“Huge attack” in Lebanon in “hours”, Israel warns: “Get out now!” and the trembling Hezbollah fears more bombs with artificial weapons

ISRAEL warns of a “major attack” on Lebanon in the next few hours and has urged locals to stay away from Hezbollah.

The Israeli military said it would carry out “extensive strikes” against the terror group following last week's pager sabotage, as US authorities believe an invasion is imminent.

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The Israeli Air Force is expected to launch a massive “large-scale” blitz on southern Lebanon early this afternoon.

A source told Israeli news channel Ynet that people could view the fighting as a “third Lebanon war.”

Israel has warned Lebanese civilians living near Hezbollah and its rocket, weapons and ammunition depots to flee.

Civilians heard the message through hacked radios, text messages and phone calls, giving them two hours to escape Iran's proxy.

According to local media, the text message said: “If you are in a building where Hezbollah weapons are stored, leave the village until further notice.”

In a video, Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi threatened that the attacks would increase until Hezbollah stopped its attacks on the country.

He promised that residents in the north of the country would be able to return home safely after tens of thousands were evacuated.

Halevi said: “We will return the residents safely to their homes, and if Hezbollah has not yet understood this, it will have to take another blow and another blow – until the organization understands.”

He also warned that the country has “many other capabilities that we have not yet activated” and is at a “high level of readiness.”

Warplanes launched new bombing raids on towns along Lebanon's southern border this morning, injuring dozens of people.

The renewed attacks come after fierce clashes last week, when Israel launched its most violent blitz of the war, bombing a residential building.

On Sunday, Hezbollah fired around 150 rockets and missiles at Israel in retaliation for attacks that killed senior commanders on Friday.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said citizens must “show calm” to “achieve our goal and return the residents of the north safely to their homes.”

Reuters reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard ordered all its members to stop using any type of communication devices.

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According to reports, 19 soldiers from this elite paramilitary unit in Syria were injured in last week's pager attacks.

The Guard has also launched an investigation into its own members to uncover any espionage activities for Israel.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told senior Pentagon officials that he feared an imminent invasion of Israel.

However, Israeli officials have denied this.

The increase in fighting followed last week's coordinated pager and walkie-talkie attack that hit both fighters and civilians, leaving at least 39 people dead and thousands injured.

After two waves of explosions, doctors in Lebanon were overwhelmed by the number of victims – many were blind.

Experienced doctors say they have never had to surgically remove so many eyes before, as the Hezbollah leader described the attacks as a possible “declaration of war” by Israel.

Hassan Nasrallah added that the group wanted revenge for the attacks, which “crossed all red lines,” and would not stop until the war in Gaza ended.

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Parallel to the war that Israel has been waging against Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October 7, Israel and Hezbollah are exchanging fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Hezbollah has named 497 members killed by Israel in fighting that has continued since October, including soldiers killed in this week's pager and walkie-talkie attack.

The group was said to be “leaderless” and “in disarray” after all its fighters were killed and a means of communication was lost.

Due to recent attacks, the British military has even been put on high alert and has initiated an emergency evacuation of people stranded in Lebanon. In addition, two ships are on standby in the region.

A defence source told The Telegraph that the British government was “ready” to evacuate Britons to safety if the situation escalated.

Foreign Minister David Lammy explained the preparations in a Cobra crisis meeting.

He warned Britons living in Lebanon to leave the country immediately while they still had “commercial options”.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided the office of Al-Jazeera in the West Bank. The broadcaster was banned at the beginning of the year. The broadcaster was accused of serving as a mouthpiece for militant groups. The pan-Arab broadcaster denied these allegations.

Parallel to the war that Israel has been waging against Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October 7, Israel and Hezbollah are exchanging fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Tens of thousands of people had to flee on both sides of the border area.

Hezbollah reportedly killed 26 civilians and 20 soldiers and forced another 80,000 Israelis to move south to escape the blitzkrieg.

Netanyahu promised on Wednesday to bring the evacuated Israelis back “safely to their homes.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared the beginning of a “new phase” of the war last week as the country’s army advanced north.

Rami Mortada, the Lebanese ambassador to Britain, told The Times that an Israeli invasion would be a “doomsday scenario.”

He said: “We face all the risks of a full-scale regional conflict and are working tirelessly to prevent it.”

“Let's hope it doesn't come to that, because this is a doomsday scenario for everyone. For Lebanon, it is definitely a doomsday scenario, but Lebanon will not suffer alone in this war.”

Who was Ibrahim Aqil?

The killed Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil was considered the second in command of the Iranian-backed militia.

He was killed in an air strike on a residential building on Friday.

At least 37 people were killed and 68 others injured in Beirut, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

Aqil was also a member of the Jihad Council, which is considered the highest military body of Hezbollah members.

It is believed that the United States placed a $7 million bounty on his head after he was allegedly involved in a bombing in 1983.

The Islamic Jihad organization attacked the US embassy in Beirut and killed 63 people.

A few months later, another bomb attack on a US Marine barracks in the capital led to the tragic deaths of 241 Americans.

At that time, Aqil was considered a key member of the terrorist group.

The US State Department also said he was involved in a number of other terrorist attacks and kidnapped American and German hostages in the 1980s.

They classified him as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” in 2019 and offered the bounty in exchange for information about the commander.

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