Hezbollah launched a salvo of rockets into Israel from Lebanon in what it said was its “first response” to the assassination of a senior Hamas official.
Deputy political leader, Saleh Al-Arouri, was killed in Beirut last week threatening months of efforts by the United States to prevent the war in Gaza from spiralling into a regional conflict.
Iran-backed Hezbollah announced that it had fired 62 rockets towards an aerial observation base on Mount Meron at around 8am on Saturday. The group said rockets also struck two army posts near the border.
Warning sirens rang out across northern Israel and attack alert apps pinged with notifications about the incoming barrage.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that it had identified at least 40 launches from Lebanon and later “struck a terrorist cell that took part”.
An official said: “No IDF injuries were reported, but we can confirm that there was damage caused as a result of the barrage, however we are unable to say the extent or what was damaged as of right now.”
Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that the terror group would retaliate for Al-Arouri’s killing, even at the risk of escalating fighting.
But he gave no indication of how or when the militants would act.
Nasrallah said it was the first strike by Israel in the Lebanese capital since 2006.
He added: “We cannot keep silent about a violation of this seriousness because this means that all of our people will be exposed (to targeting).
“All of our cities, villages and public figures will be exposed.”
Separately, the armed wing of the Islamic Group in Lebanon said it fired two volleys of rockets toward the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday night. Two of the group’s members were killed in the strike that killed Al-Arouri.
In recent weeks, Israel has been scaling back its military assault in the north of the territory and pressing its heavy offensive in the south, vowing to crush Hamas since its murderous October 7 attack.
In the south, most of Gaza’s 2.3million Palestinians are being squeezed into smaller areas in a humanitarian disaster, while still being pounded by Israeli airstrikes.
On Saturday, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said 122 Palestinians were killed over the past 24 hours, bringing the total since the start of the war to 22,722.
The ministry added two-thirds of those killed have been women and children. The overall number of wounded rose to 58,166, the ministry said.
