25-11-2024 (BEIRUT) Hezbollah unleashed a barrage of rockets towards central Israel on Sunday, striking buildings near Tel Aviv, in what appears to be direct retaliation for a devastating Israeli airstrike in Beirut that claimed 29 lives the previous day.
The militant group launched approximately 170 rockets, specifically targeting military installations in and around Tel Aviv, according to Hezbollah sources. Israeli emergency services reported multiple impacts in Petah Tikvah, an eastern suburb of Tel Aviv, where several civilians sustained minor injuries. Local footage captured the aftermath, showing damaged residential buildings and burning vehicles.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed that their missile defence systems intercepted numerous incoming projectiles, though some penetrated the defensive shield. In the northern city of Nahariya, security cameras captured the moment a rocket struck a building’s roof, highlighting the widespread nature of the attacks.
Hours after the rocket barrage, Israeli forces conducted retaliatory strikes against what they described as “command centres” in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. The IDF issued advance warnings of the impending strikes, which subsequently demolished two apartment blocks in the area.
The weekend’s violence marks one of the bloodiest periods in the ongoing conflict, with Lebanon’s Health Ministry reporting 84 casualties on Saturday alone. The death toll since October 2023 has now reached 3,754, underscoring the devastating human cost of the escalating warfare.
Against this backdrop of intensifying violence, diplomatic efforts continue. US mediator Amos Hochstein recently conducted shuttle diplomacy between Beirut and Jerusalem, whilst EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell revealed that a US-brokered ceasefire proposal awaits Israeli approval. The proposed agreement would be based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Lebanon war, requiring Hezbollah to withdraw its forces 30 kilometres from the Israeli border.
In a separate incident highlighting the conflict’s broader impact, the Lebanese army reported one soldier killed and 18 injured in an Israeli strike on an army centre near Tyre. The IDF expressed regret for the incident, emphasising that Hezbollah, not the Lebanese military, remains their intended target.
The EU has pledged 200 million euros to support the Lebanese army, as international pressure mounts for both sides to accept the ceasefire proposal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has convened his security cabinet to discuss these developments, whilst Lebanese officials continue to push for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
