BEIRUT: Hezbollah said it fired “dozens” of rockets Thursday at a military base in northern Israel in retaliation for Israeli strikes on Lebanon, one of which killed a fighter from the Iran-backed group.
Fears of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah have risen in recent weeks as threats have intensified between the sides, who have traded regular cross-border fire since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel which sparked war in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas ally Hezbollah said that “in response to the enemy attacks that targeted the city of Nabatiyeh and village of Sohmor”, its fighters bombed “the main air and missile defence base of the northern area command… with dozens of Katyusha rockets”.
The Shiite Muslim movement claimed two other attacks on Israeli troops and positions on Thursday, including one with drones, while the official National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli attacks in several areas of south Lebanon.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “approximately 35 launches were identified crossing from Lebanon”.
Air defences “successfully intercepted most of the launches. No injuries were reported,” it added.
Hezbollah says it attacked 9 Israeli military sites with rockets, drones
The military also said separately that “two UAVs (drones) that were identified crossing from Lebanon fell” in northern Israel, reporting no injuries.
The NNA said Thursday that an Israeli strike a day earlier in south Lebanon’s Nabatiyeh wounded “more than 20” people when a two-storey building was targeted.
Hezbollah said Thursday a fighter from Sohmor had been killed, after the NNA reported that an “enemy” drone targeted a motorbike in the village in country’s east.
The Israeli military said a Hezbollah operative was “eliminated” in a raid in the Sohmor area, also reporting strikes in south Lebanon.
Fears have grown the Gaza war could become a regional conflagration if the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, which so far has been largely limited to the border area, expands.
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