Israel and Hezbollah in major missile exchange as escalation fears grow

Israel’s air strikes started before Hezbollah began its barrage, Nasrallah said. Netanyahu said these “pre-emptive” strikes had foiled a much larger Hezbollah barrage but Nasrallah said they had had little impact.
Hezbollah’s own rocket and drone strikes were focused on an intelligence base near Tel Aviv, Nasrallah said. Netanyahu said all the drones targeting what he called a strategic location in central Israel were intercepted.
A security source in Lebanon said at least 40 Israeli strikes had hit various towns in the country’s south in one of the densest bombardments since hostilities began in October.
Hezbollah said the strikes killed two of its fighters in al-Tiri. The Hezbollah-allied Shi’ite Muslim group Amal said a strike on Khiam killed one of its fighters.
In northern Israel, warning sirens sounded and explosions were heard in several areas as Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defence system shot down rockets coming from southern Lebanon.
“Israel should, as it did this morning, deliver a pre-emptive strike. But if Hezbollah continues Israel should strike very hard to remove the threat from Hezbollah once and for all,” said Yuval Peleg, 73, from Haifa.
A resident of the southern Lebanese town of Zibqeen told Reuters he had awakened “to the sound of planes and the loud explosions of rockets – even before the dawn prayer. It felt like the apocalypse”.
The White House said US President Joe Biden was following events. “We will keep supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, and we will keep working for regional stability,” National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said.