By Batoul Fawaz
BEIRUT (AA) - Lebanese group Hezbollah said Wednesday that it targeted the Israeli settlement of Neot Mordechai for the first time with a barrage of Katyusha rockets.
In a statement, Hezbollah said it fired a barrage of Katyusha rockets at Neot Mordechai, which is located just 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from the Lebanese-Israeli border.
The attack came amid ongoing hostilities, with Hezbollah claiming its strikes are in retaliation for Israeli artillery attacks on southern Lebanese villages, including Ayta ash Shab and Khiam.
Hezbollah also reported launching attacks on several Israeli military positions, including artillery sites at the Zaoura military base and troop deployments at the Zarit military barracks.
Earlier in the day, a woman was killed and seven others, including a child, were injured on Wednesday in Israeli strikes targeting various areas in southern Lebanon, which also sparked fires in some regions.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported in a statement that Israeli artillery shelling on the town of Qabrikha in southern Lebanon resulted in the death of a woman and injuries to two others, including a 12-year-old child.
In a separate statement, the ministry noted that an Israeli airstrike on the town of Houla in southern Lebanon caused injuries to three individuals.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army claimed that it detected a barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon towards the Upper Galilee.
“A barrage of some 30 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Galilee Panhandle earlier this evening,” the Times of Israel reported, citing the army.
It further added that “some of the rockets were intercepted while others impacted open areas, sparking fires near Kfar Blum.”
The army did not report any casualties.
Tensions have spiked along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv pressed ahead with its brutal onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 40,800 people since last Oct. 7 following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio