On 25 August 2024,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

struck targets in southern

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, followed by strikes by

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

. Israel framed its strikes as preemptively striking Hezbollah rocket launching sites before a planned 5 AM Hezbollah attack. According to Lebanese officials, the

Israeli military The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, an ...

struck forty locations in southern Lebanon with about 100 fighter jets. Shortly after, according to Hezbollah, it launched over 320 rockets at northern Israel as "the first phase" of its response to Israel's July assassination of senior commander Fuad Shukr.

Background

Israeli assassinations

On 30 July 2024, Fuad Shukr, a

militant leader, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. Israel has previously accused Shukr of involvement in the Majdal Shams attack three days prior that killed twelve children and young adults in the disputed

Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...

. On 31 July 2024,

Ismail Haniyeh Ismail Haniyeh (, ; 29 January 1962 – 31 July 2024) was a Palestinian politician who served as third chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from May 2017 until Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, his assassination in July 2024. He also served as ...

, the political leader of Hamas, was killed in a guesthouse in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. In response to the assassination,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

has stated that it would respond militarily, accusing Israel of Haniyeh's death; Hezbollah secretary-general

Hassan Nasrallah Hassan Nasrallah (, ; 31 August 196027 September 2024) was a Lebanese cleric and politician who served as the third secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militia, from 1992 until his assassination in 2024. Bor ...

stated that the organization had entered new phase in its conflict with Israel in response to Shukr and Haniyeh's deaths.

Anticipated Hezbollah strikes

In the days preceding the strikes, the US and Israel received intelligence showing Hezbollah was preparing to initiate an attack.

Strikes

Israel

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari stated that domestic intelligence believed that

was intending to initiate an imminent "extensive attack"—including rockets, missiles, and drones—on Israel and fired counterstrikes against long-range missiles Hezbollah intended to use. Israeli prime minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

managed the operation from

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

with defense minister

Yoav Gallant Yoav Gallant (; born 8 November 1958) is an Israeli politician and former military officer who served as Ministry of Defense (Israel), minister of defense between 2022 and 2024. Gallant was an officer in the Southern Command (Israel), Southern ...

; Netanyahu convened his security cabinet at 7 a.m. According to an Israeli official, the U.S. was informed of the operation. According to a U.S. defense official, the United States helped Israel track incoming Hezbollah attacks. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Hezbollah intended to fire rockets at 5 a.m. and Israel destroyed Hezbollah's missile launchers. Israel sent a hundred fighter jets during its operations. Israeli Defense Minister

described the strikes as "very successful", stating that "over fifty percent, maybe two-thirds" of Hezbollah's strikes were prevented.

Hezbollah

Hezbollah stated the organization began its response to the assassination of Fuad Shukr, targeting a "special military target",

Iron Dome Iron Dome () is an Israeli mobile all-weather air defense system, developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired f ...

platforms, and other sites. In its first stage, Hezbollah claimed that it had fired over 320 rockets at nearly twelve Israeli military bases and positions.

Casualties

Two Hezbollah militants were killed and one Hezbollah militant and a Syrian national were injured in southern Lebanon, one critically. The Amal movement said one of its fighters from

Khiam Al-Khiyam (; sometimes spelled Khiam) is a large town and municipality in the Nabatieh Governorate of Southern Lebanon. Etymology According to Edward Henry Palmer, the name means tents. Haifa Nassar, a Khiyam-based journalist, cites sources that ...

was killed. Hezbollah confirmed death of their six militants on 25 August. An

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy (, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'', ; ) is the Israel Defense Forces#Arms, naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in the Mediterranean Sea theater as well as the Gulf of Eilat and the Red Sea th ...

officer was killed by a malfunctioning missile launched by the

that struck a

Dvora-class fast patrol boat The Dvora-class fast patrol boat is a fast class of patrol boats built by Israel Aerospace Industries for the Israeli Sea Corps based on the Israeli . Operational history Sri Lanka The Dvora class has become the work horse of the Sri Lanka ...

off the coast of

Nahariya Nahariya () is the northernmost coastal city in Israel. As of , the city had a population of . The city was founded in 1935 by Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. Etymology Nahariya takes its name from the stream of Ga'aton River, Ga'aton (riv ...

, northern Israel and two others were injured. A woman was slightly injured by a missile in northern Israel.

Responses

Israel

Departures and arrivals were canceled at

Ben Gurion Airport Ben Gurion International Airport , commonly known by the Hebrew language, Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on outskirts north of the city of Lod and directly south of the city of Or Yehuda, i ...

until 10 a.m.; two

El Al EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. (), trading as EL AL (, "Upwards", "To the Skies", or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ) is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948, the airline has grown to serve ...

flights were diverted. The

Golan Regional Council Golan Regional Council (, ) is a regional council that supervises regional services to Israeli settlements located on the Golan Heights. It is made up of 18 moshavim, 10 kibbutzim, and 4 community settlements. The council headquarters is in the ...

instructed residents of the

to remain in their shelters. Yoav Gallant declared an "emergency situation" for two days.

United States

In a conversation with Gallant, U.S. secretary of defense

Lloyd Austin Lloyd James Austin III (born August 8, 1953) is a retired United States Army four-star General (United States), general who served as the 28th United States Secretary of Defense, United States secretary of defense from 2021 to 2025. Before ...

discussed avoiding escalating the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, according to Gallant.

United States National Security Council The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the national security council used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and Foreign relations of the United States, foreign policy matter ...

spokesman Sean Savett stated that president

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

was "closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon" and reaffirmed Israel's right to defend itself.

References

{{Gaza war 2024 airstrikes 2024 in international relations Strikes Lebanon strikes Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon Aerial operations and battles involving Israel Drone strikes conducted by Israel Drone strikes in Israel Hezbollah attacks Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present) Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)