Israel launches strikes in Lebanon and Hezbollah fires hundreds of rockets | BBC News
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Transcript
00:00We begin in the Middle East, where Israel's prime minister has promised he will do everything
00:04to restore security at its northern border with Lebanon. That's after the Israeli defence
00:09forces launched airstrikes against Hezbollah. Israel says it identified preparations for
00:15a large-scale attack. Now, these pictures just released by the IDF show them attacking
00:21a number of Hezbollah targets. Israel's defence minister has issued a 48-hour state of emergency
00:28in the country. Now, meanwhile, Hezbollah said it launched more than 300 rockets and
00:33drones at Israel and targeted 11 military sites in response to the killing of its top
00:39commander in Beirut last month. The group has said this was an initial response and
00:44that it has completed phase one of an attack on Israel. These are live pictures from the
00:50Israel-Lebanon border, which has had a number of missile strikes in the last couple of hours.
00:55And this was the IDF's announcement earlier from IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel
01:00Hagiri.
01:02From right next to the homes of Lebanese civilians in the south of Lebanon, we can see that Hezbollah
01:09is preparing to launch an extensive attack on Israel while endangering the Lebanese civilians.
01:16We warned the civilians located in the areas where Hezbollah is operating to move out of
01:22harm's way immediately for their own safety. Hezbollah's ongoing aggression risks dragging
01:28the people of Lebanon, the people of Israel, and the whole region into a wider escalation.
01:36Israel will not tolerate Hezbollah's attacks on our civilians. We are operating in self-defence
01:42from Hezbollah and any other enemy that joins in their attacks against us. And we are ready
01:49to do everything, everything we need to defend the people of Israel.
01:55That was the IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagiri. Well, meanwhile, the Pentagon has said in
01:59its words the US is postured to support Israel. And the president, Joe Biden, has instructed
02:05officials to maintain close communication on developments.
02:09Well, Laura Blumenfield is a Middle East analyst and former senior policy adviser on the State
02:14Department's Israeli-Palestinian negotiating team. She told us more about the strikes and
02:20reactions from both parties.
02:23The Israelis have called for a 48-hour period of emergency. Their secretary of defence,
02:27their defence minister, Galant, you know, is calling on the population. So it's not
02:32just one night, you know, one and done. On the other hand, so much about these exchanges
02:37of since October 7th has been not so much about being strong, but being smart. And so
02:42it's kind of our intelligence versus your intelligence kind of battle here. The Israelis
02:46were clearly caught by surprise on October 7th. The Shukr assassination was an intelligence
02:52coup for Israel, as was the Haniyeh assassination in Tehran. So I think Hezbollah is feeling
02:58like they need to show that they can in some way penetrate and kind of shift that kind
03:03of dignity back into balance. It's possible that, you know, they already have, it's horrible
03:09to say, but wounded one person in Akko, which is quite deep into Israeli territory, that
03:14that might satisfy the need, you know, for a publicly saving face.
03:19Now also just one update for you. The Lebanese ministry, according to news agencies as well
03:24as local reports, is saying that one died in the Israeli strike in the south of Lebanon.
03:31Our news correspondent John Donison is in Jerusalem and he told us about the fears of
03:36escalations in the region.
03:38This is clearly a significant and ongoing escalation. We're not at the point of full
03:43scale war yet, but that is clearly the fear, not just here in Israel, but in Lebanon and
03:47the wider region. Israel saying around 100 fighter jets were used in this operation last
03:55night, hitting around 200 targets in Lebanon. Now, if that's the case, then that is the
04:00most serious attack on Hezbollah since the full scale war between Israel and Lebanon
04:06back in 2006. Now, you know, in the last few weeks we've seen intense diplomatic efforts
04:13to try and stop the crisis in Gaza escalating into a wider regional conflict. But the United
04:21States has warned that the failure to get a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza
04:26could see this escalate into a wider regional conflict. At the moment, judging on what's
04:33happened this morning, you'd have to say that those diplomatic efforts have not worked.
04:38And John, Hezbollah has said that this was in response to the killing of its top commander
04:42Fouad Choukhr on the 30th of July. Of course, there's also the fact that Ismail Haniyeh
04:47was assassinated in Iran and that Iran, which backs Hezbollah, also vowed a strong response.
