Israel attacked 400 Hezbollah launchers in a day in Lebanon
The Israeli Air Force attacked about 400 rocket launchers of the armed Shiite Hezbollah movement in massive strikes in southern Lebanon during the day. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari told a briefing on Saturday, September 21.
"In total, we hit approximately 400 Hezbollah launchers today," Hagari said.
He also noted that the large-scale attacks were carried out after Israel learned of Hezbollah's preparations to open fire on the country.
"Over the past hour, we have carried out large-scale attacks in southern Lebanon after we discovered that Hezbollah was preparing to open fire on Israeli territory. Dozens of Israel Air Force planes are currently attacking terrorist targets and rocket launchers to eliminate the threat to Israeli civilians," the agency said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
Earlier in the day, it was reported that 15 other members of the movement, including senior commanders of the Radwan special unit, were killed in an Israeli strike on a Beirut suburb along with Hezbollah special operations commander Ibrahim Aqil. In addition, the IDF said the Israeli army destroyed some 180 sites and thousands of rocket launchers in southern Lebanon. On the same day, it was reported that the death toll in the strike on a Beirut suburb rose to 37.
Israel's strike on the Lebanese capital was targeted - the IDF sought to eliminate Hezbollah Shiite commander Ibrahim Aqil, who is a member of the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah movement's top military body, the Jihad Council. The movement confirmed Akil's death. According to the Jewish state's army, other senior Hezbollah leaders who were part of the Radwan force, a special unit within the Shiite group's ranks, were killed along with him. Two residential buildings collapsed in the city after the strike.
The IDF said on Sept. 19 that its military carried out a series of attacks on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, hitting 100 launchers and facilities of the group. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said before that the Jewish state was shifting forces to the northern front because of the start of a new phase of the war.
The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas subjected Israel's territory to a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip, as well as invaded border areas in the south of the country and took hostages. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes
