Israeli strikes ‘hit 400 Hezbollah targets’, Lebanese fighters return fire, after…

September 22, 2024, 08:08

Israel says it has struck 400 Hezbollah targets in the past 24 hours, while Lebanon has also fired rockets at more than 100 targets across its southern border. The conflict that erupted this week is still ongoing.

Israel said Hezbollah attacked 115 civilian sites around the northern city of Haifa. At least four people were wounded, the IDF said, and buildings and cars were also damaged.

Hezbollah claimed it attacked a military facility.

Meanwhile, Israel also reported an attack on 400 sites in Lebanon that it said belonged to Hezbollah fighters.

The Israeli military said in a statement: “IDF attacks will continue and intensify against the terrorist organization Hezbollah.” Israel claimed Saturday that it had almost completely dismantled Hezbollah’s leadership.

Read more: Hezbollah leadership ‘almost completely dismantled’, Israel says, as death toll rises after Beirut attacks

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The death toll from the Israeli attack on Lebanon on Friday has risen to 45, Lebanese authorities said on Sunday morning.

The conflict, which had been easing since October 7 last year, intensified after electronic devices exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

Many observers attribute responsibility for the explosion of the explosives to Israeli intelligence, but this has not been publicly confirmed.

The rockets fired by Hezbollah on Sunday struck a wider and deeper area of ​​northern Israel than previous salvos and set off airstrike sirens across the region. The military said some of them were fired “in the direction of civilian areas,” indicating a possible escalation of the conflict, as previous rounds had mostly targeted military targets.

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it had treated four people injured by shrapnel, including a 76-year-old man who was moderately injured, near Haifa, where buildings were damaged and cars were set on fire.

It was initially unclear whether the damage was caused by a rocket or an Israeli interceptor.

The shelling came after an Israeli airstrike on Beirut that killed at least 45 people, including two senior leaders of a Lebanese militant organization, as well as women and children.

The militants were already reeling from a complex attack using thousands of explosives just days earlier.

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since the Gaza war broke out almost a year ago, when militants began firing rockets at Palestinians and Iranian-backed ally Hamas.

Tensions have been rising steadily in recent weeks, raising fears of a war breaking out in the region.