Israel announces launch of offensive on Hezbollah amid regional escalation

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army's Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir announced the launch of an “offensive campaign” against the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which he said might take several days.

“We have launched an offensive campaign against Hezbollah and must be prepared for several days of fighting," Zamir said in a statement.

“We are not only on the defensive lines; we are moving to the offensive,” he added, stressing the need to strengthen defensive readiness and continue waves of airstrikes.

The announcement comes amid field escalation on Monday, as the Israeli army carried out a series of airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that Israeli airstrikes on the southern suburbs and the south have killed at least 31 people and injured 149 others, according to data based on non-final figures.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli army said it had targeted Hezbollah sites across Lebanon in response to rocket fire launched by the group toward northern Israel.

For its part, Hezbollah said in a statement that it had targeted a military site in northern Israel with a barrage of rockets and a swarm of drones, in response to ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon and after a joint US-Israeli military campaign launched on Saturday killed several senior Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

* Writing by Serdar Dincel in Istanbul.