Hezbollah attacks north Israel in response to strikes on south

Hezbollah targeted Monday several Israeli posts, in response to Israeli strikes on Lebanese villages.

The group said it attacked with suicide drones a command center east of the Mediterranean seaside town of Nahariya, in response to strikes on the southern border villages of Aitaroun and Markaba that killed two Hezbollah members Saturday.

Israeli media said the drones caused a fire in Kabri, east of Nahariya.

Hezbollah also attacked two buildings used by Israeli soldiers in al-Manara and another building in Yir'on, in response to strikes on the villages of Houla and Shebaa.

It later targeted the Bayyad Blida post with a suicide drone, a building in Avivim in response to strikes on Aitaroun, and surveillance equipment in the Ramim barracks.

Hezbollah carried out Sunday six attacks on Israeli posts in northern Israel and in the occupied Kfarshouba Heights, including with suicide drones. It also fired for the second time since the war erupted air defense missiles at an Israeli warplane in south Lebanon, "forcing it to retreat beyond the border."

Hezbollah fired last week for the first time air defense missiles at Israeli warplanes that the group said were "breaking the sound barrier and terrorizing children" in south Lebanon.

The group has stepped up its attacks, striking deeper inside Israel and introducing new and more advanced weaponry.

Last month, Hezbollah struck a military post in northern Israel using a drone that fired two missiles, the first successful missile airstrike it has launched from within Israeli airspace.

Hezbollah's use of more advanced weaponry, including drones capable of firing missiles, explosive drones and the small type of guided missile known as Almas, or Diamond, that was used to attack a base controlling a surveillance balloon raised alarms within the Israeli military. Israel in response ramped up in past weeks its targeting of Hezbollah fighters and allied militants in cars and on motorbikes in south Lebanon.

Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in the eight months since the Gaza war began, triggered by the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack.

The deadly clashes have intensified in recent weeks, causing multiple brush fires on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border and raising fears the conflict could broaden.

More than eight months of border violence, which began on October 8, has killed 458 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but including about 90 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side of the border, at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed, according to the army.