ISRAEL was condemned today after it pummelled southern Lebanon with air strikes, driving the Middle East further into crisis, in what it claimed was a pre-emptive strike on Hezbollah. 

Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones of its own towards Israel in what they said was vengeance for the killing of Fouad Shukur, one of its top commanders, last month.

The heavy exchange of fire has further raised the tensions in the region, although both sides appear to have pulled back for the moment from any further escalation.

While both sides said they had only aimed at military targets, at least three people were killed in the strikes on Lebanon. There were no reported casualties in Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting of his far-right government, 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.

He said: “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.”

Meanwhile Labour’s Westminster government was slammed for continuing to sell weapons to the Israelis.

Although Britain has refused to enforce an arms embargo on Israel, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said that the government was  “very concerned” by the escalation.

Speaking to Sky News today, he said: “Even as this unfolds, the British government and the international community would urge all parties not to escalate further and to avoid a major regional war.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy spoke with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi last week about avoiding escalation in the region.

But Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German said the words “mean nothing” while he refuses to impose an arms embargo.

Since 2008, Britain has licensed arms worth over £574 million to Israel, according to Campaign Against Arms Trade.

Britain has failed to suspend the licences while Israel continues its genocidal attacks in Gaza, which have so far killed at least 40,000.

Mr Lammy has refused to publish legal advice on whether the sales breach international human law.

Commenting on Israel’s attacks, Ms German asked: “How much longer are these warmongers going to pretend they are defending themselves?

“And still this Labour government stokes the killing with its weapons sales and continued nurturing of its relationship with a genocidal state.”

Investigative news site Declassified UK posted a reminder to the X social media platform today of Britain’s active role in supporting Israeli air strikes against Lebanon since the October 7 fighting broke out in Gaza.

Declassified posted that Britain “has sent 74 war planes from Cyprus to Lebanon since March.

“All the flights have gone from RAF Akrotiri, Britain’s sprawling air base on Cyprus which has long been a staging post for bombing missions in the Middle East.”

The exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel at the weekend led to the closure of Israel’s Ben-Gurion International airport and diverted flights for approximately an hour due to the threat of attack. 

Israel’s Home Front Command raised the alert level across northern Israel before later lifting restrictions in most areas.

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani claimed Hezbollah had intended to hit targets in northern and central Israel. He revealed that around 100 Israeli aircraft took part in the strikes.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that two people were killed and another two wounded in the strikes in southern Lebanon. Separately, a fighter for the Amal group, which is allied with Hezbollah, was killed in a strike on a car, Amal said.

Hezbollah said its attack involved more than 340 Katyusha rockets aimed at multiple sites in Galilee and the Golan Heights and a “large number” of drones. 

In a speech secretary general of Hezbollah, Hasan Nasrallah, claimed total success for the military operation carried out by his organisation.

He said the main goal of the Katyusha rockets was to engage the Israeli Iron Dome system.

He said a key target was the Glilot base near Tel Aviv, which houses the headquarters of Mossad and several intelligence units.

The Hezbollah leader warned that other parties in the axis of resistance will decide when and how to respond to the Israelis.

He promised that Hezbollah would never abandon the Palestinians.

Activists have long warned that Mr Netanyahu is aiming to broaden the nearly 10-month old Gaza conflict across the region.

Communist Party of Britain international secretary Kevan Nelson said the spiral of violence in the Middle East, provoked by relentless Israeli state terrorism, “threatens nuclear armageddon.”

He added: “Restraint is urgently required on all sides, starting with an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.”

University of Miami foreign policy analyst Professor Rula Jebreal said: “Israeli heavy air strikes in Lebanon threaten to trigger a broader region-wide war, that journalists and experts, including myself, have been warning about. 

Journalist Mehdi Hasan said: “To be clear: every escalation in the Mid East is a reminder of how disastrous the Biden/Blinken approach has been; their ‘hug Netanyahu close’ strategy.” 

Mr Hasan also warned that the Middle East crisis would have a serious impact on Democratic Party candidate Vice-President Kamala Harris’s chance of winning the presidential election.

He added that Republican Party presidential candidate, former president Donald Trump, “must be delighted.”

Editor in chief of Middle East Eye, David Hearst, said: “Netanyahu wants to set the region on fire. His only chance of survival is to drag America into a war with Hezbollah & Iran. This is a fundamental threat to world peace. Everyone should be hoping for his downfall.”

Journalist and lawyer Dimitri Lascaris posted on X: “Yet again, Israel’s genocidal regime is doing everything it can to escalate the war in West Asia.”

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement today to back the retaliation of Hezbollah.

The Palestinian resistance fighters said the actions of Hezbollah “embodied the will of the nation against all policies of submission, humiliation and the march towards normalisation and collusion with the criminal zionist entity.”