Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel’s preemptive strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon earlier todon Sunday are only the beginning of a broader response to the militant group's actions.

“Hezbollah attempted to attack the State of Israel with rockets and drones,” Netanyahu said in his opening remarks at the weekly cabinet meeting. “We instructed the army to carry out a powerful, preemptive strike to eliminate the threat.”

According to the Prime Minister, the Israeli army successfully destroyed thousands of short-range rockets, which were reportedly aimed at civilian and military targets in the Galilee region.

“All of these rockets were intended to harm our citizens and our forces in the Galilee,” Netanyahu said, noting that the army intercepted all drones launched by Hezbollah, which were targeting strategic sites in central Israel.

“Israel is delivering surprising, crushing blows to Hezbollah,” Netanyahu stressed. “Today, we thwarted their attack plan. Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran should know that this is another step on the path to changing the situation in the north and returning our residents safely to their homes.”