Israeli strikes 'hit 400 Hezbollah sites', as Lebanese militants return fire, after Beirut attack death toll rises to 45
22 September 2024, 08:08
Israel claims to have struck 400 Hezbollah sites over the past day, with Lebanon also targeting over 100 rockets across its southern border, as the conflict that ignited this week continues to rage.
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Israel said Hezbollah had targeted 115 civilian sites around its northern city of Haifa. At least four people were wounded, the IDF said, with buildings and cars also damaged.
Hezbollah claimed that it was attacking a military site.
Meanwhile Israel also reported that it had hit 400 sites in Lebanon that it said belonged to the Hezbollah militants.
The Israeli military said in a statement: "IDF strikes will continue and will intensify against the Hezbollah terrorist organization." Israel claimed on Saturday that it had almost completely dismantled Hezbollah's leadership.
Read more: Israel’s Strategy Is Forcing Hezbollah into Tough Decisions
The death toll of the Israeli strike on Lebanon on Friday rose to 45, Lebanese officials said on Sunday morning.
The conflict, which has been rumbling at a lower level since October 7 last year, escalated after electronic devices exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
Many onlookers have attributed responsibility for the exploding devices to Israeli intelligence, but this has not been confirmed publicly.
The rockets fired by Hezbollah on Sunday streaked over a wider and deeper area of northern Israel than previous volleys and set off air raid sirens across the region, with the military stating some were fired "toward civilian areas", pointing to a possible escalation after previous barrages had mainly been aimed at military targets.
Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated four people for shrapnel wounds, including a 76-year-old man who was moderately wounded near Haifa, where buildings were damaged and cars set on fire.
It was not immediately clear if the damage was caused by a rocket or an Israeli interceptor.
The barrage came after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut killed at least 45 people, including two of the Lebanese militant group's senior leaders as well as women and children.
The militants were already reeling from a sophisticated attack using thousands of explosive personal devices just days earlier.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire since the outbreak of the war in Gaza nearly a year ago when the militant group began firing rockets in solidarity with the Palestinians and its fellow Iran-backed ally Hamas.
Tensions have steadily escalated in recent weeks, raising fears of all-out war in the region.
