Israel launched waves of overnight airstrikes on Hezbollah targets after the Iranian-backed terrorist group fired hundreds of drones and rockets at towns and cities in northern Israel, declaring war on the “enemies of Islam.”
On Wednesday evening, the Lebanon-based Shia-jihadist group announced the launch of Operation “Eaten Straw,” invoking Quranic verses referring to the supposed destruction of a Christian-Ethiopian army at the hands of Arabs in the sixth century.
Hezbollah, in coordination with Iran, launched the most massive missile barrage on Israel since the war began twelve days ago. “For the second time overnight, sirens sounded across northern and central Israel amid coordinated rocket and missile fire from Lebanon and Iran. Alerts were also triggered in the Eilat area,” Israel’s Ynetnews reported Wednesday night. “Sirens warning of incoming missiles and drones sounded across northern Israel earlier overnight as Hezbollah launched repeated barrages toward the Galilee and Haifa area, before expanding its fire toward central Israel, including the Sharon region and Gush Dan.”
With Hezbollah trying to overwhelm Israeli air defense systems, Iran fired at the Holy City of Jerusalem. “At the same time, Iran launched missiles toward the Jerusalem area, marking a further escalation as Israel reported it had begun a broad wave of strikes against Iranian regime targets in Tehran,” the news outlet added.
The Israeli Air Force responded to the Hezbollah aggression with overnight strikes on the terrorist group’s leadership and command centers located in the Dahieh district of southern Beirut.
“The IDF is operating with determination against the Hezbollah terrorist organization following its deliberate decision to attack Israel on behalf of the Iranian regime,” the military said in a brief statement on Wednesday night. “The IDF will not tolerate any harm to Israeli civilians and will forcibly respond against any threat posed to the State of Israel.”
Thursday morning, the IDF revealed the scale of the opening strike, saying that Hezbollah’s “10 headquarters in the Dahieh area,” within the first 30 minutes of the retaliatory operation.
“Over the past hours, the IDF has begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting terror infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization across Lebanon,” the military disclosed.
Besides targeting Hezbollah’s command and control structure, IDF fighter jets struck active missile launchers aimed at Israel. “As part of the strikes, the IDF located and dismantled dozens of launchers which were ready to launch and neutralized dozens of Hezbollah operatives while they were preparing to launch toward the State of Israel,” the statement added. “Simultaneously, the IDF struck 10 terror structures in the Dahieh area within 30 minutes, including intelligence headquarters, a headquarters of the Radwan unit, and additional command centers.”
The Israeli fighter jet also struck the Air Force headquarters of Iran’s Islamic Guard (IRGC) in Beirut. The IDF confirmed hitting around 70 terror targets, “including terrorist infrastructure, weapons storage facilities, central headquarters, key terrorists, and an IRGC Air Force HQ in Beirut.”
Soldiers of the Israeli 810th ‘Mountain Brigade’ are operating deep inside the hostile territory in southern Lebanon, locating and destroying “holding position[s], rocket launchers and weapons storage facilities belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization, containing mortar shells and additional weapons,” the IDF revealed Thursday morning.
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