BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah group on Saturday said that its fighters fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel, targeting a kibbutz of Dafna for the first time in nine months in retaliation for an Israeli drone strike earlier in the day in southern Lebanon’s Burj al-Muluk village that injured several civilians, including children.
The exchange marked a significant escalation in hostilities, with Hezbollah’s attack involving dozens of Katyusha rockets directed at the Israeli kibbutz, situated near the border with Lebanon. The Israeli military reported approximately 45 projectiles crossing into northern Israel in three separate waves. Some of these rockets were intercepted, while others landed in open areas, sparking fires in the Golan Heights region.
According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, the casualties from the drone strike included Syrian citizens who were in the vicinity and sustained injuries from missile shrapnel.
Hezbollah justified its rocket assault as retaliation for “Zionist massacres” in Gaza and previous Israeli actions in Lebanon. This latest exchange of fire follows a series of sporadic clashes and retaliatory measures between the two sides over recent months.
Friday saw Hezbollah launching rockets at three northern Israeli villages for the first time since tensions escalated earlier in October. The ongoing conflict has resulted in the displacement of tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Lebanon-Israel border.
Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, warned earlier in the week of further retaliation against Israeli strikes that caused civilian casualties in Lebanon. Nasrallah vowed to extend rocket attacks to new targets beyond those previously hit by Hezbollah, escalating concerns of broader regional conflict.
Since the start of October, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have reportedly resulted in over 450 fatalities, mostly civilians and non-combatants. Meanwhile, Israel has reported 21 soldiers and 13 civilians killed in the cross-border conflict.
