Columns of smoke rise on the outskirts of the village of Khiam, in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel, on March 17, 2026, as the Israeli army conducts operations in the area. (Credit: AFP)
The Israeli army announced Tuesday night that it had carried out preemptive strikes in Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah launchers, after a series of air raid alerts in northern Israel.
"Over the past hour, the air force struck [rocket or missile, ed.] launchers and Hezbollah terrorists across Lebanon, as part of efforts to disrupt and counter fire directed" at Israel, the army said in a statement.
Earlier, the army had announced it had "detected an intensification of Hezbollah's preparations to fire salvos of rockets at the State of Israel in the coming hours."
According to the same source, these "rapid [and] coordinated strikes" took place before Hezbollah could proceed with its launches.
Warning sirens sounded repeatedly Tuesday night in northern Israel.
In successive statements, Hezbollah announced a significant wave of simultaneous attacks on northern Israel Tuesday night.
The group said its fighters had fired rockets and what it described as sophisticated missiles at a dozen towns as well as several Israeli bases, including air and naval bases.
Hezbollah also claimed to have sent attack drones and carried out artillery fire on positions in northern Israel as well as rocket fire on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, at the same time as or immediately after the first round of attacks.
