Netanyahu faces calls for broader strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon

Benjamin Netanyahu was facing a political backlash in Israel yesterday over the limited nature of Sunday's airstrikes against Hezbollah, amid growing calls for a broader offensive in Lebanon.

- Julian Borger

Some of the fiercest criticism came from the far-right wing of the prime minister's fractious coalition, which is also increasingly divided over the status of Jerusalem's holiest site.

Israel's airstrikes, and Hezbollah's rocket and drone launches that followed soon after, were the biggest cross-border engagement since the two sides fought a war in 2006 in terms of the number of sorties and munitions launched, though not in terms of casualties. Three Hezbollah and allied fighters were killed and an Israeli sailor was killed by fragments from an interceptor missile.

Israel's defence minister, Yoav Gallant, claimed the preemptive strikes on Sunday morning prevented Hezbollah from launching up to twothirds of the rockets it had intended to fire at Israel. Israel also claimed to have shot down almost all the incoming Hezbollah drones.

Netanyahu warned the airstrikes would not be "the end of the story", but reports in the Israeli press cited military sources as saying there was no planned follow-up.

The prime minister was widely blamed yesterday by the centre and right for the limited goal of Sunday's airstrikes, which disrupted Hezbollah's aerial assault but had done nothing, the critics said, to allow up to 80,000 residents of northern border towns who have been displaced since October to return home.