Hezbollah says it attacked nine Israeli military sites with rockets, drones

PHOTO CAPTION: Smoke is seen following over border attacks from Lebanon, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, close the Israeli border with Lebanon, on its Israel side, June 13, 2024. REUTERS/Gil Eliyahu

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Thursday it had launched rockets and weaponised drones at nine Israeli military sites in a coordinated attack, ramping up hostilities on Lebanon's southern border for the second consecutive day.

The attacks were made in retaliation for an Israeli strike on Tuesday that killed a senior Hezbollah field commander.

The group said in a statement it had fired volleys of Katyusha and Falaq rockets at six Israeli military locations. Its Al-Manar television reported more than 100 rockets fired at once.

Hezbollah's statement said it had also launched attack drones at the headquarters of Israel's northern command, an intelligence headquarters and a military barracks.

A security source told Reuters that involved firing at least 30 attack drones at once, making it the group's largest drone attack to date in the eight-month-old war.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire since the eruption of the Gaza war in October, but the last two days have seen a sharp rise following the Israeli strike that killed the Hezbollah commander.

The group said Thursday's attack was in response to the killing. It had already carried out at least eight attacks on Wednesday in retaliation.



(Reporting by Maya Gebeily and Clauda Tanios; Editing by Toby Chopra and Angus MacSwan)