The Israeli military announced on Sunday that it was attacking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after detecting the launch of “115 aerial threats” from the Shiite group towards northern Israel in recent hours.
“The army’s attacks will continue and intensify,” Israeli forces warned in a statement.
The pro-Iranian Lebanese group claimed responsibility for the attacks this morning and tonight on the Haifa region, where authorities suspended classes today, and said they were directed against an Israeli weapons factory and a military base.
At least two people were lightly injured and one was in moderate condition after being hit by shrapnel in the area, Israeli emergency services Magen David Adom (MDA) said.
Hezbollah said the attacks were a “first response” to the explosions of thousands of the group’s communications devices this week, attributed to Israel, which killed more than 30 fighters.
The Israeli army’s international press spokesman, Nadav Shoshani, stressed that thousands of children in northern Israel are unable to attend classes today, shortly after the start of the school year, due to Hezbollah attacks, and recalled that some 60,000 people are still alive and have been evacuated since October, which she called “intolerable.”
“Hezbollah is responsible for the situation we find ourselves in. They started this, without provocation, on October 8,” the spokesman said.
Israel has stepped up its attacks on the Lebanese group this week, killing at least 16 fighters, including two commanders, on Friday in an attack in Beirut that also killed three minors and seven women, Lebanese authorities said.
The situation raises fears of an open war in the region, although Hezbollah has warned that it does not want to enter into a full-scale conflict and that its attacks would stop if a ceasefire agreement is reached in Gaza.
