US aided Israel with intelligence in attack on Hezbollah: Report

JERUSALEM

The US provided intelligence assistance to Israel’s “preemptive strike” against Hezbollah, the state-run broadcasting authority reported Sunday, citing an American official.

The official, who was not named, said that Washington “provided intelligence assistance to Israel in the (Sunday) preemptive strike against Hezbollah in Lebanon,” without providing further details.

As of yet, there has been no official response from Israel regarding the American official's statement. However, the White House previously stated that President Joe Biden "is closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon.”

Israeli warplanes launched over 40 airstrikes on southern Lebanon early Sunday, the most severe attack since cross-border attacks with Hezbollah began last October. The Israeli army claimed that the strikes aimed to prevent an impending Hezbollah attack.

The Lebanese group, for its part, said it launched hundreds of missiles and drones deep into Israel in the “first phase” of its response to last month’s assassination of its commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut.

Since Oct. 8, 2023, Hezbollah has been engaged in daily exchanges of fire with the Israeli army across the Blue Line, resulting in hundreds of casualties, mostly on the Lebanese side.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The escalation comes against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 40,400 Palestinians since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas incursion. The military campaign has reduced much of the territory to rubble and left most of the people homeless, hungry, and prone to disease.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala