Hezbollah Israeli Intelligence Base Strikes ‘Step-by-Step Escalation’ Hamas Negotiations ‘Breakdown’
The ‘step-by-step escalation’ operation began with the destruction of intelligence agencies between Hezbollah and Israel, and negotiations between Israel and Hamas broke down, and the US military entered into a local war by stationing two aircraft carrier groups and guided missile submarines.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah, announced in a speech on the 25th (local time) that the 25th attack on Israel was aimed at a military “intelligence base” near Tel Aviv, and that the air force base and other targets were also targeted. He announced a step-by-step attack operation, saying that in addition to 340 rockets, drones were also launched in the attack, and “If the results are not satisfactory, we reserve the right to retaliate further.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a government meeting on the 25th that he was prepared to intensify the attack on Hezbollah, saying, “We have stopped all attacks, but this is not the end.”
Hezbollah leader Nasrallah initially pointed to the Glilot military base outside Tel Aviv as the target of the attack in central Israel, the headquarters of Unit 8200, the Israeli military’s “communications intelligence unit,” and said on the 25th that the base was involved in the attack on Shukr’s assassination.
The mutual attack between Israel and Hezbollah began on Sunday when Hezbollah leader Nasrallah said that Hezbollah’s artillery fire was scheduled to begin at 5:15 a.m., and around 4:55 a.m. the Israeli military announced that its fighter jets were carrying out a series of surprise attacks just before Hezbollah’s attack began.
Israeli military chief spokesman Major General Daniel Hagari issued an emergency statement saying that Israel “led the attack to eliminate the threat.”
The New York Times reported on the 26th that “the Israeli Communications Intelligence Agency base is about 70 miles from the Lebanese border,” and that four Israeli officials anonymously stated that Hezbollah’s 8200th Unit and the headquarters of Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, Mossad, were the targets of the attack.
The Israeli daily Haaretz said in an article titled “Analysis,” “Israel’s preemptive strike on Lebanon would sink Lebanon into the same strategic mud,” and “While thwarting Hezbollah’s attacks from the north is a tactical achievement for Israel, all previous regional escalations have ended thanks to diplomacy, not weapons, and this will be no different,” indicating that the direction of the war has shifted to a “diplomatic battle.”
On Sunday night (5 a.m. on the 26th in Seoul), immediately after the Hezbollah leader’s announcement, Hamas, which refused to negotiate with Israel, fired a rocket toward central Israel, causing sirens to sound in Tel Aviv for the first time since January, ABC reported.
Israel The Defense Ministry said the Hamas rocket landed in an "open area" in Rishon LeTsiyon, south of Tel Aviv.
Israeli emergency services said no one was injured by the rocket, but a 26-year-old woman was injured as she walked to a shelter, ABC reported.
Hamas then confirmed it had fired an "M90" rocket into Tel Aviv.
The ceasefire talks, which were in the final stages of a US-brokered ceasefire, ended with Israel insisting on its military presence in the Gaza corridor, and Hamas rejecting the presence of Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, calling it "unacceptable" and announcing the breakdown of the ceasefire talks. Reuters reported that the ceasefire negotiations ended without an agreement, and the delegations from both sides left Egypt, and that Hamas did not directly participate in the negotiations that day and was briefed by mediators Egypt and Qatar, and that the rejection of the deal was announced by Usama Hamdan, a senior political official, on Hamas-run television.
Hamas official Hamdan said that the new proposal to maintain an Israeli military presence on the Gaza Strip and Egypt border was unacceptable, and urged again for an agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli troops, a ceasefire proposed by US President Joe Biden.
The Israeli newspaper 'Times of Israel' reported on the 26th that the Israeli delegation will discuss the next steps with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after returning to the country, and that a senior US official said that "the working group will consider the remaining issues for several days."
The New York Times Jerusalem correspondent reported on the morning of the 26th, “By breakfast time, both sides were using the language of containment, but the Middle East situation remained tense after the attacks, and the future was uncertain.”
Ehud Yari, a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, based in Israel, told the NYT that day, “There could be steps,” and “there could be a gradual escalation.”
The NYT said, “Late Sunday morning, the Israeli military said it was continuing to attack Hezbollah launch sites in southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah is believed to have tens of thousands of rockets and a small number of more sophisticated and precise missiles.” “Iran, Hezbollah’s sponsor, remains openly linked to Israel and has accused Israel of assassinating Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of its ally Hamas, while he was in Tehran, and Israel has not officially accepted responsibility for Haniyeh’s death,” raising the possibility of continued retaliatory attacks. The US, along with mediators from Qatar and Egypt, pushed for an agreement to end the 10-month war between Israel and Hamas, calling for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, but Israel insisted on maintaining troops in two corridors, and Hamas refused to accept it, leading to the breakdown.
The New York Times reported that “the US has worked to advance a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in part to prevent a larger local war, and has steadily deployed two aircraft carrier groups and guided missile submarines to the area to deter attacks on Israel by Iran and its allies and to support counter-attacks.”
The fighting between the two sides began before dawn on Sunday, when the Israeli military said it had attacked more than 40 Hezbollah launch sites in Lebanon with about 100 fighter jets.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least three people were killed and two wounded in the shooting, while Israel said one soldier was killed and two wounded in Hezbollah gunfire. Hezbollah announced the launch of about 340 rockets, most of which were fired at intelligence targets in northern Israel, while some were fired at military bases in central Israel. The New York Times reported that “the attack reflects the growing diversity of Hezbollah’s arsenal,” and that “Israeli and U.S. officials said the munitions were drones and that all were shot down.”