BEIRUT: Hezbollah said on Sunday that it had targeted military production facilities and an air base in northern Israel, near Haifa after a series of Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon that have intensified tensions in the region.
In a statement, Hezbollah confirmed the firing of “dozens” of rockets, including Katyusha and Fadi-1 and Fadi-2 types, at military complexes, associated with the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Ramat David air base, located approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the Lebanese border.
The strikes were in retaliation to Israeli attacks earlier in the week, which killed several civilians in Lebanon.
“In an initial response” to the explosions of pagers and two-way radios on Tuesday and Wednesday, Hezbollah “bombed the Rafael military industry complexes” in northern Israel with “dozens” of rockets, the Lebanese group said. The Ramat David site is among the deepest inside Israeli territory that Hezbollah has said it has targeted.
The Rafael site and the air base both appeared in drone footage the Lebanese group released in recent months, in videos seen as a potential bank of targets for Hezbollah in case of widening conflict.
The Israeli military reported that more than 100 projectiles had been launched from Lebanon on Sunday, causing widespread damage, particularly in Haifa, where buildings were set ablaze and shrapnel pocked vehicles.
On Saturday, the Israeli army claimed it was “attacking widely in southern Lebanon following the identification of Hezbollah’s preparations to fire into Israeli territory”. It had also said its aircraft “struck thousands of launcher barrels that were ready for immediate use to fire toward Israeli territory”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel had dealt significant blows to Hezbollah, asserting that “no country can tolerate attacks on its citizens.”
The Israeli military responded to Hezbollah’s rocket fire with airstrikes targeting multiple locations in southern Lebanon, while Israeli civil defence agencies advised residents in northern Israel to seek shelter.
Netanyahu vowed to restore security to northern Israel and ensure the safe return of displaced residents. In the aftermath of the Israeli airstrike on Friday, which killed Ibrahim Aqil, head of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, the group indicated it would retaliate for what it termed an unprecedented attack.
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The overnight Hezbollah rocket fire reached Kiryat Bialik on the edge of north Israel’s major city Haifa, leaving a building in flames, another pockmarked with shrapnel, and vehicles burnt.
Israel has signalled its intention to turn its focus to Hezbollah after nearly a year of cross-border fire that began in October in what Hezbollah calls support for Hamas group fighting Israel.
Meanwhile, United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said on social media platform X called for de-escalation. “With the region on the brink of an imminent catastrophe, it cannot be overstated enough: there is NO military solution that will make either side safer,” Plasschaert said.
The Israeli army said over 150 missiles, rockets and drones had been fired at its territory during the night and early on Sunday morning, most from Lebanon.
The military claimed it launched strikes in southern Lebanon on Hezbollah targets in response to the rocket fire and, according to spokesman Nadav Shoshani. Israel’s civil defence agency ordered all schools in the north closed after the rocket fire.
Hezbollah said it had targeted Israeli military production facilities and an air base in the Haifa area after the communication device blasts on Tuesday and Wednesday that killed 39 and wounded almost 3,000.
The US State Department urged Americans in Lebanon to leave the country, and Jordan on Sunday urged its nationals to do the same.
