The News
Israel and Hezbollah on Sunday exchanged their heaviest cross-border strikes yet since their ongoing conflict began after Oct. 7, but stopped short of an all-out war.
The Israeli military said it used 100 fighter jets to preemptively strike 40 launch sites Hezbollah was planning on using for a broader attack. The Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon then fired hundreds of rockets targeting Israeli military assets.
Three people died in Lebanon, according to Reuters, and there were no fatalities in Israel, which saw limited damage from the strikes.
Both sides signaled that they were not seeking a full-scale war, but fears remain that their heightened conflict could further inflame regional tensions, and imperil high-stakes Gaza ceasefire negotiations scheduled Sunday.
Hezbollah indicated it was not planning further strikes for now, but said this was the first phase of its retaliatory attack over Israel’s assassination of its senior leader that the group had delayed in the hopes of a ceasefire agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned, “This is not the end of the story.”
The White House said President Joe Biden was “closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon.”
Both Israel and Hezbollah have good reasons to avoid war, The Guardian wrote: Israel “does not have the stamina for another front” and knows defeating Hezbollah would require a ground invasion, risking thousands of Israeli lives. Hezbollah, meanwhile, is worried that a war would devastate its military and financial assets held in Lebanon.
Still, “just because neither Israel nor Hezbollah wants a war now, does not mean it is not going to happen,” The Guardian argued, especially if there are any miscalculations.