5 rockets fired from Lebanon land in open areas of northern Israel

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - Five rockets were fired from Lebanon and landed in open areas in the northern Israeli settlement of Metula, Israeli media reported on Friday.

The rockets landed in open areas, Haaretz daily said, citing the Metula local council.

However, alarm sirens were activated in the Metula and Kfar Yuval settlements, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.

The Lebanon-based Hezbollah group has not commented on the rocket attack.

Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah amid a months-long exchange of cross-border fire, especially with Hezbollah threatening military retaliation after the assassination of its top commander Fouad Shukr in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on July 30.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of an Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip which has killed nearly 39,700 people since last October following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi