Hezbollah says it’s fired “dozens” of rockets from Lebanon amid fears a full-blown war could break out between the two countries.
Israel had been bracing for a response from Iran and its proxies after the killing of Hamas’s political leader in Tehran. It’s widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, which is yet to comment officially on the attack.
Hezbollah, a group backed by Iran, said the barrage of missiles were in response to Israel’s attacks on Kfar Kela and Deir Siriane in Lebanon which it says injured civilians.
Israeli media now reports that 50 rockets have been launched from southern Lebanon in the direction of upper Galilee alone.
Dramatic video showed Israel‘s Iron Dome air defence system being triggered to take out the incoming rockets, with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confiming that “most” of the 30 “projectiles” sent towards Israel on Satuday night were intercepted.
The IDF said no injuries have been reported.
British, US and Australian authorities have told their citizens to evacuate Lebanon, as the UK announced on Saturday it had stepped up preparations to extract people from the region. Travellers are also being told to avoid travelling to Israel as region tensions run high.
It comes after Hamas – also backed by Iran – called at the end of last week for “a day of overwhelming anger” in response to the assassination of political leader Haniyeh in Tehran.
Haniyeh’s killing is widely believed to have been green-lit by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, although the country has neither admitted nor denied the claims. But Israel has acknowledged responsibility for an airstrike in Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr.
On Thursday, the Israeli military confirmed that the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, was also killed in an airstrike in Gaza earlier this month.
It comes as the US sends a carrier strike group, a fighter squadron and additional warships to the Middle East. This could become the largest movement of US forces in the region since the early days of the Gaza war, when the Pentagon sent two carrier strike groups toward the Middle East in a public warning to regional militant groups to not amplify the fighting.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group, currently operating in the Gulf of Oman, according to a statement from the deputy Pentagon press secretary.
Before the wave of missles was launched by Hezbollah on Saturday an Israeli airstrike on a school that was housing displaced people in Gaza City killed at least 15 people, according to local health officials.
At least 39,550 Palestinians have been killed in Israel‘s ongoing military operation in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Israel‘s invasion came after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping around 250 others, according to Israeli figures.