Six killed as Israel hits back at Lebanon after Hezbollah rocket attack - with a child reportedly among the victims
Six people have been killed as Israel hit back at Lebanon today, after a Hezbollah rocket attack with a child said to be among the victims.
Six people have been killed as Israel hit back at Lebanon today, after a Hezbollah rocket attack with a child said to be among the victims.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered a second wave of strikes against dozens of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, the defence ministry said.
It said the strikes were a response to rocket fire towards Israel and a continuation of the first series of strikes carried out this morning against southern Lebanon.
This is the heaviest exchange of fire since its ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah almost four months ago.
Rockets fired from Lebanon were the second group launched since December, sparking concern about whether the ceasefire will hold. In a statement, Hezbollah denied being responsible for the latest attack, saying it was committed to the truce.
Israel had said it would respond severely to the early Saturday attack targeting northern Israel.
Israels army said the intercepted rockets targeted the Israeli town of Metula and said six rockets were fired and three crossed into Israeli territory but were intercepted.
The official said Israel could not confirm the identity of the group that fired the rockets. The official said the military struck targets across southern Lebanon.
Smoke billows from the site of Israeli artillery shelling that targeted the area of the southern Lebanese village of Yohmor on March 22
The damage caused to a building following an Israeli strike that targeted a neighbourhood in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre
Buildings are damaged after being targeted in an Israeli airstrike in the village of Touline
Lebanons state-run National News Agency said a strike in the southern village of Touline had killed five people including a child, and wounded 10 others including two children.
On Saturday night, Israel again struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. A strike hit a garage in the coastal city of Tyre, the NNA reported, with one person killed and seven wounded. It was the first time the city had been struck since the ceasefire took effect.
Hezbollah denied any involvement in the rocket attack, and called Israels accusations pretexts for its continued attacks on Lebanon.
While Hezbollah has long held sway over parts of Lebanon bordering Israel, other Lebanese and Palestinian groups have also carried out cross-border attacks.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned that renewed military operations on the southern border risked dragging the country into a new war, his office said.
Lebanons top diplomat Youssef Raggi called for pressure on Israel to stop the aggression and escalation and contain the dangerous situation on the southern borders.
But Israeli defence chiefs said they held the Lebanese government responsible for all hostile fire from its territory regardless of who launched it.
We cannot allow fire from Lebanon on Galilee communities, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said, referring to towns and villages in the north, many of which were evacuated after Hezbollah began firing on Israel in support of Hamas in October 2023.
The Lebanese government is responsible for attacks from its territory. I have ordered the military to respond accordingly, Katz said.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said it was alarmed by the possible escalation of violence following the mornings rocket fire.
Hezbollah has long had strongholds in south and east Lebanon, as well as south Beirut, but the war with Israel dealt the group devastating blows, leaving it massively weakened.
Damaged cars lie in a street following an Israeli strike
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike targeting the town of Yohmor Al Shaqif, as seen from Marjaayoun, southern Lebanon
Six people have been killed as Israel hit back at Lebanon today, after a Hezbollah rocket attack
Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah is supposed to pull its forces back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel is supposed to withdraw its forces across the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the de facto border, but has missed two deadlines to do so and continues to hold five positions it deems strategic.
Israel has carried out repeated air strikes during the ceasefire, targeting what it said were Hezbollah military sites that violated the agreement.
The Lebanese army said it had dismantled three makeshift rocket batteries in an area north of the Litani on Saturday.
The mayor of the Israeli border town Metula, targeted in Saturdays rocket launch, urged authorities to act offensively and make it so that not one bullet is fired ever again at northern communities.
A strike on Hawsh al-Sayed Ali village, om the border with Syria, wounded five people, according to the NNA.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it instructed the army to act forcefully against dozens of targets in Lebanon, adding: Israel will not allow any harm to its citizens and sovereignty.
Israels army said it struck dozens of rocket launchers and a command centre where Hezbollah was operating.
Lebanons Prime Minister Nawaf Salam asked the Lebanese military to take all necessary measures in the south but said the country did not want to return to war.
Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamass October 7 2023 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there.
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike targeting Al Rayhan Heights, as seen from Marjaayoun, southern Lebanon
Hezbollah denied any involvement in the rocket attack, and called Israels accusations pretexts for its continued attacks on Lebanon
The Israel-Hezbollah conflict boiled over into all-out war in September as Israel carried out massive waves of air strikes and killed most of the militant groups senior leaders.
The fighting killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced about 60,000 Israelis.
Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from all Lebanese territory by late January under a ceasefire struck on November 27. The deadline was later extended to February 18.
But Israel has remained in five locations in Lebanon, across from communities in northern Israel. It has carried out dozens of air strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, saying it was targeting Hezbollah, while continuing drone attacks that have killed several members of the militant group.
Lebanon has appealed to the UN to pressure Israel to fully withdraw from the country.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, said it was alarmed at the possible escalation of violence and urged all parties to avoid jeopardising the progress made.