EIn a statement, the Defense Ministry said Gallant had activated a “special situation on the home front” and added that the “state of emergency declaration allows the army to give instructions to Israeli citizens, such as limiting gatherings and closing down places.”
The minister also spoke with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, confirming that Israel had launched “precision strikes” against Lebanon to prevent an imminent threat to the country.
In the early hours of today, the Israeli army said it had detected preparations by Hezbollah to fire missiles and rockets at Israeli territory. In response, the Israeli air force launched bombings against “terrorist targets in Lebanon”.
Shortly after, authorities announced restrictions across the territory north of Tel Aviv, limiting gatherings to 30 people outdoors and 300 indoors, as well as imposing a ban on bathing on beaches near the border.
Offices and educational establishments may continue to operate provided they have a bomb shelter nearby.
The Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Herzi Halevi, is directing offensive and defensive operations from the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, together with the main leaders of the armed forces, reported the Efe news agency.
Since the announcement, air raid sirens have been activated continuously in the Israeli zone bordering Lebanon, the agency added.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service has raised “its alert status to the highest level across the country”, although it has not yet received any information about casualties.
Hezbollah joined the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the war against Israel last October and since then violence on the Israeli-Lebanese border has escalated to its worst level since the 2006 war.
In addition, Iran’s ally Hezbollah has vowed to launch a full-scale attack on Israel following the killing of a senior commander in an Israeli airstrike outside Beirut on July 30.
Since October, gunfire along the border has cost the lives of at least 636 people, most of them on the Lebanese side and in the ranks of Hezbollah, which has confirmed 392 casualties.
In total, at least 586 people were killed in Lebanon, including at least 124 civilians, while in Israel 49 people were killed in the north of the territory: 23 military personnel and 26 civilians, including 12 minors in the attack on the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights.
Read Also: US warns Houthi attacks could cause environmental catastrophe
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2620679/israel-declara-estado-de-emergencia-militar-apos-ataques-no-libano
