Israel and Hezbollah both claim victory after night of heavy fighting

• Israel said it managed to thwart a large-scale Hezbollah attack with a preemptive strike.
• Hezbollah claimed its major attack was successful and said it had ended its military operations for the day.
• The exchange of blows, which U.S. and Israeli officials feared could ignite a much larger crisis in the region, appears contained for now, officials said.

Flashback: In recent weeks, Hezbollah has said it is preparing to launch a major attack against Israel in retaliation for the assassination of its top military commander in Beirut by Israel.

Driving the news: Over the past two days, the U.S. and Israel obtained intelligence that showed Hezbollah was preparing to launch its retaliation imminently, Israeli and U.S officials said.

• On Saturday morning, updated intelligence indicated Hezbollah decided to launch a major attack on Israel on Sunday at 5:00 a.m. local time, the officials said.
• Several minutes before 5:00 a.m. Sunday local time, more than 100 Israeli fighter jets launched the preemptive strike on 40 different launching compounds in southern Lebanon, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement.
• He said several thousand rocket and missile launching barrels were destroyed in the strike.
• "‎‏We are operating in self defense from Hezbollah — and any other enemy that joins in their attacks against us — and we are ready to do everything we need to defend the people of Israel," Hagari said.

Zoom in: Most of the launchers were directed at northern Israel but some, including longer range precision missiles, were directed at central Israel, IDF officials said.

• They added the IDF also intercepted several dozen attack drones that made their way to central Israel.
• Israeli officials said Hezbollah planned to attack the headquarters of the Mossad and of Unit 8200 — the Israeli NSA — which are both in northern Tel Aviv. But Israeli officials said this attack was thwarted and no rockets or drones hit central Israel.

The other side: Hezbollah said in a statement that as part of its retaliation for the assassination of its top military commander, Fuad Shukr, it launched more than 320 rockets and several dozen attack drones against Israel.

• Hezbollah said its attacks were aimed at a dozen Israeli military bases in northern Israel and at a security compound in northern Tel Aviv.
• The Lebanese Shia militia said that despite Israel's claim of a preemptive strike, its attack was successful.

The latest: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah confirmed the militia launched drones towards the Unit 8200 intelligence base in northern Tel Aviv and towards an air defense base in central Israel. But he claimed Israel is lying when it says it thwarted the attacks.

• Nasrallah also claimed Israel was lying about the success of its preemptive strike and said none of the rockets and drone launchers used for the attack were damaged.
• Nasrallah stressed that this is only a first step because Iran and the Houthis are going to retaliate against the Israel assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran and the Israeli attack on the Port of Hodeida.
• He said Hezbollah has finished its response but added that if the militia will see that the results of the attacks are not sufficient it could launch another attack in the future.

Behind the scenes: The U.S. was informed in advance of the Israeli strike, a senior Israeli official said.

• "Israel is acting alone against Hezbollah, but in full coordination with the U.S. The update the Biden administration received was not in the 90th minute," the official said, referring to then final moments of a soccer match.
• White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said President Biden was "closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon."
• "At his direction, senior U.S. officials have been communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts. We will keep supporting Israel's right to defend itself, and we will keep working for regional stability," he said.
• Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Q Brown landed in Israel on Sunday for meetings with Israeli Defense officials.
• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant and stressed the U.S. "resolve to support Israel's defense," the Pentagon said. Austin also ordered two carrier strike groups to remain in the region.

Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant spoke on the phone with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and briefed him on the IDF strikes. They discussed "the importance of avoiding regional escalation," a statement from the Ministry of Defense said.

• Gallant said "Israel's defense establishment is determined to defend the citizens of Israel and will use all the means at its disposal to remove imminent threats," the statement continued.

The big picture: Several hours after the strikes on Sunday, Israeli negotiators decided to travel to Cairo for talks with CIA director Bill Burns, Qatar's prime minister and Egypt's intelligence chief on the deal to release hostages being held by Hamas and establish a ceasefire in Gaza.

• Israeli officials said this was also a way to signal that for Israel the incident is over and it is not interested in further escalation.

Yes, but: Israeli and U.S. officials say the attacks on Sunday morning were just part one: Iran still hasn't retaliated for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and its response, while delayed for several weeks now, could take place in the coming days and weeks.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details throughout

‏