Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel in response to killing in Beirut

JERUSALEM — The Lebanese militia Hezbollah fired a volley of rockets toward a small military base in northern Israel on Saturday, in what the group said was an initial response to the assassination of a senior Hamas commander in Lebanon this past week that has raised fears of a wider conflict.

Hezbollah said in a statement that the strikes had caused casualties, but the Israeli military said no one was hurt. The assault was initially perceived by analysts as more a symbolic response to the killing than a significant escalation.

The Israeli military said in a statement that roughly 40 rockets had been fired from Lebanon toward Mount Meron, an area housing a military radar station that is roughly 5 miles south of the Israel-Lebanon border. The military said that it had responded by striking a militant group in Lebanon that had been involved in the rocket fire, without specifying its identity.

Hezbollah could still respond with a more forceful attack, while Hamas has yet to retaliate for the assassination of the senior commander, Saleh Arouri. Arouri was killed Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, in an attack attributed by Hamas and Hezbollah to Israel. Lebanese and U.S. officials have also ascribed the attack to Israel, although Israel has not confirmed its role.

At least for now, the limited nature of the exchange Saturday tempered fears that Arouri’s killing would immediately lead to a major escalation between Hezbollah and Israel.

“There may be something yet to come,” said Nicholas Blanford, a Beirut-based analyst and historian of Hezbollah. But for now, Blanford said, “It’s just another day in the south.”

The tit-for-tat exchanges were “within a certain threshold,” he added.

The exchange came as Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, and Josep Borrell, the European Union’s top diplomat, separately visited the region in an effort to reduce the risk of a regional war.

Thousands of residents of northern Israel have been evacuated from their homes since the start of the war to protect them from the daily exchanges of fire along the border. In order for them to return home, Israel wants Hezbollah fighters to withdraw from the border areas of southern Lebanon.