Hezbollah fires more than 200 rockets and drones at Israel
You have fired "over 200" rockets and explosive drones at Israeli positions along the border, including those on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, declared Hezbollah. This is "Part of the response" to the death of commander Mohammed Naameh Nasser in Tyre on Wednesday. According to the Israeli army, he was the head of the Asis Unit, "responsible for the shelling from southern Lebanon onto Israeli territory."
The day before, Hezbollah had announced that they had fired hundred rockets at Israeli military positions. The Israeli army in turn declared they would attack targets in South Lebanon. They confirmed that "approximately 200 projectiles and over 20 suspicious aerial targets" had been identified from Lebanon.
Most of the projectiles were intercepted. In some areas in Northern Israel, fires were caused by falling debris. The Israeli army reported no fatalities. A hospital in northern Haifa reported one lightly injured person.
The state Lebanese news agency ANI reported that a man in the border town of Hula was killed by an Israeli drone on Thursday. Hezbollah then announced the death of one of their fighters from Hula due to Israeli fire.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war on October 7, Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been engaging in intense fighting in the border area between Israel and Lebanon. The increasingly tense situation raises concerns about the expansion of the war.
According to an AFP count, at least 496 people have been killed on the Lebanese side of the border since October. Most of them were fighters, but 95 civilians were also killed. On the Israeli side of the border, at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed.
Hezbollah sees itself, along with the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas, as part of the resistance axis against Israel, supported by Iran. Hamas had triggered the war in Gaza nearly nine months ago with a unprecedented attack on Israel. According to Israeli figures, 1195 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
In response to the attack, Israel has been conducting massive military operations in the Gaza Strip since then. The Israeli government has declared its intention to destroy Hamas. According to reports from the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry on Thursday, which cannot be verified independently, over 38,000 people have been killed so far.
Fighting continued in the Gaza Strip. Witnesses reported air strikes and artillery fire in the western part of the southern city of Rafah. According to Palestinian reports, there were battles and explosions in the Shabura refugee camp. The Israeli army stated that they had eliminated "dozens of terrorists and destroyed over 50 terrorist targets" since Wednesday.
- Hezbollah declared that they had fired over 200 rockets and explosive drones at Israeli positions, including those in the Golan Heights, in response to the death of commander Mohammed Naameh Nasser.
- The Israeli army reported no fatalities from the over 200 projectiles and aerial targets identified from Lebanon, although a light injury was reported in a northern Haifa hospital.
- The man killed in the border town of Hula was reportedly by an Israeli drone, with Hezbollah announcing the death of one of their fighters from Hula due to Israeli fire.
- Hezbollah sees itself as part of the resistance axis against Israel, alongside radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas, and is supported by Iran.
- The Israeli army has been conducting massive military operations in the Gaza Strip since the war began in October, with the intention of destroying Hamas, resulting in over 38,000 reported deaths according to Hamas-controlled sources.
- The use of drones in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has raised concerns, with Iran believed to supply the Shia militia with drone technology.
- The Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, has been the site of intense fighting for nearly nine months, with Hamas triggering the war with an unprecedented attack on Israel.
- The escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as the ongoing Gaza war, has caused significant damage and loss of life in both the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, threatening to expand further.
