BEIRUT: Hamas ally Hezbollah said on Monday it had fired “dozens” of Katyusha rockets at an army headquarters in northern Israel in response to raids targeting villages in southern Lebanon.

Since Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 raid on Israel, there have been near-daily cross-border exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

With Israel-Iran tensions at an all-time high, the Lebanese group has intensified its attacks on Israel military targets across the border.

A Hezbollah statement said it had bombarded “the headquarters of the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the 91st Division at Ein Zeitim Base with dozens of Katyusha rockets”.

This was in response to Israeli attacks on “southern villages and civilian homes”, most recently in Srifa, Odaisseh and Rab Tlatin.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli strikes on the three villages on Monday.

The Israeli military said “approximately 35 launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into the area of Ein Zeitim in northern Israel” and that no injuries were reported.

It said “troops struck the sources of the launches”.

Since October 7 at least 376 people have been killed in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also 70 civilians, according to a tally.

Israel says 10 soldiers and eight civilians have been killed on its side of the border.

Published in Dawn, April 23nd, 2024