Lebanon’s Hezbollah launched a heavy rocket and drone attack on Israel on Thursday, threatening to hit new targets in response to the killing of a senior commander.
This is yet another escalation in the ongoing conflict across the border, which has been steadily worsening due to the Gaza war.
The conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel has been intensifying for months, raising fears of a full-scale war. Both sides have expressed a desire to avoid further escalation, and diplomatic efforts are underway to prevent a broader conflict.
The recent violence, which has been concentrated in areas near the frontier, caused sonic booms that rattled nerves for the second consecutive day in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon. Israeli jets broke the sound barrier over several regions, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
Hezbollah claimed it launched over 200 rockets and a swarm of drones at ten Israeli military sites in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Hezbollah commander Mohammed Nasser in the south on Wednesday. Nasser is one of the highest-ranking Hezbollah commanders killed by Israel during this conflict.
The Israeli military reported that around “200 projectiles and over 20 suspicious aerial targets were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” many of which were intercepted by Israeli air defenses and fighter jets. No casualties were reported, but some drones and interceptor shrapnel caused fires.
In response, the Israeli air force targeted Hezbollah military structures in the villages of Ramyeh and Houla in southern Lebanon.
Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, speaking at an event in Beirut commemorating Nasser, suggested that Hezbollah would expand its targets. “The series of responses continues in succession, and this series will continue to target new sites that the enemy did not imagine would be hit,” Safieddine said.
