Hezbollah retaliates after 14 killed in Israeli airstrike on Beirut, says Lebanese Health Ministry
BEIRUT — Israeli media reported that more than 100 rockets were launched from Lebanon towards northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Friday afternoon, prompting the Israeli army to advise civilians in the region to stay close to bomb shelters.
Hezbollah has launched the rockets at more than 30 settlements in western Galilee and a key intelligence base in northern Israel, retaliating for an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs that killed at least 14 people and wounded 66 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Among the damage, a direct hit was reported on a building at a dairy farm in Kibbutz Ortal, located in the northern Golan Regional Council, an Israeli settlement in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. A power outage also occurred in Safed in Israel’s Northern District due to the barrage, Xinhua news agency reported quoting Israeli media.
Sirens warning of rocket fire were activated in Safed, several nearby towns around the Sea of Galilee, and in Ortal in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Social media posts showed multiple interceptions by the Iron Dome defence system during what appeared to be a significant rocket attack from Hezbollah.
The Israeli strike hit a building in the Jamous area of Dahieh, a Beirut suburb. Rescue teams were clearing rubble to find casualties, the ministry was quoted on Friday as saying by Xinhua news agency.
Local TV footage showed extensive damage and chaos in the densely populated neighbourhood. Lebanese media reported the strike targeted Ibrahim Akil, a Hezbollah Jihad Council member.
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said that Akil was killed along with other senior commanders in the Lebanese group during the operation. However, Hezbollah has not disclosed any information about Akil’s situation.
Earlier Friday, the Israeli military said about 120 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, triggering alarms in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Safed, and Upper Galilee. Some were intercepted, with debris causing fires. No injuries in Israel have been reported.
Lebanese military sources reported Israeli airstrikes hit six locations in southern Lebanon, while artillery shelled 11 border towns earlier in the day.
Tension along the Israel-Lebanon border has escalated sharply following two explosions from communications devices in Lebanon earlier this week that killed 37 and injured 2,931.
Lebanon’s government denounced the explosions as a sovereignty violation and sought an urgent UN Security Council meeting. Hezbollah blamed Israel for targeting its units and vowed retaliation. IANS
