closed for a few hours.
Why today?
The day of the attacks coincides with Arbaeen, 40 days after the killing of Imam al-Hussein, the third Shia imam. According to a Hezbollah statement, they chose this day because it commemorates it as a day of martyrdom.
In his speech, Nasrallah explained that the group had decided to wait to respond to the killing of Fuad Shukr for a number of reasons, including to allow time for Gaza ceasefire talks to progress.
Does this mean war between Hezbollah and Israel?
According to Sami Nader, director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, this has “the potential to draw the whole region into the full-blown war”, but Hezbollah and Israel “are trying to avoid” that.
The Reuters news agency, quoting Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said: “Israel does not seek a full-scale war but will act according to development on the ground.”
Nasrallah said the Iranian-backed group’s barrage had been completed “as planned”.
However, the group would assess the impact of its strikes and “if the result is not enough, then we retain the right to respond another time”, he said.
The United States, meanwhile, has pledged ironclad support for Israel and moved a vast array of military assets to the Middle East in recent weeks to try and deter any retaliatory strike by Iran or Hezbollah. The USS Abraham Lincoln recently joined another aircraft carrier strike group in the region.
What happens next?
It is not clear.
Analyst Sami Nader told Al Jazeera that these events signal a “major escalation in terms of scope of operation and intensity”.
However, according to Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, the language being used by Israel has focused on “self-defence” and protecting Israelis from attacks, which seems to indicate that Israel will not pursue escalation at this time.
“The clear message from Hezbollah is in many ways the retaliation is now over if, according to Nasrallah, it served its purpose…That means Israel will no longer act with little restraint in Lebanon,” Khodr added.
What does this mean for Gaza ceasefire efforts?
The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent months trying to broker an agreement for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of scores of hostages held by Hamas. Those efforts have gained urgency in recent weeks, as diplomats view such a deal as the best hope for lowering regional tensions.
Hezbollah has said it will halt its attacks along the border if there is a ceasefire in Gaza. It’s unclear whether Hezbollah or Iran would halt or scale back their threatened retaliatory strikes over the killing of Shukr and Haniyeh, but neither wants to be seen as the spoiler of any ceasefire deal.
Despite the intense diplomacy, major gaps remain, including Israel’s demand for a lasting presence along two strategic corridors in Gaza, a demand rejected by Hamas and Egypt.
