Israel Carries out Strikes Deeper in Lebanon, Holds Cabinet Meeting on Border

This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adaisseh during Israeli bombardment on January 22, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. (AFP)
This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adaisseh during Israeli bombardment on January 22, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. (AFP)
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Israel Carries out Strikes Deeper in Lebanon, Holds Cabinet Meeting on Border

This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adaisseh during Israeli bombardment on January 22, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. (AFP)
This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adaisseh during Israeli bombardment on January 22, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. (AFP)

Israel struck targets deeper into Lebanese territory on Tuesday, reaching areas close to the southern city of Sidon.

An airstrike led to a destruction of a firing range in the Iqlim al-Tuffah area that is located 25 kms from the closest border point and 7 kms from Sidon.

Lebanese activists said Israeli jets flew at medium altitude over the city and Iqlim al-Tuffah. An explosion was then heard in the city. They later learned that Israel had struck a hunting club and firing range. The facility and a nearby house were destroyed.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, retaliated to Israel’s recent string of assassinations by launching missiles at the Israeli air base on Mount Meron for the second time in a month.

The Iran-backed party said in a statement that Tuesday's barrage was in response to “recent assassinations in Lebanon and Syria, and the repeated attacks on civilians and homes” in southern Lebanon. It claimed to have made direct hits.

The Israeli military said some of the launches were intercepted by air defenses and others landed, causing “minor damage” to infrastructure at the base but no injuries.

Hezbollah previously struck the air base in retaliation for a presumed Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Jan. 2 that killed senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri.

On Saturday, 13 people, including five advisers in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, were killed in an Israeli raid on Damascus. The strike destroyed an entire building in the Syrian capital and Iran vowed to retaliate.

After more than three months of near-daily clashes between Hezbollah militants and Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border, Israel in recent weeks appears to have moved to a strategy of targeted killings of figures from Hezbollah and allied groups in Lebanon and Syria.

In some cases, civilians have been killed along with the apparent intended targets. An Israeli airstrike hit two vehicles near a Lebanese army checkpoint in south Lebanon on Sunday, killing a Hezbollah member in one car and a civilian woman in the other.

The ongoing border clashes are a problem for Israel as residents of the northern regions refuse to return before the fighting ends.

Israeli reports said the Israeli ministerial cabinet for political and security affairs convened in one of the northern towns. Heads of local authorities also attended the meeting.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had on Monday said Hezbollah was continuing its “provocations in the North. We remain vigilant of everything happening in the region.”

“An assessment has been made of the situation. We are fully prepared. We don’t want a war, but we are ready to confront any situation that may unfold in the North,” he added.



Israeli Military Inquiry Says It ‘Failed to Protect’ Civilians on October 7

An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Israeli Military Inquiry Says It ‘Failed to Protect’ Civilians on October 7

An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Reuters)

The Israeli military drastically underestimated the capabilities of Hamas before its attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and "failed in its mission to protect Israeli civilians", a summary of an Israeli military investigation published on Thursday said.

The perception that Hamas was not interested in a full-scale conflict and that Israel would have ample warning if that changed went unchallenged for years, the summary said, resulting in a lack of preparedness and ability to respond to an attack.

"The belief was that Hamas could be influenced through pressures that would reduce its motivation for war, primarily by improving living conditions in the Gaza Strip," the report said.

The investigation looked at Israeli military strategy, battle behavior and intelligence before, during and after October 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 48,000 people have been killed in Israel's assault on Gaza since then, according to Palestinian health officials. Much of the enclave has been laid waste and most of the territory's 2.3 million prewar population have been displaced multiple times, humanitarian agencies say. Around 400 Israeli soldiers have also been killed.

The military investigation was conducted as calls grow from within the Israeli opposition and civil society for a national inquiry into the government's failures on the deadliest single day in modern Israeli history.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a national inquiry would only be appropriate after the conclusion of the war.

The first phase of a ceasefire that began on January 19 is due to expire in two days' time.

The military investigation found Israel had focused its intelligence and military efforts on other fronts, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, and relied too heavily "on intelligence, barriers, and defensive measures alone", and was thus caught by surprise.

Military commanders did not perceive an urgent threat leading up to October 7 attacks and did not reinforce the troops defending the border.

A statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office on Thursday said that the military had not given the prime minister the findings of its investigations into the war.