Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel would take “whatever action is necessary” to diminish the threat posed by Hezbollah, as the deputy leader of the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia warned the conflict was entering “a new stage.”
The threats added to mounting fears that intensifying tit-for-tat violence between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has put the region on the brink of a wider catastrophe.
Hezbollah launched more than 100 rockets, missiles and drones at Israeli territory overnight in a large-scale response to a wave of deadly attacks against the group in Lebanon that included exploding pagers and walkie-talkies, along with airstrikes against senior commanders.
Mr. Netanyahu seemed to refer to those attacks against Hezbollah opaquely in saying on Sunday that Israel had dealt the group “a series of blows” that it hadn’t anticipated.
“If Hezbollah didn’t understand the message, I promise you it will understand the message,” he said in a recorded statement, adding that Israel was determined to return Israelis displaced by the cross-border violence to their homes in the north.
His statement did not address Hezbollah’s overnight attack, which set off air-raid sirens in scores of towns in northern Israel. Hezbollah said it had targeted Israeli military bases, including one near Haifa, on the coast. The Israeli military said most of the missiles were intercepted by air defenses. But a town north of Haifa suffered a direct hit and officials tightened restrictions on public gatherings in areas including the Golan Heights and Galilee.