The Israeli Cabinet late Monday night declared a nationwide “special emergency situation” authorizing officials to take measures to protect public safety. The designation expires on Wednesday night unless the Cabinet extends it.
Home Front Command officials closed schools in Haifa and northern Israel, and the Ministry of Transportation banned small vessels from sailing in Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee) until further notice.
Numerous foreign airlines have suspended their flights to and from Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
On Monday morning, Israel called on residents of southern Lebanon and the Beka’a Valley to flee homes where the Iranian-backed Hezbollah stored missiles.
The IDF disclosed that Hezbollah was preparing to launch a cruise missile hidden inside a civilian home. The army released footage that included the airstrike that destroyed the missile.
Sarit Zahavi, president and founder of the ALMA Research Center, told The Press Service of Israel in August that Hezbollah doctrine makes extensive use of civilian homes.
“Hezbollah stores their weapons everywhere, both between villages and within the villages themselves,” she said.
“By and large, every third house in the Shi’ite villages of south Lebanon is used in some way by Hezbollah for military purposes, be it weapons storage, the entrance of a tunnel, or a launchpad for shooting rockets at Israel,” she explained.
Israel continued striking Hezbollah positions in Lebanon on Tuesday, Day 2 of Operation Northern Arrows, while the Iran-backed terror group fired volleys of rockets at Haifa, Nahariya the Galilee and Jezreel Valley.
The Israel Defense Forces said the Air Force struck more than 1,600 targets in southern Lebanon and the Beka’a Valley since Monday morning, including missile launchers, command posts and other terror infrastructure, including those located inside civilian homes.
Israeli artillery and tanks hit other Hezbollah targets in the areas of Ayta ash Shab and Ramiyeh near the border.
The IDF said 210 rockets were fired into Israel on Monday. Several Israelis were treated for shrapnel wounds, hurting themselves while making their way to shelter, and severe anxiety.
Northern Israeli residents were forced to evacuate their homes when Hezbollah began launching rockets and drones in October. The terror group has launched more than 9,000 rockets and drones at Israel.
Hezbollah leaders have said they will continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes, which Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah reiterated in a speech on Thursday night.
Israeli officials have been calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed and removed from southern Lebanon in compliance with UN Security Council resolution 1701, the ceasefire agreement which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War but which was never complied with.
