Lebanese interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati called an emergency cabinet meeting for 10:30 a.m. (8:30 GMT) to discuss the series of Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon early Sunday morning.

Israel launched more than 40 air strikes in southern Lebanon early Sunday morning to repel a large-scale attack by Hezbollah. The attacks killed three people in Lebanon, including a fighter from the Hezbollah-allied political party Amal. Four people were also slightly injured.

The series of Israeli attacks was one of the fiercest since fighting between Hezbollah and Israel began after the Hamas attack on October 7. The Lebanese news agency reported that forest fires had broken out as a result of the Israeli attacks.

Hezbollah claimed that Israel’s preemptive strikes did not affect its attack and that all of its drones were launched “as planned.”

The Lebanese group attacked 11 military bases in northern Israel and fired over 320 rockets before announcing the end of its military operation, saying the operation was in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of its top military commander. Fouad Shukra month earlier in Beirut.

Israeli officials said Hezbollah’s preventive measures prevented the attacks from reaching central Israel. Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah announced that he would deliver a speech today at 6 p.m.

Here is an overview of the most important developments in the current hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

• The Israel Defense Forces said early Sunday that they had launched attacks in Lebanon. after assessing that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah The movement was preparing to fire rockets and missiles at Israel. Air raid sirens were reported throughout northern Israel. Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said 100 warplanes had attacked more than 40 Hezbollah launch sites, destroying thousands of rocket launcher barrels intended for immediate fire at Israel.

• Hezbollah said it fired more than 320 rockets, hit 11 Israeli military sites and sent drones into northern Israel. on Sunday in response to Israel’s killing of the group’s top commander in an attack in Beirut last month. Hezbollah had promised a strong response to the killing of Fouad Shukur, raising fears of an escalation to open war.

• Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared a state of emergency for 48 hours.which gives the Israeli military the authority to impose restrictions on the movement of civilians. The Israeli security cabinet was due to meet on Sunday morning. Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would take all necessary measures to defend itself and: “Whoever harms us, we harm.”

• One person was killed and at least four others were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a car in the town of Khiam in southern Lebanon. Several people were injured in separate attacks, a medical source told the Guardian.

• According to the military, Israel suffered “very little damage” from Hezbollah’s rocket attacks“We are still assessing the consequences of the attack,” said Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani. “But I can tell you that there was only minor damage… very minor damage.”

• Gallant spoke to his US counterpart Lloyd Austin about the air strikes on Lebanon and assured the Secretary of Defense that they were of a defensive nature. US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said President Joe Biden is “closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon” and, at his direction, “senior US officials are communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts.”

• Hezbollah said it had attacked an identified “special military target” as well as Israel’s Iron Dome platforms. and other locations. It was later said that Sunday’s military operation was “over” for the day, while Israel’s preemptive strikes denied its own operation.

• Flights to and from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv have been suspended for about 90 minutes. The airport authority said normal operations are expected to resume around 7 a.m.

• The attacks came as Egypt is hosting a new round of talks aimed at ending Israel’s war with Hamas.now in the 11th month.

According to the military, Israel suffered “very little damage” from Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on Sunday.

“We are still assessing the situation after the attack … there is still fire,” said Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said.

“But I can tell you that there was little damage… very little damage.”

According to Agence France-Presse, Shoshani said the Hezbollah attack was “part of a larger planned attack and we were able to thwart a large part of it this morning.” He declined to elaborate on Hezbollah’s target, however.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets attacked thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers aimed at northern and central Israel on Sunday morning in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah, in turn, fired hundreds of rockets and drones at northern Israel, most of them after Israel began its attack.

Shoshani said Israel’s partners, including the United States, did not take part in Sunday’s attack on Hezbollah.

“An Israeli operation took place this morning,” he said.

Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that Israel will take all necessary measures to defend itself and harm anyone “who harms us”.

Reuters quoted the Israeli Prime Minister as saying:

We are determined to do everything possible to defend our country, to return the people of the North safely to their homes, and to continue to uphold a simple rule: if anyone harms us, we harm them too.

William Christou Reports:

Hezbollah said Sunday’s military operation was “over” for the day after it launched a barrage of drone and rocket attacks on military targets in northern Israel in the early hours of the morning.

The Lebanese group denied that Israel’s preemptive strikes, carried out immediately before its own attack, had compromised its own operation.

“The enemy’s claims about the preventive measures it carried out, the targets it hit and the disruption of the resistance movement’s (Hezbollah) attack are empty,” Hezbollah’s statement said, adding that all drones were fired “at the desired targets” as planned.

Hezbollah said its attack was retaliation for the assassination of its top military commander. Fouad Shukurattacked by Israel a month earlier. The Israeli Air Force attacked 11 military sites in northern Israel with drones and more than 320 rockets. In retaliation, Israel carried out dozens of air strikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday morning, killing at least one soldier and wounding four others.

The Lebanese group also announced that its Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallahwill give a speech shortly, but did not give a date.