Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah boasted on Sunday that a large-scale attack on Israel, involving hundreds of rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), earlier in the day had successfully targeted multiple military bases.
The operation, named “Arbain” (in Shi’ite Islamic tradition, Arba’in marks 40 days after Ashura, the anniversary of the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of Muhammad and the third Shi’ite imam) was carried out in retaliation for the killing of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in late July.
In his opening remarks, Nasrallah stated: “Israel crossed all red lines when it attacked Dahieh [Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut, where Shukr was assassinated] and killed civilians, including senior commander Fuad Shukr. It’s natural for the resistance to announce its response to this attack. Israel is responsible for the escalation on Lebanon’s southern border.”
Nasrallah claimed that Hezbollah’s target had been the Glilot military base in central Israel. According to him, the response included 340 Katyusha rockets fired at several bases, sites and military outposts to engage the Iron Dome system for several minutes, allowing UAVs to penetrate toward Glilot.
“Our intelligence indicates that many of the UAVs reached their target,” said Nasrallah, adding, “In any case, the coming days will reveal what truly transpired.”
He claimed that “UAVs also reached Ein Shemer base [near Haifa], which was another primary target.”
Nasrallah asserted that “we achieved and surpassed our objectives. We planned to launch 300 rockets, but we fired 340. We had no intention of using strategic [precision] missiles at this time, but we may deploy them in the future and the near future. None of our precision missiles were hit. The targets struck in Lebanon were in empty valleys or areas evacuated of such missiles.”
According to the IDF, approximately 100 warplanes struck more than 270 sites in Southern Lebanon on Sunday after detecting signs of an imminent attack, destroying thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers and preventing the launch of as many as 6,000 drones and missiles at Israel.
Some 90% of the sites hit were short-range launchers aimed at northern Israel, according to IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. Hezbollah successfully launched 230 rockets and approximately 20 drones, he added.
No Israeli bases were hit, either in northern or central Israel, said Hagari.
Israeli Navy Petty Officer Third Class David Moshe Ben Shitrit, 21, was killed and two of his comrades were wounded by shrapnel from an Iron Dome interceptor missile that exploded above their Dvora-class fast patrol boat.
Nasrallah declared in his speech that “the [Israeli] army’s claim, endorsed by [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, about destroying thousands of rockets is false.”
He added, “If the outcome is satisfactory and the intended goal is achieved, then our response is complete. If the result falls short, we reserve the right to respond at another time. Our action today may significantly benefit Palestinian and Arab parties in negotiations. Its message is clear to Israel and the Americans—any hope of silencing the support fronts is misguided. What we initiated 11 months ago, we will finish—regardless of the sacrifice.”
The terror organization leader then explained the “delay” in the group’s response to Shukr’s killing: “One reason was the need to allow time for consultation on whether the response would be through the axis [of ‘resistance,’ i.e. Iran and its other proxies] or independently. We also had to wait patiently to provide an opportunity for negotiations because the goal of the entire front and the sacrifices was to halt the war” against Hamas in Gaza.
Originally published by Israel Hayom. JNS staff contributed to this report.
