Israel Widens Lebanon Strikes As It Weighs Iran Retaliation

Israel widened its strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon Saturday as the government weighed its options on how to retaliate against Iran for a missile strike earlier this week.  

The Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday its air force attacked Hezbollah infrastructure across Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, adding to days of airstrikes. The attacks came as the Haaretz newspaper in Israel reported the military was preparing for a “significant” attack on Tehran after it fired about 200 missiles on Israel targets earlier this week. Gideon Saar, a member of Israel’s security cabinet, said late Saturday the country has several options to retaliate against Iran but has yet to decide on what steps it will take. 

“Several options are being considered. A decision on the matter has yet to be made,” Saar told Channel 12 TV, while reiterating the government’s position that there would be reprisal.

Ahead of any potential attack, Iran renewed its pledge to respond to Israel and downplayed the prospects of a potential cease-fire between Hamas and Hezbollah — widely regarded as Iran’s proxies — and Israel.  

“Our response to any Israeli aggression will be stronger and harsher and they can test us if they want to,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Damascus after talks with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. He refused to give details on any cease-fire efforts, adding that it’s “not time” to get into those details.  

The risk of a wider conflict in the region has soared since Israel ramped up its attacks on Hezbollah in recent weeks, detonating pagers and walkie talkies, targeting the militant group’s commanders and sending troops into south Lebanon for the first time since a 2006 war. Saturday’s attack struck a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon for the first time, the Associated Press reported, and two senior officials with Hamas were killed in Lebanon. 

Hamas and Hezbollah, both backed by Iran, are considered by the US to be terrorist groups.

Meanwhile, Western allies have been racing to shape Israel’s response to Iran’s missile barrage this week. US President Joe Biden, on Friday acknowledged that Israel would respond in some fashion, while seeking to discourage Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from a strike on Iranian oil facilities. The US president had previously said Israel shouldn’t strike Iran’s nuclear facilities either.

Strikes in recent weeks have taken out much of the Hezbollah command, including leader Hassan Nasrallah. An attack late Thursday on the suburbs of Beirut had targeted Nasrallah’s potential successor, Hashem Safieddine. While neither the militant group nor the Israeli army has confirmed whether he had been killed, Safieddine has been out of contact since Friday, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing Lebanese security sources.

The Lebanese health ministry said that 25 people were killed and 127 wounded in Israeli air strikes on Friday, the state-run National News Agency reported.

“We must continue to apply pressure on Hezbollah and do additional and continual damage to the enemy, without concessions and without respite for the organization,” the IDF’s chief of the general staff Herzi Halevi said Saturday in a statement posted to Telegram.

Israel said its actions in Lebanon are necessary to end a year of cross-border rocket attacks by Hezbollah, which undertook the campaign in response to Israel’s war against Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack. Ahead of the one-year mark of the start of the conflict, the IDF on Saturday warned Palestinians to evacuate along the strategic Netzarim corridor in central Gaza, AP reported.  

Separately, Netanyahu hit out at French President Emmanuel Macron, who called for a halt in arms shipments to Israel for use in Gaza and a cease-fire, citing the heavy civilian toll in the Palestinian territory.

“One should not fight terrorism and terrorists by sacrificing a civilian population,” Macron said in an interview on France Inter radio Saturday, adding that France doesn’t send arms to Israel for use in Gaza.

A French defense ministry report from 2023 shows the country is a relatively small military exporter to Israel, sending €208 million ($228 million) of equipment over the prior decade.

In response, Netanyahu said: “As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilized countries should be standing by Israel’s side. Yet President Macron and some other western leaders are calling for an arms embargo against Israel. Shame on them.” 

“The axis of terror stands together, but countries who supposedly opposes their axis call for an arms embargo on Israel,” the Israeli leader said in a video message. “What a disgrace. Israel will win with or without their support. but their shame will continue long after the war is won.”