Israelis stage heavy airstrikes in Lebanon and Hezbollah launches drone attack on Israel
Jerusalem (AP): Israel launched a series of intense airstrikes in southern Lebanon early Sunday in what it said was a pre-emptive strike against the Hezbollah group, threatening to trigger a broader regionwide war that could torpedo efforts to forge a cease-fire in Gaza.
The army said Hezbollah was planning to launch a heavy barrage of rockets and missiles toward Israel. The Iranian-backed group had been promising to retaliate for Israel's assassination of a top commander late last month.
Air raid sirens were reported throughout northern Israel, and Israel's Ben-Gurion international airport began diverting incoming flights and delaying takeoffs.
Soon afterwards, Hezbollah announced it had launched an attack on Israel with a “large number of drones” as an initial response to the killing of Fouad Shukur, a top commander with the group, in a strike in Beirut's southern suburbs last month.
Hezbollah said the attack was targeting “a qualitative Israeli military target that will be announced later” as well as “targeting a number of enemy sites and barracks and Iron Dome platforms.”
The attack came as Egypt hosts a new round of talks aimed at ending Israel's war against Hamas, now in its 11th month. Hezbollah has said it will halt the fighting if there is a cease-fire.
Last week, Israel's defense minister said he was moving more troops toward the Lebanese border in anticipation of possible fighting with the Iranian-backed group.
Israel's military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said early Sunday: ”In a self-defense act to remove these threats, the (Israeli military) is striking terror targets in Lebanon, from which Hezbollah was planning to launch their attacks on Israeli civilians.”
“We can see that Hezbollah is preparing to launch an extensive attack on Israel, while endangering the Lebanese civilians," he added, without providing details. ”??We warn the civilians located in the areas where Hezbollah is operating to move out of harm's way immediately for their own safety,” he added.
Lebanese media reported strikes in the country's south without immediately providing more details. Social media footage showed what appeared to be strikes in southern Lebanon.
Israeli media cited the Israel Airports Authority for news of the flight cancellations. Flight-tracking data showed at least two El Al flights swinging far south and diverting after the announcement.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after the war with Hamas erupted on Oct. 7 with a Hamas cross-border attack. Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire nearly daily, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border and raising fears that the fighting could escalate into all-out war. But until Sunday, both sides have been careful to avoid a broader conflagration.
Hezbollah is considered much more powerful than its ally, Hamas, with an estimated arsenal of arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles. In recent months the group has also stepped up its use of drones, against which Israel is less well-equipped to defend.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, were managing the latest operation from military headquarters in Tel Aviv. Gallant declared a “special situation on the home front,” and Netanyahu's Security Cabinet was set to meet later Sunday morning.
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Ex-CJI Chandrachud removed fear of law from political defectors, claims Sanjay Raut
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday slammed former Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, alleging that he had removed the fear of the law from politicians who defected from parties in Maharashtra.
Raut claimed that by not deciding on the disqualification petitions, Chandrachud kept doors and windows open for defections.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader's statement comes after his party faced a severe drubbing in the state assembly elections, as it managed to clinch only 20 out of 95 seats it contested as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
The performance of the party's alliance partners was no better, with the Congress winning only 16 out of 101 seats and NCP (SP) getting only 10 out of 86 seats it contested.
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged, "He (Chandrachud) has removed the fear of the law from defectors. His name will be written in black letters in history."
Following the split in the undivided Shiv Sena in 2022, the party's faction headed by Uddhav Thackeray filed petitions in the Supreme Court on the disqualification of party MLAs who defected along with Eknath Shinde. The apex court put the onus on the assembly Speaker to decide on the disqualification petitions, which he did earlier this year, declaring the Sena bloc led by Shinde as the “real political party”.
Raut alleged that the results of the assembly election were pre-decided. If the then CJI had decided on the disqualification petitions on time, the outcome would have been different.
"We are sad but not disappointed. We will not leave the fight incomplete. Division of votes was also a factor, and the RSS played an important role in the election. The poisonous campaign impacted us negatively," he said.
He said the swearing-in ceremony for the new government should be held in neighbouring Gujarat.
Meanwhile, in his weekly column "Rokhthok" in the party mouthpiece "Saamana", the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader claimed that it was time to offer condolences to the Election Commission, which turned a blind eye to the use of money power.
"The courts have been in the ICU for a long time," he alleged.
