Hezbollah says it intercepted Israeli warplanes in southern Lebanon

By Stephanie Rady

BEIRUT (AA) - Hezbollah said Wednesday that it had intercepted two Israeli fighter jets in southern Lebanon and targeted military sites in northern Israel.

In a series of statements, the group claimed that its fighters had launched strikes on the Hatzor settlement and the Dado base with dozens of rockets.

Hezbollah also reported that its air defense units engaged and successfully forced two “enemy” Israeli aircraft to leave Lebanese airspace “using appropriate weapons” near the towns of Houla and Meiss El Jabal.

Additionally, the group said that its fighters targeted the Kiryat Motzkin settlement with barrages of rockets and carried a second round of strikes with Fadi 1 rockets.

Hezbollah further claimed to have hit an explosives factory in the Zichron area with a volley of Fadi 3 rockets and targeted the Sa'ar settlement with additional rocket fire.

Israel has launched waves of deadly airstrikes on Lebanon since Monday morning, killing nearly 610 people and injuring over 2,000 others, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio​