Hamas shells south Haifa from Lebanon, Hezbollah attacks Israeli posts
Hamas militants on Monday fired 16 rockets from south Lebanon towards northern Israel, the Palestinian group's armed wing announced, saying they targeted areas south of the Israeli coastal city of Haifa.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said the strikes came "in response to the occupation's (Israel's) massacres and its aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip."
This is the first time that rockets fired from Lebanon reach the south Haifa area during the current war.
The Israeli army meanwhile reported about 30 projectiles had been fired at northern Israel from Lebanon, adding that it fired back at the direction they had been launched from. In addition to the 16 rockets fired by Hamas, the Israeli military was referring to 14 shells and anti-tank missiles fired by Hezbollah at Israeli military posts along the border.
The shelling from Lebanon came after the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip announced earlier Monday that the death toll in the enclave had surpassed 10,000 nearly a month after the start of the war triggered by the militant group's unprecedented attack on Israel.
Hamas, which is allied with Lebanon's Hezbollah, has a number of fighters in south Lebanon and has previously claimed attacks on Israel from there.
Tensions have run high at the border between Israel and Lebanon -- which remain technically at war -- since the October 7 attack, with Hezbollah and Israel regularly exchanging attacks.
Since October 7, at least 81 people have been killed on the Lebanese side in cross-border skirmishes, according to an AFP tally, including 59 Hezbollah fighters.
Six soldiers and two civilians have been killed on the Israeli side.
Source: Agence France Presse, Naharnet
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