Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
At 4:45 am., local time, Sunday August 25, Israel began a series of 50 preemptive airstrikes over villages in the south of Lebanon resulting in civilian casualties and injuries.
According to Israel, they had information that Hezbollah was planning a massive attack on Israel using 6,000 missiles. Israel claimed to have hit missile launchers and weapon storages.
At 5:00 am. Hezbollah responded with 320 missiles and tens of drones. The large number of missiles rendered the sophisticated “Iron Dome” Israeli air defense system ineffective. The exact extent of the damages in Israel is not known, but there were significant losses.
One missile fired by the Lebanese resistance group, Hezbollah, made a direct hit on the Davoura, an Israeli military boat. The ship was sunk with one dead and five injured.
The drones all hit targets successfully and none were shot down. The GPS system in Israel was rendered useless by an unknown source simultaneously as the attack commenced. Some experts have pondered if the GPS system was scrambled to coordinate with the operation.
Israeli settlers have used social media sites, such as Telegram, to post videos of damages homes and burning buildings as a result of the attack.
According to the manager of Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, over 50 airlines have cancelled flights.
The US Embassy in Lebanon has emailed its citizens to leave Lebanon; however, to make evacuation plans which do not depend on the American government. According to the manager of the Rafik Hariri airport in Beirut, as of 2:00 pm. the airport was still functioning. Netanyahu has said if he decides to open a full scale war on Lebanon, the Israeli air force will destroy the airport.
Israeli media had advised Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to inform the public as to what Hezbollah has hit prior to 6:00 pm. , at which time Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, gave a televised speech. The Netanyahu government did not admit that the 8200 division of the Israeli Defense Forces based in the suburbs of Tel Aviv was hit, but Nasrallah said according to their sources on the ground, the 8200 division was hit. This unit is comparable the United States’ National Security Agency, and is the largest single unit of Israel’s Defense Forces carrying out intelligence, information technology, offensive and defensive cyber security operations.
AFP news agency posted videos of houses severely damaged in Acre, in northern Israel, 19 kilometers from the Lebanon border.
The Israeli media, Walla, reported that Israel had informed the US prior to the attack; however, the New York Times reported that an American official said there was no prior warning of the attack on the south of Lebanon.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert delivered to Haaretz newspaper on August 25 a scathing attack on Netanyahu and his two right-wing ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich , who he referred to as criminals. Olmert said Netanyahu does not want to free the hostages in an agreement, and does not seek to stop the military operation in Gaza.
Netanyahu ordered members of his cabinet from the Likud party and MPs to remain silent and refrain from media interviews, according to Haaretz.
The Mayor Tel Aviv announced they have prepared 240 bunkers to be used as shelters.
Hezbollah released the names of Israeli military bases hit by missiles and drones. They are: Meron Air Base, Naffesef, Zatoon, and Zaoura. Bases in the occupied Golan Heights hit are: Keela, UF, Youdon, Ramot, and Neftali.
Hezbollah released an official statement at 6:50 am., reporting the amount of missiles and drones used in what was described as the ‘first wave’. The attack on military targets in Israel was announced in retaliation for the Israeli assassination of Foud Shukr, a high ranking Hezbollah operative killed in Beirut on July 30.
The Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, met with his cabinet and placed phone calls to the friends of Lebanon to discuss ways to decrease tensions between Hezbollah and Israel.
Civil leaders of the settlements in the north of Israel, have said they have cut off all communication with the Netanyahu government until a solution to the conflict can be found. They are furious and accuse the government of only protecting the central cities such as Tel Aviv.
On August 24, the families of Israeli hostages in Gaza accused Netanyahu of “systematically thwarting” a ceasefire deal which would see their loved ones released, reported Yedioth Ahronoth.
The families gathered at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv and said, “This seems to be the last opportunity. Either there will be a deal, or we will descend into escalation.”
“Since early July, a deal has been ready for signing, but Netanyahu’s new conditions, particularly the Philadelphi Route, are blocking it.”
The mother of a hostage said, “It’s not the Philadelphi Route but a Philadelphi spin,” referring to the demands of Netanyahu, which experts see as a tool to avoid any ceasefire deal.
The families have consistently demanded their government place a priority on the lives of its citizens.
On August 24, Netanyahu said that a ceasefire in Gaza was not on his list of priorities.
On August 25, an Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo for ongoing ceasefire negotiations, just hours after the attack on Lebanon and the retaliatory strike on Israel. At midnight of August 26, the negotiations collapsed without success. Hamas reminded negotiators that it had agreed to the July 2 proposal drafted by the US.
Hezbollah has said they will cease all attacks on Israel if a ceasefire is agreed upon. US President Joe Biden had a commitment from Netanyahu to a ceasefire in July, but then Netanyahu reneged on his promise. Recently, Israel has proposed to pull back one kilometer from the Philadelphia Corridor in Gaza, but the Hamas side is asking for a full Israeli withdrawal as the terms to a deal.
The US has sent air craft carriers, destroyers, submarines and various military assets to the region in an effort to pressure the Lebanese resistance group from retaliating against Israel’s assassination of Shukr, but Hezbollah ignored the threats.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist
