Israel Air Force can hit enemies' underbelly, Netanyahu says amid northern tensions

Israel’s air force is prepared for both defensive and offensive maneuvers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday after the IDF said it had bombed Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley overnight.

“The Air Force is our iron fist that knows how to hit the soft underbelly of our enemies,” Netanyahu said as he visited the Ramat David Air Force base in the North.

“They prove it time and time again, and if we have to – we will prove it again and again,” he said.

He spoke as strikes and counterstrikes between Hezbollah and Israel in the North heated up, including aerial attacks by the Iranian proxy group in the area of Katzrin and Kibbutz Amiad. It’s estimated that some 50 projectiles were launched at Katzrin, damaging homes and injuring one person. Photos showed smoke and fire rising from streets with residential homes.

Israel also said on Wednesday it had killed Khalil Hussein Khalil al-Maqdah in the Sidon area, southern Lebanon, who worked with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah. READ MORE