Israel and Hezbollah engage in intense cross-border fighting

ADRIAN MA, HOST:

Today, Israel and Hezbollah exchanged some of the heaviest cross-border fighting in months. Now, the region has been bracing for this escalation ever since Israel killed a Hezbollah commander in Beirut in July. And today’s fighting came as cease-fire talks to end the war in Gaza continue. NPR’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi is in Northern Israel in the city of Haifa and joins us now. Afternoon, Hadeel.

HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Good afternoon.

MA: Could you just catch us up on what happened this morning?

AL-SHALCHI: Sure. So Israeli warplanes struck dozens of targets inside southern Lebanon pre-dawn today. The Israeli military actually called it a preemptive attack. It said it received intelligence that Hezbollah was about to launch its own major offensive. Hezbollah struck back. But then by late morning, both sides said that they were done for the day, and the situation deescalated. The Israeli military said one soldier was killed, and two others were injured. And the Lebanese Health Ministry said three people were killed.

MA: OK, so Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire ever since the beginning of the war in Gaza. What makes today’s cross-border fighting different?

AL-SHALCHI: Yeah, so two things, I would say. First, the size – this was one of the largest attacks launched by either side. The Israeli military said 100 fighter jets bombed more than 40 Hezbollah targets. And then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was able to intercept thousands of rockets aimed at Israel. And then Hezbollah said it fired more than 320 rockets and a large number of drones at nearly a dozen Israeli military bases. So really, the scale of this exchange was quite impressive.

And then second, Hezbollah announced that this was their first stage of attacks to avenge Israel’s killing of a top Hezbollah leader in Beirut. His name was Fuad Shukr. His assassination, along with the killing of Hamas’ leader in Tehran, has been – they’ve been keeping the region on edge. You know, everyone’s worried about an all-out war breaking out. So it’s unclear whether what happened today is the punitive strike that the region was waiting for, but we’ll have to wait and see how today’s attacks really play out.

MA: OK, and what has the reaction been in Northern Israel, where you are?

AL-SHALCHI: Yeah. So well, at least here in Haifa, the streets are pretty quiet, and some say they’re afraid to walk about. Some people said they woke up early, around 4:00 a.m., to the sounds of the rockets exploding. You know, since the beginning of the war with Gaza and when Hezbollah and Israel started trading fire, thousands of Israelis have been evacuated from towns and cities in the north to places like Haifa and Tel Aviv. One of those people is 80-year-old Avraham Moreno from a border town called Shlomi. He said he and his wife have been living in a Haifa hotel since October 16. We asked him how he felt about the attack this morning.

AVRAHAM MORENO: (Non-English language spoken).

AL-SHALCHI: Moreno said he wanted the attack to be stronger than it was, and he says it should have come a lot sooner. And, you know, many people we’ve talked to here are saying just that. They were mad at the government for not having a heavier hand, and many said that they preferred just an all-out war with Hezbollah to finally end this conflict.

MA: What are the leaders of Israel and Hezbollah saying?

AL-SHALCHI: Yeah. So Prime Minister Netanyahu said that this attack wasn’t, quote, “the end of the story” and that his military would keep going with its aerial attacks on Hezbollah. And then Hezbollah’s leader actually – Hassan Nasrallah just spoke a few hours ago. He accused Israel of crossing, quote, “all red lines” when it targeted civilians to kill the militants’ top commander in Beirut. He said Hezbollah refrained from hitting any civilians and only attacked critical military assets, and Israel denies that any Hezbollah rockets hit their bases.

MA: NPR’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi reporting from Haifa in Northern Israel. Thank you, Hadeel.

AL-SHALCHI: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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