Israel and Hezbollah exchange strikes before pulling back, jolting region amid Gaza cease-fire talks
What to know about the exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah
- Israel and the Hezbollah militant group launched their heaviest exchange of fire after months of strikes and counterstrikes. By mid-morning Sunday, it appeared to have ended, with both sides saying they only aimed at military targets.
- Authorities in Lebanon said the Israeli strikes killed three people, while Israel said one of its soldiers was killed.
- President Biden is closely monitoring the events in Israel and Lebanon. "At his direction, senior U.S. officials have been communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts," National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said in a statement.
Here's a look at where things stand:
What happened early Sunday?
The situation between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group remains tense. The exchange of fire between the two early Sunday threatened to trigger a broader region-wide war that could torpedo ongoing efforts to forge a cease-fire in Gaza.
The Israeli military said around 100 warplanes launched the airstrikes targeting thousands of rocket launchers across southern Lebanon. It said it struck because Hezbollah was planning to launch a heavy barrage of rockets and missiles toward Israel. Soon after, Hezbollah announced it launched an attack on Israeli military positions with a large number of drones. The Iranian-backed group had been promising for weeks to retaliate for Israel's assassination of Fouad Shukur, one of its founding members, in Beirut last month.
By mid-morning, it appeared that the exchange had ended. At least three people were killed in the strikes in Lebanon, while Israel said one servicemember, Petty Officer 1st Class David Moshe Ben Shitrit, 21, was killed in northern Israel. Two other soldiers were "lightly and moderately injured," Israel said.
"Approximately ninety percent of the targets struck were short-range rockets aimed at northern Israel," Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a statement on Sunday, adding, "Hezbollah planned to harm Israeli civilians."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at the start of a Cabinet meeting, said the military had eliminated "thousands of rockets that were aimed at northern Israel" and urged citizens to adhere to directives from the Home Front Command.
"We are determined to do everything to defend our country, to return the residents of the north securely to their homes and to continue upholding a simple rule: Whoever harms us — we will harm them," he said.
What was involved in the attack
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said Hezbollah had intended to hit targets in northern and central Israel. He said initial assessments found "very little damage" in Israel, but that the military remained on high alert. He said around 100 Israeli aircraft took part in Sunday's strikes.
"Hezbollah managed to launch only about two hundred and thirty rockets and over twenty unmanned aerial vehicles," Hagari said on Sunday. "Most of them either fell on their way to Israeli territory, landed in open areas, or were intercepted by Israeli Air Force defense systems and Israeli Navy ships."
Hezbollah said its attack involved more than 320 Katyusha rockets aimed at multiple sites in Israel and a "large number" of drones. It said the operation was targeting "a qualitative Israeli military target that will be announced later" as well as "enemy sites and barracks and Iron Dome (missile defense) platforms."
Hezbollah later announced the end of what it said was the first stage of retaliatory strikes, which it said would allow it to launch more attacks deeper into Israel. But a later statement said "military operations for today have been completed."
Air raid sirens were reported throughout northern Israel and the Israel Airports Authority briefly suspended flights in and out of Ben Gurion International Airport due to the threat of attack. Flights that were already en route to Ben Gurion were diverted to other airports.
Israel's Home Front Command raised the alert level in northern Israel and encouraged people to stay near bomb shelters.
Fears have been high in recent weeks that the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip could escalate into a regional conflict after the Israeli strike which killed Shukr, and a suspected Israeli assassination operation in Iran killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Earlier this month, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. was preparing for a possible attack by Iran and its proxies in retaliation for those assassinations.
The USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier equipped with F-35 fighter jets, and the USS Georgia, a guided missile submarine, were recently deployed to the Middle East in response.
Diplomacy to de-escalate continues amid cease-fire talks
The attacks come as delegations from the U.S., Israel, Qatar and Egypt are holding another round of cease-fire talks in Cairo.
A spokesman for the National Security Council, Sean Savett, said President Biden was "closely monitoring" the events in Israel and Lebanon and that he has been engaged with his national security team throughout the evening.
"At his direction, senior U.S. officials have been communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts," Savett said. "We will keep supporting Israel's right to defend itself, and we will keep working for regional stability."
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, about Israel's defenses. Austin also ordered the presence of two Carrier Strike Groups to remain in the region, the Pentagon said on Sunday.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown, is on a visit to the region that is expected to take him to Israel, Egypt and Jordan.
The U.S. military had no involvement in Israel's preemptive strikes on Hezbollah, according to a U.S. official.
Michael Herzog, Israeli ambassador to the U.S., said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that he believes the "success of our operation yesterday prevented an escalation to a major war."
"We still need a settlement with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon," Herzog said. "They followed Hamas by launching a war with Israel on October 8, and they have been firing thousands of rockets into Israel since then. We give a chance to diplomacy, and we hope it works."
The U.S. is hoping that all sides can stop escalating since both Israel and Hezbollah are publicly claiming success, and the initial assessment is that the blowback from this strike is contained. An Israeli official also told CBS News that it appears Hezbollah is deterred.
Multiple sources in the region told CBS News that the U.S., Qatar, Israel, and all relevant actors are now sending the message to both Hezbollah and Iran to de-escalate. Three sources told CBS that the Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani is still scheduled at this point to travel Monday to Tehran to brief Iranian leaders on diplomacy underway regarding Gaza and to dissuade any potential Iranian attack on Israel.
The strikes are not disrupting the diplomacy underway in Cairo where the U.S. and Egypt are trying to negotiate a cease-fire in Gaza. CIA director William Burns and Mr. Biden's top Mideast adviser, Brett McGurk, remain in Cairo negotiating the details of how to implement a potential hostage and prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel. An Israeli official confirmed that Israeli delegation is still expected to participate today.
Qatar and Egypt are acting as intermediaries with Hamas, as the U.S. is barred under American law from directly negotiating with the terrorist group. However, an official in the region confirmed to CBS News that the Doha-based political leadership of Hamas has sent a senior delegation to Cairo, which is led by Khalil Hayya.
Hayya previously served under Ismail Haniyeh as the lead on the Hamas negotiating team until the Israelis assassinated Haniyeh a few weeks ago. That physical presence of a political delegation in the same building is helpful to diplomats as they get down to the nuts and bolts of deal-making, but all parties acknowledge that the real decision maker remains Yahya Sinwar who is commanding from underground in Gaza.
The potential deal would be a six-week cessation of violence, an exchange of the most vulnerable prisoners including Americans, the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli detention, and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza. During Phase One of this deal, talks would continue about an enduring cease-fire. This deal is the centerpiece of the Biden administration's strategy to lower regional tensions far beyond the 25 miles of the Gaza strip.