Israel strikes 1,600 Hezbollah targets, declares 'special emergency situation'

TEL AVIV: Israel continued striking Hezbollah positions in Lebanon while the Iran-backed terror group fired volleys of rockets at Haifa, Nahariya the Galilee and Jezreel Valley overnight and Tuesday morning.

The Israel Defence Forces said the Air Force struck more than 1,600 targets in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley, including missile launchers, command posts and other terror infrastructure, including those located inside civilian homes. Israeli artillery and tanks hit other Hezbollah targets in the areas of Ayta ash Shab and Ramyeh near the border.

The IDF said 210 rockets were fired into Israel on Monday. Several Israelis were treated for shrapnel, hurting themselves while making their way to shelter, or panic attacks. On Monday night, the Israeli Cabinet declared a "special emergency situation" countrywide, authorising officials to take measures to protect public safety.

The designation will expire on Wednesday night unless the Cabinet extends it. Home Front Command officials closed schools in Haifa and northern Israel, and the Ministry of Transportation banned small vessels from sailing in the Sea of Galilee until further notice. Numerous foreign airlines suspended their flights to and from Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

On Monday, Israel called on residents of southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley to flee homes where the Iran-backed Hezbollah stored missiles. The IDF disclosed that Hezbollah was preparing to launch a cruise missile hidden inside a civilian home. The army released footage, including of the airstrike that destroyed it. Sarit Zahavi, president and founder of the Alma Research Center, told The Press Service of Israel in August that Hezbollah doctrine makes extensive use of civilian homes.

"Hezbollah stores their weapons everywhere, both between villages and within the villages themselves," she said.

"By and large, every third house in the Shi'ite villages of south Lebanon is used in some way by Hezbollah for military purposes, be it weapons storage, the entrance of a tunnel, or a launchpad for shooting rockets at Israel," she explained.

Northern residents were forced to evacuate their homes when Hezbollah began launching rockets and drones in October. The terror group has launched more than 6,700 rockets and drones, killing 26 civilians and 22 soldiers on the Israeli side.

Hezbollah leaders have said they will continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes, which Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah reiterated in a speech on Thursday night. Israeli officials have been calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed and removed from southern Lebanon in compliance with UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War.