Israel says 55 rockets fired from Lebanon towards Upper Galilee

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army said on Saturday that approximately 55 rockets were fired from Lebanon into the Upper Galilee, northern Israel.

“Following the alarms activated in the Upper Galilee region, around 35 rockets were detected coming from Lebanese territory,” the Israeli army said in a statement.

It added that while some of these rockets were intercepted, the majority landed in open areas, with no injuries recorded.

The army also reported an earlier rocket strike when about 20 rockets were launched from Lebanon, some intercepted and others landing in open areas, again causing no injuries.

Daily Maariv reported that Lebanese group Hezbollah on Saturday morning launched about 20 rockets at the city of Safed and the village of Akbara in the southern part of the city.

Safed, located about 41 kilometers (25.5 miles) from the Israeli-Lebanese border, also faced rocket attacks on Friday night.

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported fires breaking out in open areas near Safed due to the rocket strikes, with some areas still occupied.

In response, the Israeli army said it conducted airstrikes using drones to target the rocket-launching platform in southern Lebanon. Additionally, the army reported attacking a Hezbollah military building in Kafr Rumman and launched artillery strikes on various targets in southern Lebanon.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah on the reports.

Tensions have spiked along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with an offensive against the Gaza Strip which has killed more than 41,100 people since last October following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi