Israeli defense minister said strikes would continue until it was safe for evacuated people in the north to return to their homes.
The Hezbollah terrorist group continued its rocket attacks on Israel overnight and early into the morning of Sept. 22, injuring four and causing serious damage to civilian structures. Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes carried out strikes across Lebanon’s south.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the strikes would continue until it was safe for people evacuated from the north to return—setting the stage for a larger conflict as Hezbollah has vowed to fight on until a cease-fire is reached in the parallel Gaza war.
“In recent days we have inflicted a series of blows on Hezbollah that it never imagined,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement. “If Hezbollah has not understood the message, I promise you, it will understand the message.”
The conflict—which sharply escalated over the past week—has raged since Hezbollah opened a second front against Israel, saying it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians facing an Israeli offensive further south in Gaza.
The Israeli military said it struck around 290 targets on Sept. 21, including thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels, and that it would continue to hit more.
On Sunday, the Israeli Defense Forces said that Hezbollah had launched approximately 150 rockets, cruise missiles, and UAVs toward Israeli territory overnight.
“With high interception rates, the multi-layered aerial defense effort prevented significant damage to the home front,” the IDF said.
The majority of the attacks were aimed at northern Israel, triggering sirens in the western and lower Galilee regions, and hitting open fields, as well as homes and cars.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were ongoing retribution for Sept. 17 and 18, when more than 37 Hezbollah members were killed and thousands more injured by exploding pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon. Victims included the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon and the sons of some prominent Hezbollah leaders, as well as two children, including a 16-year-old Hezbollah operative from south Lebanon.
By Melanie Sun
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