BEIRUT: Lebanon's Hezbollah on Sunday said it fired Katyusha rockets at northern Israel in response to an overnight Israeli strike that, according to state media, hit a weapons depot and wounded six people.
Hezbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in support of Palestinians since the October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
The Lebanese Hezbollah said it targeted northern Israel's Dafna area with Katyusha rockets "in response to the Israeli enemy's attacks that targeted civilians in the town of Adloun, injuring several of them".
This comes after the Israeli military said its air force "struck two Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in southern Lebanon, containing rockets and additional weaponry".
Late on Saturday, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said "the Israeli enemy launched a raid" on the town of Adloun, about 30 kilometres from the border with Israel, later saying the target was "an ammunition depot". "Six civilians sustained moderate injuries," the NNA said on Sunday, revising the figure up from three the night before.
Rockets were still exploding about an hour after the strike was first reported, the NNA said, with videos circulating online showing several large explosions in Adloun. "Shrapnel from the explosions flew to surrounding villages," the NNA said.
Last week, a Lebanese security source said that an Israeli strike on a house near the southern village of Jmaijmeh killed three people and wounded several more.
Hezbollah said two of its members were among the dead, including Ali Jaafar Maatouq. A source close to the group described him as a commander of its elite Al Radwan operational unit.
Hezbollah on Sunday said in separate statements that three of its fighters were killed. Earlier on Saturday, Hezbollah and its Palestinian ally Hamas had fired rocket salvos and explosive-laden drones at Israeli positions.
Hezbollah said it had launched "dozens of Katyusha rockets" towards northern Israel "in response" to a strike blamed on Israel that injured civilians.
Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, said they also fired a rocket salvo from south Lebanon towards an Israeli military position in the Upper Galilee.
The violence since October has killed at least 518 people in Lebanon, according to a tally. Most of the dead have been fighters, but they have included at least 104 civilians. On the Israeli side, 18 soldiers and 13 civilians have been killed, according to Israeli authorities. — AFP
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