Hezbollah says it attacked 9 Israeli military sites with rockets and drones

Smoke rises after border attacks from Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on June 13, 2024. (Gil Eliyahu/Reuters)

BEIRUT — Hezbollah said it fired rockets and armed drones at nine Israeli military sites in a coordinated attack on Thursday, escalating hostilities on Lebanon’s southern border for a second straight day.

The attacks were in retaliation for an Israeli attack on Tuesday that killed a senior Hezbollah field commander. A security source told Lebanon it was Hezbollah’s biggest attack since October, when the group exchanged fire with Israel in parallel with the Gaza war.

Hezbollah said in a statement that it fired volleys of Katyusha and Falaq rockets at six Israeli military positions. Its Al-Manar television station reported that more than 100 rockets were fired simultaneously.

Hezbollah’s statement said it also launched drone attacks on the headquarters of Israel’s Northern Command, an intelligence headquarters and a military barracks.

A security source told Reuters that at least 30 attack drones were fired simultaneously, making it the group’s largest drone attack so far in the eight-month war.

There have been almost daily exchanges of fire between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel since the Gaza war began in October, but there has been a significant increase in gunfire over the past two days following the Israeli attack that killed the Hezbollah commander.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah said it had carried out at least eight attacks that day in retaliation.

Air raid sirens sounded in cities in northern Israel on Thursday and Israeli officials said about 40 rockets were fired from Lebanon in the afternoon.

State-run Kan broadcast footage of numerous airborne rocket interceptions over Israeli cities, including Safed, about 7.5 kilometers from the border.

Two people were injured by shrapnel, the Israeli rescue service said.

More than 300 Hezbollah fighters have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon – more than in 2006, when the two sides last fought a major war, according to a Reuters count. The number of civilians killed is around 80, according to the count. Israel says 18 Israeli soldiers and 10 civilians were killed in attacks from Lebanon.

The exchanges of fire also displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.

“Diplomatically or militarily, peace will return to our north. Israel will defend itself. There should be no doubt about that. This (situation) cannot be a permanent reality,” said Israeli government spokesman David Mencer.

In a draft communiqué, the G7 heads of state and government expressed their deep concern about the situation on the Israeli-Lebanese border at their meeting in Italy.

Claude Tanios contributed to this report.