The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday that they were continuing major attacks on terrorist targets in southern Lebanon for a second day after sensing Hezbollah was preparing to fire on Israeli territory.
“Dozens of Israeli Air Force aircraft are currently striking terrorist targets and rocket launchers to eliminate the threat to Israeli civilians,” IDF spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari said in a translated statement at a press conference on Saturday.
The attack killed at least two top Hezbollah commanders and more than a dozen of the group's members.
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Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (left) assesses the situation. (Ariel Hermoni)
“As we have done all day, we are systematically targeting and degrading Hezbollah's launch capabilities and eliminating their commanders and terrorists,” Haghari said. “In total, we struck approximately 400 Hezbollah launchers today, including several thousand rocket launchers.”
Hagari told Israelis: “There is a possibility that rockets and other threats may be launched towards Israeli territory in the near future. I urge you to strictly adhere to Home Front Command's defense guidelines. We are in the middle of a war and it is important that we remain vigilant.”
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Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (center) assesses the situation on Saturday along with the IDF chief of staff, the Defense Ministry secretary-general and other senior defense officials. (Ariel Hermoni)
He said on Friday that the IDF had killed Hezbollah's operational chief, Ibrahim Akil, and 15 commanders of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Unit.
Ahmed Wahbi, who led military operations for Hezbollah's special forces, Radwan, until early 2024, was also killed in the attack.
Mourners in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday raised their hands and shouted slogans during a funeral procession for a Hezbollah fighter killed in an Israeli strike on Friday. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussain)
“They met to plan terror attacks and infiltration into Israeli territory, but we knew their location and we preempted them with a precise and powerful operation carried out by our intelligence services and the Israeli Air Force,” Hagari said.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also called for an emergency meeting of his special security cabinet at the Israel Defense Forces headquarters in Tel Aviv on Saturday night over the Lebanon attacks.
Fox News Digital's Ben Evansky contributed to this report.
