TEL AVIV, March 2. /TASS/. The Israeli army has launched an offensive operation against military formations of the Shia group Hezbollah in Lebanon, Chief of the Israeli General Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir reported.

"We have begun an offensive campaign against Hezbollah. We are not simply defending. Now we want to switch to an offensive," he said at a meeting with the military, a video of which was released by the Israeli army’s press service.

"It is necessary to prepare for several days of combat operations, for many days," he warned the military.

Overnight to March 2, the north of Israel came under a shelling attack from Lebanese territory. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it had launched rockets on Israeli territory in response to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Following Hezbollah’s rocket attack, the Israeli Air Force began to deliver massive air strikes on Lebanese territory.