Israel VS Hezbollah: Fears Of War Peak As Fresh Israeli Strikes In Lebanon Kill 492, Deadliest Attack So Far

Fears of a full-fledged war are more than ever in the Middle East region with Israel and Lebanese Shia Islamist outfit Hezbollah exchanging fire since tensions skyrocketed post the wave of explosions in Lebanon that hit pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah members last Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 37 people - including two children - and leaving about 3,000 injured.

A Hezbollah leader declared an “open-ended battle” was underway as both sides appeared to be inching towards all-out war.

Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets early on Sunday across northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa, as Israel launched hundreds of strikes on Lebanon that have killed dozens, including veteran Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil.

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Hezbollah Announces 'Open-Ended Battle': After Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets towards Israel, its deputy leader Naim Kassem said the attack was just the beginning of what's now an "open-ended battle” with country. “We admit that we are pained. We are humans. But as we are pained — you will also be pained,” news agency Associated Press quoted Kassem as saying at the funeral of top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil, who was among the 45 killed at an Israeli strike in Lebanon's Beirut on Friday.

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492 Killed In Fresh Israeli Strikes: Israel's air force carried out dozens of airstrikes early Monday as well on southern Lebanon, state media and the Israeli military said. Lebanese authorities on Monday said over 492 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in what would be the deadliest day in Lebanon in nearly a year of fighting against the Hezbollah militant group. The Lebanese Health Ministry said more than 700 others were wounded in the strikes in southern Lebanon.

Israel Asks Southern Lebanon Residents To Evacuate Homes: In a first such warning, the Israeli military on Monday called on residents of southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate homes and other buildings where Hezbollah stores weapons and said it was carrying out “extensive strikes” against the militant group. Israeli military later said it has struck 300 targets in Lebanon in stepped-up pressure on Hezbollah, reported news agency Associated Press.

Israel-Hezbollah Clashes: Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been clashing almost daily for more than 11 months against the backdrop of war in Gaza between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas, whose October 7, 2023, attack on northern Israeli areas sparked this conflict. The clashes have killed hundreds in Lebanon, dozens in Israel and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border since then.

Hezbollah is a close ally of Iran, which had threatened to retaliate for the killing of a senior Palestinian militant group Hamas's leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in an explosion in Iran's Tehran in July that was widely blamed on Israel, which has not said whether it was involved. Later Israeli military claimed responsibility for a targeted strike that killed one of Hezbollah's founding members Fouad Shukur in July itself. 

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Hamas Top Leader Yahya Sinwar Dead? Israel is reportedly investigating the possibility that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar might be dead, following up on military intelligence, according to Israeli journalist Ben Caspit. This comes amid peaking tensions in the Middle East over the latest remote pager and walkie-talkie explosions and recent assassination of some top leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, all being blamed on Israel.

Shin Bet, one of three principal organisations of the Israeli intelligence community alongside Aman (military intelligence) and Mossad (foreign intelligence service), has rejected the report and believes Sinwar is alive, as per Israel's The Walla news portal. The intelligence being investigated holds that Sinwar was killed during IDF operations in Gaza. “There have also been times in the past when he disappeared and we thought he was dead, but then he reappeared,” Journalist Ben Caspit quotes a source close to the matter as saying.

The War In Gaza: It began with Hamas's October 7 attack into Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage. They are said to be still holding about 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead. Over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It doesn't say how many were fighters, but says women and children make up more than half of the dead.