For a brief moment this weekend, it looked as if the looming regional war that officials and analysts inside and outside the Middle East were concerned about for weeks had finally reared its ugly head.
Acting on intelligence that Hezbollah was about to launch a large-scale drone and missile attack on targets deep into Israel, 100 Israeli aircraft were scrambled for a bombing run into southern Lebanon. About 40 Hezbollah military targets were struck simultaneously, derailing what Israeli security sources claimed was an imminent Hezbollah attack on northern and central Israel. Hezbollah retaliated shortly thereafter, sending approximately 340 rockets into Israel — the largest Hezbollah barrage since the cross-border fighting occurred in October. When all was said and done, two Hezbollah fighters and one Israeli sailor were killed.
That’s the bad news. The good news: Both sides are claiming victory and seem to want to move on. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, are playing up Israel’s tactical proficiency against the Lebanese militia, stating that a much more deadly Hezbollah attack was averted. Meanwhile, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is puffing out his chest and alleging that the group has avenged the death of one its senior commanders in an Israeli airstrike last month. “At this current stage, the country (Lebanon) can take a breath and relax,” Nasrallah said in a speech after the rocket attack.
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