04:56I wonder whether putting all of this into context, can we see this as tit for tat or
05:01is that the real risk that this could meet further responses from Hezbollah as well as Iran?
05:10Well, I think tit for tat kind of downplays the significance of this. You know, when Israel
05:17is believed to have assassinated the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran the day
05:22before they had assassinated, as you say, a very senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon,
05:30Fouad Choukhr, and we have been waiting for some sort of response from Iran and from Hezbollah.
05:35Now, in the past few weeks, that response has not really come. There has been some cross-border
05:40activity between Hezbollah and Israel in the north, but not really significant until this
05:46morning. And we've not had any kind of response from Iran to the targeting of Ismail Haniyeh
05:53inside the Iranian capital. So the fears have been for the last few weeks that that response
05:59was coming. And certainly from the north, from Hezbollah, we've got something this morning.
06:06And John, you're in Jerusalem. We've been hearing these reports of sirens that have
06:11been blaring in Israel as well in certain cities. I wonder what your assessment is of
06:18the security situation in Israel, especially given that The New York Times is reporting
06:24that this attack by Hezbollah was also aiming Tel Aviv.
06:31Yeah, and of course, Tel Aviv is deep into Israel. It's in central Israel, really. So
06:37that would be hugely significant if they managed to penetrate Israel's missile defence system.
06:44Here in Jerusalem this morning, I have to say it feels relatively normal. I'm sure lots
06:47of people will be waking up and reading the news and have concerns. We did see some military
06:53helicopters flying across the sky earlier this morning, some heading north. But certainly
07:00in Jerusalem, it feels relatively normal at the moment.
07:03Well, a reminder, you'll see a QR code on your screen that will take you to our BBC
07:08News Live page on our website and app, where our correspondents are providing updates and
07:14analysis. Our BBC Newsroom is also bringing in any reaction and information as it comes.
07:21In the meantime, here on the News Channel, let's speak to our senior international correspondent
07:25who's in southern Lebanon. That's Ola Guerin. Ola, good to have you. Now, given all your
07:32experience and your time there, could you put this into perspective for us? Because
07:37The New York Times is reporting that Tel Aviv was a target. We know that Ben Gurion is now
07:41open, the international airport is open. But when you look back at this war, how significant
07:48an escalation is this?
07:51Well, we know that the Israelis are saying Tel Aviv would have been targeted, but that
07:57didn't actually happen because of their preemptive strike. We're certainly in a new stage as
08:04a day. We had been expecting this retaliation for some time now. It was at the end of last
08:09month that an Israeli strike killed a senior, a top Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukur, in
08:17the heart of Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Beirut, a place called Dahiya. And Hezbollah
08:22had vowed it would respond. Now, similarly, the Iranians had vowed they would respond
08:27for the assassination of the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. Both had held off
08:34and the feeling had been that they were waiting to see how the ceasefire attempts being led
08:40by the Americans and the Egyptians and the Qataris would play out. Well, certainly Hezbollah
08:45is waiting no more. They said in a statement this morning that this was the first phase
08:52of a large scale operation and that its full response would take some time and that the
08:58punishment will be harsh and severe. Now, I think we need to look carefully at the targets
09:04that were hit by Hezbollah today so far. They were 11 military targets inside Israel. So
09:11not critical infrastructure, not civilian areas, but military targets. This is according
09:16to Hezbollah. We have had no reports from Israel yet of any casualties and certainly
09:22no reports of civilian casualties. Similarly, on this side in Lebanon, the Israelis have
09:27hit more than 200 targets, they say. But we have not received any reports of civilian
09:33casualties. I should tell you, Azadeh, that about 30 or 40 minutes ago in the hills behind
09:40us, we saw two very large plumes of smoke from two detonations, two explosions. Israel
09:49had obviously struck close to the border area, which is in that direction. But I think the
09:54key to this is that so far we are not being told that any civilians have been injured
10:00or killed because that again could be the trigger for another escalation. It's by no
10:07means clear when Hezbollah plans to carry out its next phase. It says it will happen,
10:14but it certainly may not happen today. So I think for now, Israel has got its preemptive
10:20strike in. Hezbollah has managed to fire, by its own account, 320 rockets into Israel
10:27and sending some drones. So for the moment, Hezbollah has made its point. Now we have
10:33to see if Israel is going to take further action.