Hezbollah said it launched rockets into Israel on Sunday as Israel prepared to initiate a new wave of airstrikes on Beirut.
Hezbollah said that it targeted the Ashdod naval base in southern Israel “for the first time, stating that it conducted an operation against a “military target” in Tel Aviv using advanced missiles and strike drones, Al Jazeera reports.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on these claims, but earlier reported air raid sirens in central and northern areas, including the Tel Aviv suburbs.
The military said it intercepted about 55 projectiles fired at northern Israel, adding that “approximately 160 projectiles that were fired by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation have crossed from Lebanon into Israel”.
The attacks wounded at least 11 people, including a man in a “moderate to serious” condition, according to medical agencies, according to Al Jazeera.
They come a day after Israel killed at least 29 people in a strike in central Beirut. At least 66 others were wounded, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for missile and drone strikes on a military target in Tel Aviv, in retaliation for Israel’s recent airstrikes on Beirut.
The attacks were carried out at 06:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) “with a salvo of high-quality missiles and a squadron of attack drones,” and “the operation achieved its goals,” Hezbollah said in a statement, without specifying its target and the precise location.
The group said in other separate statements that it also launched for the first time “an air attack with a squadron of suicide drones on the Ashdod naval base, 150 km from the Lebanese-Palestinian border.”
The group also claimed launching drone attacks on a newly-established operations room for the Israeli army in the settlement of Metula in northern Israel, and missile attacks on other northern cities including Hatzor Haglilit, Ma’alot, and Kfar Blum.
According to the report, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.
“(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,” a statement from his office read.
Meanwhile, the European Union’s top diplomat called for more pressure on both Israel and Hezbollah to reach a deal, saying one was “pending with a final agreement from the Israeli government”.
“We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701,” Borrell said after his meeting with Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who has been mediating with the group.
The EU is poised to allocate €200 million ($208 million) to support the Lebanese military, according to EU High Representative Josep Borrell.
This funding is part of a broader agreement that aims to facilitate the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon, below the Litani River, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war.
The plan would see Lebanese troops deployed to the south, with UN peacekeepers providing additional support.
This development is a crucial step towards stabilizing the region and ensuring the safety of civilians.