Six killed as Israel hits back at Lebanon after rocket attack
Israel had said it would respond ‘severely’ to an attack targeting northern Israel on Saturday morning.
Israel has launched a retaliatory strike on Lebanon, killing six people including a child in the heaviest exchange of fire since its ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah almost four months ago.
Rockets fired from Lebanon were the second group launched since December, sparking concern about whether the ceasefire will hold. In a statement, Hezbollah denied being responsible for the latest attack, saying it was committed to the truce.
Israel had said it would respond “severely” to the early Saturday attack targeting northern Israel.
Israel’s army said the intercepted rockets targeted the Israeli town of Metula. An Israeli official said six rockets were fired and three crossed into Israeli territory and were intercepted.
The official said Israel could not confirm the identity of the group that fired the rockets. The official said the military struck targets across southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said a strike in the southern village of Touline had killed five people including a child, and wounded 10 others including two children.
On Saturday night, Israel again struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. A strike hit a garage in the coastal city of Tyre, the NNA reported, with one person killed and seven wounded. It was the first time the city had been struck since the ceasefire took effect.
A strike on Hawsh al-Sayed Ali village, om the border with Syria, wounded five people, according to the NNA.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it instructed the army to act forcefully against dozens of targets in Lebanon, adding: “Israel will not allow any harm to its citizens and sovereignty.”
Israel’s army said it struck dozens of rocket launchers and a command centre where Hezbollah was operating.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam asked the Lebanese military to take all necessary measures in the south but said the country did not want to return to war.
Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there.
The Israel-Hezbollah conflict boiled over into all-out war in September as Israel carried out massive waves of air strikes and killed most of the militant group’s senior leaders.
The fighting killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced about 60,000 Israelis.
Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from all Lebanese territory by late January under a ceasefire struck on November 27. The deadline was later extended to February 18.
But Israel has remained in five locations in Lebanon, across from communities in northern Israel. It has carried out dozens of air strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, saying it was targeting Hezbollah, while continuing drone attacks that have killed several members of the militant group.
Lebanon has appealed to the UN to pressure Israel to fully withdraw from the country.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, said it was alarmed at the possible escalation of violence and urged all parties to avoid jeopardising the progress made.
