UPDATES WITH HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE, MORE DETAILS FROM ISRALI ARMY
By Abdelraouf Arnaout and Wassim Samih Seifeddine
BEIRUT / JERUSALEM (AA) - *** An Israeli soldier was seriously injured on Wednesday after an anti-tank missile from Lebanon struck northern Israel, and 60 rockets were fired into the country within an hour, the military said.
“Following the sirens that sounded in the area of Abirim, approximately 30 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanese territory into Israel and fell in an open area. No injuries were reported,” the army said in a statement.
“In addition, following the sirens that sounded in the area of Kfar Szold, approximately 30 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory and fell in an open area. No injuries were reported,” the statement added.
Israeli Army Radio reported that the 60 rockets targeted areas in both the Upper and Western Galilee areas within the span of an hour.
The army confirmed in its statement that “a reservist soldier who is a community security team member was severely injured as a result of anti-tank missile fired in the area of Dan.”
The missile directly hit a building in the illegal Dan settlement in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, the Radio reported.
Air-raid sirens sounded in several Israeli towns as around 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon, with some landing in open areas, Israeli Channel 12 said.
Israeli public broadcaster KAN said several rockets hit Western Galilee region, with all rockets falling in open areas. No injuries were reported.
Lebanese group Hezbollah confirmed that it targeted a military checkpoint in Dan settlement with “appropriate weapons.”
The group also claimed rocket attacks on Israeli military positions in Al-Malkiyya, Roueissat al-Qarn, Al-Raheb, and the Zebdine barracks in northern Israel.
Hezbollah said its fighters also targeted with Katyusha rockets the newly established command center of Israel's 146th Division in Abirim base in northern Israel.
The Israeli army, for its part, said it launched airstrikes against what it called Hezbollah infrastructure and rocket launchers in Jibbain, Naqoura, Deir Seryan, and Zebqine in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli army also bombarded the southern Lebanese town of Al-Dhahira with artillery fire, according to a military statement.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said early Wednesday that one person was killed and another injured in an Israeli airstrike in town of Meiss El Jabal.
According to witnesses, Israeli warplanes conducted around 17 airstrikes targeting several towns, including Qlaileh, Chaaitiyeh, and Zebqine in southern Lebanon.
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 offensive on Gaza, which has killed more than 41,000 people since Oct. 7 following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio