Israel says it launched "preemptive" strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Israeli President Herzog: Strikes in Lebanon the epitome of the right to self-defense 

 Israeli President Isaac Herzog labeled as "prototypical" the Israeli strikes against Lebanon early on Sunday as an exercise of the country's right to self-defense.

 ‪"The decisive action we witnessed early this morning epitomizes Israel's right and duty to defend itself and its citizens against the threat of terrorism," Herzog wrote on X. He also thanked Israelis serving in the country's military.

Herzog's statement followed Israeli military preemption on targets it said were "terror targets in Lebanon," accusing Hezbollah of plotting to "fire missiles and rockets towards Israeli territory."

The Islamist group denied the allegations as "baseless." In retaliation, Hezbollah launched its own "first phase" of its response to Israel. The salvo was termed by Hezbollah as a "complete success.

What you need to know about Sunday's exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah

 

Sunday morning in the Middle East began with a massive exchange of fire between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which raised the already spiked tensions between the sides following the October 7 terror attack on Israel.

Israel launches more air strikes on southern Lebanon 

The Israeli attacks on Lebanon continued Sunday, with Lebanon's National News Agency reporting that multiple airstrikes had hit villages around the town of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon.

It said that Israeli warplanes were flying over the western and central areas of southern Lebanon as far north as the Litani River, some 20 kilometers from Israel's northern border.

Israel has also confirmed conducting additional strikes, saying it hit a terrorist cell and rocket launchers across southern Lebanon.

The two UN agencies that do extensive work in southern Lebanon – UNIFIL and UNSCOL – issued a statement Sunday saying: "In view of worrying developments across the Blue Line since early morning, UNSCOL and UNIFIL call on all to cease fire and refrain from further escalatory action."

The "Blue Line" is a demarcation line set by the United Nations in 2000 after Israel withdrew its military from southern Lebanon.

"A return to the cessation of hostilities… Is the only sustainable way forward," the agencies said. 

Tel Aviv has shut its beaches and canceled leisure activities due to the violence 

The municipality's spokesperson said on Sunday that Tel Aviv has closed its beaches and cultural institutions following an early morning exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah. It is also banning residents from large-scale official leisure activities in the wake of the security situation.

He repeated that 240 bomb shelters in the city are operational – though people were warned not to make their way to them unless they hear the sirens, or if they are specifically told to do so.

Delays at Ben Gurion: There are long delays as well as cancelations at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport following the fighting.

The departure and arrivals boards at the show delays of between two and seven hours in addition to many cancellations.

A spokeswoman for the Israel Airport Authority told CNN that all flights that were delayed earlier Sunday were now able to leave, but that it was "up to each airline to schedule and decide if they are flying today or not."

The Israeli military says Hezbollah has targeted locations in northern and central Israel, without success 

The Israeli military stated that Hezbollah had planned a "wide attack" against targets in northern and central Israel, but had not succeeded. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesperson, said that Hezbollah was "targeting mostly the north, but they also had a few targets in central Israel that they were not able to carry out with our self-defense operation this morning.".

It was to forestall a massive assault that Israel had launched preemptive strikes against Hezbollah, the Jewish state said. The Shia militant group, however, indicated that its operation so far had been a "complete success."

Israeli strikes in Lebanon: Shoshani said the Israel Defense Forces were focused on areas in southern Lebanon where there's a "large concentration of rocket launchers." At least three people were killed in the strikes, Lebanon's Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Ceasefire and hostage talks set to resume in Cairo as sticking points remain 

 

Negotiators will gather in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, in another attempt at hammering out an agreement that stops fighting in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages.

Negotiators will gather in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, in another attempt at hammering out an agreement 

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo Saturday evening, a Hamas official told CNN, and an Israeli delegation also is set to travel there for the negotiations.

There are still several sticking points over the potential three-phase agreement first put forward by US President Joe Biden.

Hamas has indicated they are unhappy with the latest proposal as it didn't include a permanent ceasefire and introduced new conditions on the exchange of prisoners, among other issues.

Meanwhile, Israel has made clear that, after the opening six-week phase, a break in the fighting may be just that, and it is not ready to agree to a permanent ceasefire.

 3 killed in Israeli strike on southern Lebanon: Ministry of Health.

A statement from the country's Ministry of Health said that three people were killed by the Israeli air strikes launched in southern Lebanon.

The full extent of the damage following a major exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah is still to come to light, but two people were killed in the village of At Tiri in Nabatiyeh, and another was killed after an Israeli strike targeted a car in the town of Khiam, the ministry statement said.

The statement of the Amal Movement, a group of the Shia fighters allied with Hezbollah, went on to say that one militant of theirs was killed "while performing his national and jihad duty in defense of Lebanon and the south.

Hezbollah leader is due to speak today

The Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is expected to speak at 6 p.m. local time today (11 a.m. ET) on the latest developments, the Hezbollah-run Al Manar TV agency reported.

The Israeli military said it had conducted "preventative strikes" against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, determining that the militant group was getting ready to send missiles and rockets toward the country. Not long after that assault started, Hezbollah said it fired strikes toward Israel in retaliation for last month's killing of a top military commander.

Crossfire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah has been going on for months, but the latest strikes were of a different order of magnitude. That's according to reports a potential major escalation of fighting in the Middle East could tilt the region into all-out conflict. 

Netanyahu: Israel "determined to do everything to protect our country 

 

Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was "determined to do everything to protect our country" at a meeting with his security cabinet on Sunday, during which the prime minister vowed to "uphold a simple rule: whoever hurts us—we hurt him.

He added: "This morning we identified the attempt by Hezbollah to execute an attack against Israel. Along with the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff, we ordered the IDF to operate proactively to remove this threat."

Singling out Hezbollah, Netanyahu said the IDF has since "acted vigorously to thwart the threats" and that the "forces destroyed thousands of rockets aimed at the north of the country."

The State of Israel had been preparing itself for a retaliatory attack from Hezbollah.

Before launching an attack on Hezbollah, Israel said Saturday that its military is well ready for any retaliatory attack by the Iran-backed militant group following the killing of one of its top commanders.

Both Hezbollah and Iran have been warning of revenge against Israel after a spate of assassinations in as many weeks of high-ranking figures from Iran proxy groups. Late last month, those assassinations included the killing by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut of Hezbollah's most senior military commander, Fu'ad Shukr, and the assassination of Hamas Political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Asked about threats of retaliation, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the military was ready to respond Saturday to any possible attack by either Hezbollah or Iran.

"We take our enemies' threats seriously and we've been ready for a long period. We're highly prepared both in offense and defense, but above all, any threat toward the citizens of Israel we identify, we eliminate, and that's how we'll continue. Any development that will be, we'll update the public immediately," Hagari said.

He was further pushed by a journalist from Israel's state-run Kan 11 television channel who claimed that situational assessments said Hezbollah was going to attack soon. The IDF spokesperson did not say whether he was familiar with those assessments, nor did he indicate when an attack might be expected.