After Lebanon's Earthquake, Israel Writes the Future of Confrontation with Hezbollah on a Rakheter Scale

Israel announced on Friday its readiness for additional strikes against Lebanese Hezbollah sites following an explosion that caused an earthquake.

In a statement, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said, "We are ready and prepared to continue the campaign and keep striking Hezbollah and additional targets."

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz jointly announced in a statement that the State of Israel had detonated a wide network of underground tunnels belonging to Hezbollah in the Ali al-Tahir highlands in southern Lebanon.

Following the Israeli military's announcement of the explosion operation on Thursday, a 4.1 magnitude earthquake was recorded in southern Lebanon according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Journalists from AFP felt the shockwaves of the explosions in Lebanon, while footage released by Israel’s Defense Minister showed a fireball rising into the sky.

In a statement coinciding with the Hebrew New Year, Katz said, "We promised the residents of the north that we would provide them protection, and we have fulfilled our promise," just weeks after a difficult general election.

He added, "We now have a strong, indeed the strongest security zone ever, which will protect civilians from any attacks or direct shelling, and allow us to maintain control and threaten Hezbollah deep within Lebanese territory."

Meanwhile, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, in a filmed statement released by the army on Friday, vowed that "any attack on populated areas in northern Israel or on Israeli Defense Forces units responsible for their protection will be met with an immediate and strong response."

Referring to ongoing negotiations between Israel and Lebanon regarding the potential deployment of the Lebanese Army in parts of southern Lebanon as part of implementing the bilateral framework agreement, Zamir stated that the Lebanese Army must "demonstrate its effectiveness on the ground (...) otherwise, it will not be possible to move forward with the agreement between the governments of Israel and Lebanon."

Last week, the Israeli military announced control over this ridge located north of the Litani River, at the edge of the occupied area in southern Lebanon.

Israel accuses Hezbollah of digging tunnels in this region, enabling the group to launch drones and missiles targeting Israeli military sites in southern Lebanon, as well as northern Israel.

The war in the Middle East expanded into Lebanon starting March 2, after Hezbollah, Iran’s ally, launched rockets at Israel in response to the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28.

Israel had previously captured the historic Qal'at al-Shaqif fortress, located just kilometers from the Ali al-Tahir area, in late May.