On the Israeli side, at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians were killed, according to authorities.
Beirut:
Hezbollah said it fired “dozens” of rockets at a military base in northern Israel on Thursday in retaliation for Israeli attacks on Lebanon, killing four fighters.
Fears of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah have grown in recent weeks as threats have increased between the sides, which have regularly exchanged cross-border fire since Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7 sparked a war in the Gaza Strip .
Hamas ally Hezbollah said that “in response to the enemy attacks on the town of Nabatiyeh and the village of Sohmor,” Hamas fighters “bombarded the main air and missile defense base of the (Israeli) Northern Command… with dozens of Katyusha rockets “.
In separate statements, the organization said four of its fighters, including one from Sohmor in eastern Lebanon, had been killed. The organization also claimed two other attacks on Israeli troops and positions, including one with drones.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “approximately 35 launches from Lebanon were identified.”
Air defenses “successfully intercepted most of the launches. No injuries were reported,” it added.
According to the organization, three Hezbollah members were “eliminated” in airstrikes, one in the Sohmor region and two in the south of the country.
The military also said that “two UAVs (drones) identified as crossing from Lebanon” struck northern Israel, with no injuries reported.
The official Lebanese National News Agency reported Thursday that Israeli attacks had been carried out in several areas in southern Lebanon. The agency also reported that an attack a day earlier in Nabatiyeh left “more than 20” people injured when a two-story building was attacked.
Fears have grown that the Gaza war could become a regional conflagration if the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, which has so far been largely confined to the border area, widens.
The French Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Paris was “extremely concerned” by the fighting and called on “all parties to exercise the utmost restraint.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during a visit to Washington on Wednesday that his country does not want war in Lebanon but that the country could return to the “Stone Age” if diplomacy fails.
Amid Western diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions in recent months, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Beirut on Tuesday and warned that “miscalculations” could trigger an all-out war, also urging “extreme restraint.”
According to an AFP count, 485 people have been killed in the violence in Lebanon, most of them fighters, but also 94 civilians.
According to the authorities, at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians were killed on the Israeli side.
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