BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said it launched a large-scale rocket attack on Sunday, targeting an Israeli army base east of the northern town of Safed.
Hezbollah fighters fired “a big rocket salvo” at an Israeli military base east of Safed, the Lebanese group said, adding the attack was “in defence of Lebanon” and “in response to the Israeli attacks on villages and homes”.
The Israeli military confirmed that approximately 70 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory in just a few minutes. While some of the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s air defence systems, sirens rang out in the Western Galilee and Upper Galilee areas between 11:09 a.m. and 11:12 a.m. local time, alerting residents to the attack.
Hezbollah’s latest assault follows its Thursday’s announcement of a new “escalatory phase” in its conflict with Israel. Tensions have soared along the Israel-Lebanon border, with increased Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Israel launched strikes on Beirut. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli airstrikes hit a residential building in the Haret Hreik neighborhood, south of the Lebanese capital, near a mosque and a hospital.
These attacks followed accusations from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who claimed that Hezbollah had attempted to assassinate him by targeting his residence.
“The attempt by Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake,” Netanyahu said in a statement, vowing that “anyone who tries to harm Israel’s citizens will pay a heavy price.”
The conflict has also intensified in Gaza, where Israeli airstrikes continue to devastate the region. In Beit Lahia, a northern town in Gaza, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 73 Palestinians.
According to Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence agency, “Our civil defence crews recovered 73 martyrs and a large number of wounded as a result of the Israeli air force targeting a residential area.”
Gaza has been subjected to relentless Israeli bombardment since October 7, 2023. The territory’s health ministry reports that at least 42,519 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes. The United Nations considers these figures reliable, and humanitarian concerns are mounting over the civilian toll.
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The Israeli military has ramped up its offensives in both Gaza and southern Lebanon, with Lebanese media reporting further airstrikes on locations in Nabatiyeh for the third time this week.
In Gaza, civil defence officials said over 400 bodies have been recovered in areas heavily targeted by Israeli strikes, including Jabalia and its refugee camp.
