Israel’s second city Tel Aviv has been rocked by explosions after terror group Hezbollah launched waves of rockets back across the Lebanese border in the wake of last night’s barnstorming Israeli ground invasion.
The group let rip at targets across Israel and struck border villages with artillery fire – just hours after IDF troops conducted overnight raids into towns in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese paramilitary group targeted the border villages of Avivim, Metula and Shtula while dozens of rockets hurtled towards the northern port city of Haifa as well as the more southerly Tel Aviv.
As the dust settled on the IDF’s incursion across Israel’s northern border this morning, air raid sirens sounded across north and central Israel as air defence systems downed a spate of Hezbollah rockets – though some projectiles appeared to make it through.
Hezbollah missiles damaged roads and structures in and around Tel Aviv
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PICTURED: Structures in Lebanon are hit by IDF artillery
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Footage from social media showed the remnants of Hezbollah projectiles lying in the streets, while, elsewhere, small pillars of smoke could be seen rising from buildings struck in Tel Aviv.
The paramilitary group, still recovering from Israel’s uprooting of almost all of its command, claimed it had launched a barrage of Fadi 4 missiles at Israel’s Mossad headquarters, an IDF intelligence base in Glilot, as well as a series of other military targets.
Israel has remained tight-lipped on the impact of the strikes on its own turf.
But military spokesman Daniel Hagari, speaking on last night’s incursion, warned that Hezbollah had been planning an “October 7-style massacre” – and said the IDF assaults were a preventative course of action.
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An Israeli attack helicopter fires towards Lebanon
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Israeli soldiers ready their kit amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel
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“Hezbollah turned Lebanese villages next to Israeli villages into military bases ready for an attack on Israel,” he said.
“These localised ground raid raids will target Hezbollah strongholds that threaten Israeli towns, kibbutzim and communities along our border.”
Despite international condemnation and calls for a ceasefire, Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for a wider operation to “crush the terrorist organisation” this morning.
Military spokesman Daniel Hagari warned that Hezbollah had been planning an “October 7-style massacre”
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Then, this afternoon, Hagari said that Israeli forces had been uncovering Hezbollah tunnels and weapon caches under homes and unearthing invasion plans by the group as part of months-long undercover raids into Lebanon.
He said work to declassify the details is underway, but told reporters that dozens of the operations had uncovered detailed plans by Iran-backed Hezbollah to enter Israel and carry out the aforementioned October 7-style attack.
“Our soldiers entered Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure; exposed Hezbollah’s hidden weapons caches and seized and destroyed the weapons including advanced, Iranian-made weapons,” Hagari said.
The findings and evidence discovered under homes in villages in southern Lebanon during the raids will be presented to the international community, he added.