Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia backed by Iran, have engaged in some of their heaviest cross-border air attacks in months. Israeli aircraft bombarded southern Lebanon on Sunday to stop what Israel said were preparations for a major Hezbollah attack. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia, later said it had fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel as retribution for Israel’s killing of a senior commander in July, though Israel said there had been little damage.
Here’s a look at how the latest strikes unfolded on Sunday morning in Israel and Lebanon (times are local and approximate):
5 a.m. (11 p.m. Eastern on Saturday): The Israeli military says that its fighter jets have begun bombarding targets in Lebanon belonging to Hezbollah. The military “identified the Hezbollah terrorist organization preparing to fire missiles and rockets toward Israeli territory,” it says.
In a video statement, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, says that Israel had begun “a self-defense act to remove these threats,” describing Hezbollah’s preparations as “extensive.” Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv is closed to flights.
5:32 a.m.: Air-raid sirens blare across northern Israel, warning of an incoming rocket barrage. The Israeli news media circulates footage showing Israeli air defenses intercepting rockets fired from Lebanon and describes the barrage as longer than has been typical in the months of intensified launches by Hezbollah.
6:09 a.m.: Hezbollah confirms that it launched an attack as part of an “initial response” to the Israeli assassination of Fuad Shukr, one of the group’s most senior commanders, last month. The group says it targeted Israeli military bases and aerial defense batteries, and fired drones toward a significant but unspecified military target.
6:20 a.m.: Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, announces that a state of emergency is in place, limiting public gatherings. Mr. Gallant’s office says he spoke by phone with Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III to update him on Israeli actions “to thwart an imminent threat against the State of Israel.”
6:30 a.m.: Admiral Hagari, at a news briefing, says Israel is “removing threats to the Israeli home front.” He signals that attacks aiming deep into Israel may have been neutralized, saying that Ben-Gurion airport will soon reopen for flights.
6:55 a.m. Hezbollah releases a second statement saying it completed the first phase of its attack. It says the assault included launching both attack drones and 320 rockets at 11 military installations in northern Israel. The rockets were aimed at Israeli military sites in an attempt to facilitate the drones’ passage toward targets deeper inside Israel, according to Hezbollah.
8:12 a.m.: The Israeli military says that about 100 Israeli fighter jets were involved in the Israeli operation, which attacked and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launch barrels in southern Lebanon, most of which had been aimed toward northern and central Israel. Nadav Shoshani, a military spokesman, tells reporters Hezbollah fired hundreds of drones and rockets but caused little damage.
8:26 a.m.: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel releases a statement with his remarks to a cabinet meeting a short time earlier. He reiterates his pledge to create the conditions for tens of thousands of Israelis displaced from their homes by Hezbollah attacks near the border to go back home. “We are determined to do everything to protect our country, to return the residents of the north safely to their homes and continue to uphold a simple rule: Whoever harms us, we will harm them,” he said, according to his office.
8:58 a.m.: Hezbollah releases a new statement saying its military operations were “finished for the day,” and denies Israel’s claim that it had thwarted a major attack. It says its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, will speak about the day’s events Sunday evening.
11:08 a.m.: Admiral Hagari says that Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah are continuing and that “several areas in southern Lebanon” were hit over the previous hour. The pace and intensity of the Israeli strikes appears to be slowing.
12:42 p.m.: The Israeli military lifts the restrictions on public gatherings that it had imposed hours earlier.
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