Israel-Hezbollah war apparently averted for now

Danny Citrinowicz, an expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Hezbollah might be trying to “balance the equation without escalating into war” after its response against Israel on Sunday.

Each side hopes their narrative will be sufficient for them to declare victory and avoid a wider confrontation, he said.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday announced that Hezbollah’s attack on Israel on Sunday morning had targeted an intelligence base just outside Tel Aviv and an air defense base in the heart of Israel, in retaliation to Israel's killing of its military chief Fouad Shukur around a month ago.

Israel for its part launched air strikes into Lebanon on Sunday morning, claiming it destroyed "thousands" of Hezbollah rocket launchers and thwarted a major attack.

The result was the biggest exchange of fire in 10 months of a war which began with a Hamas attack launched from Gaza and has triggered both new violence on the Lebanon-Israel border and fears of a broader conflagration in the Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet the strikes were "not the final word" in the campaign against Hezbollah.

A soldier in the Israeli navy was killed in combat and two more wounded, the military said, with an official telling AFP their boat may have been hit by one of their own side's air-defense interceptors.

The office of the United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and the UNIFIL peacekeeping force urged "all to cease fire and refrain from further escalatory action."

Hezbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces throughout the Gaza war, in a campaign Hezbollah says is in support of Palestinian ally Hamas.

But fears of a wider regional conflagration soared after attacks in late July blamed on Israel killed Iran-aligned militant leaders, including Shukur, prompting vows of revenge.

Hezbollah said its militants launched "a large number of drones" and "more than 320" Katyusha rockets targeting "enemy positions" across the border.

The Lebanese movement said its attack was an "initial response" to Shukur's killing, adding that it had "ended with total success," although the extent of the damage on the Israeli side was not immediately clear.

An AFP photographer in Acre, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the border, reported damage to three homes from a Hezbollah rocket that struck a roof, with shrapnel smashing windows and destroying a bed.

"There were explosions in the area of Haifa," said Abigail Levy, a resident of the city south of Acre. "I was stopped and was told not to go to the beach."

AFPTV footage from early Sunday showed dozens of interceptor rockets being launched into dense clouds above the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, while an AFP photographer saw a Hezbollah drone exploding into a huge fireball as it was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force.

Hezbollah announced two of its fighters had been killed, while its ally the Amal movement also reported the death of a member. No casualties were immediately reported in Israel.

Military spokesman, Nadav Shoshani, said Hezbollah's strikes were "part of a larger attack that was planned and we were able to thwart a big part of it this morning."

Israeli authorities declared a 48-hour state of emergency but later relaxed most of the restrictions.

There was some disruption to flights in Israel and Lebanon.

- 'Stop the escalation' -

The fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah has killed hundreds, mostly in Lebanon, and displaced tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati told an emergency cabinet meeting he was in contact with "Lebanon's friends to stop the escalation."

At U.S. President Joe Biden's direction, "senior U.S. officials have been communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts," U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement.

The United States is Israel's top military supplier.