Israel strikes targets in Gaza, Syria and West Bank as risk of bigger war grows
- Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which staged a brutal attack on October 7 that killed 1,400 Israelis
- Israel’s PM said will ‘cripple’ Lebanon’s Hezbollah ‘with a force it cannot even imagine’ if it launches a war
Israeli warplanes struck targets across Gaza, two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants, as the two-week-old war with Hamas threatened to spiral Sunday into a broader conflict.
Israel has traded fire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group since the war began, and tensions are soaring in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces have battled militants in refugee camps and carried out two air strikes in recent days.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops in northern Israel that if Hezbollah launches a war: “it will make the mistake of its life. We will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine and the consequences for it and the Lebanese state will be devastating”.
Netanyahu also convened a meeting of his top generals and his war cabinet to assess the escalating conflict.
For days, Israel has been on the verge of launching a ground offensive in Gaza following Hamas’ deadly October 7 rampage, with tanks and troops massed at the border.
Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said the country had increased air strikes across Gaza to hit targets that would reduce the risk to troops in the next stage of the war.