PM highlights Israel’s determination to defend itself

Israel is determined to defend itself, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a meeting of the country’s security cabinet, Report informs referring to TASS.

"We are determined to do everything possible to defend our country and bring the residents of the north back home safely as we continue to uphold a simple rule: whoever attacks us, we will attack them," Netanyahu pointed out in a statement released by his office.

"Early in the morning, we found out that Hezbollah was getting ready to attack Israel. Together with the defense minister and the General Staff chief, we ordered the Israel Defense Forces to take preemptive action to eliminate the threat," the premier added.

The Israeli army said earlier that aircraft had attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon due to preparations for an attack on Israel. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared a 48-hour state of emergency in the country. Later, over 320 rockets were fired towards Israel from Lebanon.

The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported that launches had been recorded between 5:30 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. (2:30 a.m. and 3:15 a.m. GMT), with several projectiles reaching Israeli territory.