Residents of the northern border communities in the Upper Galilee woke up to sirens on Friday after a relatively quiet night. They were told by the Home Front Command that instructions to remain near shelters, given to them late last night, were lifted.
The IDF said the air force attacked some 1,000 of Hezbollah's rocket launchers and other targets based on intelligence information. Lebanese media reported Israel carried out over 70 strikes on Lebanon, making the most in one day since the war began.
Officials in the Biden administration told the Wall Street Journal that despite the deployment of Israel's elite fighting 98th division to the north, they did not believe that an Israeli ground offensive was imminent because IDF reserves had not been called up. They said weeks would be needed to prepare for the movement of forces across the border, adding that Israel could choose a limited operation that would begin sooner but would not involve a more significant military maneuver.
The U.S. and its European allies urgently called for calm and a diplomatic solution to the crisis although Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech on Friday that his terror group would not stop the attacks on Israel until the war in Gaza ends.
Nasrallah spoke in a televised address for the first time since the coordinated explosions of thousands of his group's communication devices earlier in the week, attributed to Israel. He said the operation which dealt a severe blow to his organization, could be seen as a declaration of war and was a massacre and genocide.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Friday that the Israeli attacks on Lebanon would increase after the government added to its objectives in the war that began in the wake of the Hamas massacre on October 7, the safe return of residents evacuated from the north to their homes.
The IDF urged civilians in the north to remain outside areas used by the military to conduct drills. In a statement the military said in no uncertain terms that entering restricted areas could come at the cost of lives.