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

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

The attacks came in retaliation for an Israeli attack on Tuesday that killed a senior Hezbollah field commander.

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

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire since the Gaza war broke out 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.

The group said Thursday’s attack was a response to the killing. On Wednesday, it carried out at least eight more attacks in retaliation. REUTERS