Hezbollah launches massive rocket attack at Israel since start of Gaza war

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - Lebanon's Hezbollah on Wednesday said it launched a heavy barrage of rockets at Israel.

According to a statement, the firing of projectiles, which the group said was the largest since the start of the war on Gaza last October, was in response to Israel’s overnight strike on the town of Jouaiyya, which killed its top commander Taleb Abdullah along with three other members.

The group said it targeted several Israeli military sites including the Meron air traffic control base and the factory of the Plasan armored vehicle manufacturer in Kibbutz -- or settlement -- Sasa.

The Lebanese official news agency NNA quoted separate statements by Hezbollah saying its fighters attacked the Israeli army's Roueisset al-Qarn outpost and the Ramtha outpost, both in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms.

Israeli said its forces detected the firing of some 160 rockets in northern Israel.

Tensions have risen along Lebanon's border with Israel since the start of the latter's attacks on Gaza, which have killed more than 37,000 Palestinians and reduced the territory to rubble.

The attacks raise concern that the months-long military confrontation could escalate.