UPDATES WITH DETAILS; REVISES HEADLINE, LEDE; ADDS CHANGES
By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli army reported heavy rocket fire from southern Lebanon on Thursday, shortly after airstrikes on Hezbollah targets amid growing border tensions.
The Israeli public broadcaster KAN said four rockets landed in open areas near the Shtula settlement in Western Galilee in northern Israel.
No casualties or damage were reported.
Air sirens also sounded in Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel, but it was reported to be a false alarm, KAN said.
According to Israel Hayom newspaper, at least 150 rockets were fired by Hezbollah into northern Israel on Thursday, in one of the largest attacks by the Lebanese group since the outbreak of cross-border attacks between the two sides last October.
Two people were injured from rocket fire by Hezbollah into Syria’s occupied Golan Heights, Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said.
Several fires caused by Hezbollah rocket fire were also reported in Qatsrin and Golan Heights, according to the broadcaster.
Israeli police said that they had received several reports of fires from rocket launches from Lebanon into northern Israel.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, meanwhile, reported forest fires following Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon.
No details were yet available about casualties.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army launched airstrikes against what it called Hezbollah targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah, for its part, said that it had attacked the Israeli army's Raheb outpost with artillery shelling and machine guns.
It came after Hezbollah carried out its largest attacks on northern Israel since last October by firing some 215 rockets and drones on Wednesday following the death of four fighters, including a senior military commander, in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon.
Tensions have risen along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 37,200 people since last October following a Hamas attack.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar