Israel records 250 first attacks from Lebanon as Hezbollah targets Tel Aviv, to the south

Israel’s military said Hezbollah fired 250 projectiles into its territory from Lebanon on Sunday, with the militants saying their attacks targeted Tel Aviv and southern Israel.

The Iran-backed group said in a statement that it had “launched, for the first time, an aerial attack using a group of attack drones on the port of Ashdod” in southern Israel.

Later, it said that it fired “several high-altitude missiles and a group of attack drones” at a “military target” in Tel Aviv, and also sent a volley of weapons at Glilot intelligence forces in the city’s areas. Hezbollah has previously talked about attacking the Glilot base.

The Israeli army did not comment on the specific attack when contacted by AFP.

But it said earlier that air raid sirens sounded in several places in central and northern Israel, including in the Tel Aviv area.

The army later told AFP about 250 rockets fired by Hezbollah had crossed from Lebanon into Israel, improving the figure from 160 earlier on Sunday. More projectiles were fired.

The Army said the highest number of projects, 350, was recorded on September 24, 2024.

Since September 23, Israel has expanded its air base in Lebanon, and then sent ground troops to attack Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The war followed almost a year of exchange of fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas after the attack of the Palestinian group October 7, 2023 on Israel, which led to the war in Gaza.

Medical organizations reported that 12 people were injured in Israel, including a man in “moderate to serious”.

The Palestine Red Crescent said 13 people were injured at the Tulkarem refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after live ammunition hit several homes.

It added “minor to moderate” injuries, including burns, shrapnel and bruises.

AFP images from Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, showed several cars damaged and burned, and a house covered in shrapnel.

The wave of attacks follows a series of deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut last week, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.

In a statement on Wednesday, the head of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, said that the response to the attack on the capital “should be expected in Tel Aviv”.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Health says that 3,670 people have been killed in the country since October 2023, most of them since September this year.

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