Hezbollah returns fire after Israeli strike

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Iranbacked Hezbollah group said it launched dozens of rockets at northern Israel in response to the killing of two civilians in a strike blamed on Israel in Lebanon’s south.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah group and Israel have exchanged regular fire in the south of Lebanon since the October 7 Hamas massacre.

Hezbollah fighters fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at northern Israel “as part of the response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks on … civilian homes, specifically the horrific massacre in Hanin and the killing and injuring of civilians,” the group said in a statement.

Local rescuers and official media said an Israeli strike on a house in Hanin, near the Israeli border, killed two members of the same family.

Lebanon’s National News Agency confirmed the deaths and said that six others were wounded in the strike.

“Enemy warplanes carried out a raid on a two-storey house, firing two air-to-surface missiles and completely destroying it,” the NNA said, adding that the building housed “a family that had not left … since Israeli attacks started”.

Hezbollah has stepped up its rocket attacks on Israeli positions in recent days.

Earlier in the day, Hezbollah said it had launched drone attacks on northern Israeli bases in retaliation for the killing of a fighter Israel described as “significant”.

The assault targeted deeper into Israel than the border area the group usually strikes.

Hezbollah said it launched “a combined air attack using decoy and explosive drones” that targeted two Israeli bases north of Acre, while Israel said they did not hit their targets.