Border clashes intensify after killing of Raad's son
Hezbollah fired 48 rockets at an Israeli military base on Thursday and carried out at least 10 other attacks on Israeli positions near the frontier, a day after an Israeli strike killed five Hezbollah fighters, including the son of the head of the group’s parliamentary bloc.
Air raid sirens sounded across northern Israel as Hezbollah fired 48 Katyusha rockets at the Ein Zeitim Israeli military base near the town of Safed in northern Israel, about 10 kilometers from the border. The Israeli military said it was striking the sources of the launches.
Hezbollah said its fighters also struck tanks and locations where Israeli troops were taking positions, including the Raheb post, the Ramim forest, Sa'sa', al-Marj and Tal Shaar. The group also hit two buildings where Israeli soldiers had gathered in the Manara settlement, and targeted several Israeli military posts, including Berket Risha, Jal al-Alam, Dhaira and Horbat Ma'ar.
Hezbollah said all attacks were "direct hits" and inflicted casualties.
Israeli artillery and warplanes meanwhile bombed several border towns including al-Naqoura, Ramia, Rmeish, Aita al-Shaab, Tayr Harfa, al-Khiam, Mays al-Jabal, Markaba, Wadi Slouki, Rchaf and Maroun al-Ras.
The waves of rockets sent over the border represented one of the most intense bombardments since Hezbollah started attacking Israeli posts in the country's north at the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
Hezbollah has said that by heating up its actions on the Israel-Lebanon border, it is easing pressure on the Gaza Strip, where Israel's crushing aerial, ground and naval offensive has left more than 13,300 Palestinians dead and caused wide destruction in the sealed-off enclave.
On Wednesday, five Hezbollah fighters, including the son of Hezbollah lawmaker Mohammed Raad, had been killed in an Israeli strike on a house in south Lebanon's Beit Yahoun.
Since the cross-border exchanges began, 107 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, according to an AFP tally. At least 75 are Hezbollah fighters but the toll also included at least 14 civilians, three of them journalists.
Seven Hezbollah fighters have also been killed in Syria.
On the Israeli side, six soldiers and three civilians have been killed, according to authorities.
