Lebanon's premier calls emergency ministerial meeting after Israel's massive air raid

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Sunday called an emergency meeting of the ministerial committee to discuss the situation following Israel’s massive air raid, which Tel Aviv called a “preemptive strike.”

In a statement, Mikati announced that the meeting will be held at his Beirut home on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. (0730GMT), Anadolu news agency reported.

He noted that the invitation is extended to all ministers who are available to attend for further consultation on recent developments.

Earlier on Sunday morning, Israeli warplanes conducted over 40 air strikes on southern Lebanon, the most severe assault since the conflict began on Oct. 8, 2023.

The Israeli army called the attack a “preemptive strike,” claiming to have halted an impending Hezbollah attack before it could take place.

In response, Hezbollah reported launching 320 rockets at Israeli military targets as the initial phase of its response to the July assassination of its commander, Fouad Shukr, by Israel.

Since October 8, 2023, Lebanon’s 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.

Fears of a full-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah have grown amid an exchange of cross-border attacks, and after the 30 July assassination of senior Hezbollah Commander, Fouad Shukr, in Beirut.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of the conflict in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians since the 7 October 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.

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