UPDATE 2 - Hezbollah strikes Israeli military base, Israel attacks Lebanese towns

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Stephanie Rady

BEIRUT (AA) - Hezbollah announced on Saturday that it launched a salvo of Fadi-3 missiles targeting the Israeli Ramat-David air base, located southeast of Haifa.

In a statement, Hezbollah confirmed the attack as part of its ongoing response to the Israeli military offensive in Lebanon and Gaza.

The Israeli army confirmed that it detected the launch of around five rockets from southern Lebanon aimed at the Haifa Bay area and the central Galilee.

According to an official statement, some of the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s air defense systems. No immediate reports of damage or casualties from the attack have been released.

Hezbollah also claimed to have fired over 50 rockets at settlements in Metzuva and Maalot in northern Israel.

The Israeli army carried out air raids on several towns in the Nabatieh district of southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese News Agency reported heavy bombardments in the area, although further details on the extent of the damage or casualties remain unclear.

It also reported casualties when Israel bombed several buildings in El-Khodr town in the Baalbek district, eastern Lebanon.

In another incident, Israel launched new airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburb, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

Additionally, the Israeli army announced that within two hours of the rocket attacks, its air force bombed dozens of alleged Hezbollah targets across multiple regions of Lebanon.

These strikes reportedly hit sites in the Bekaa Valley and several areas in the south.

Sirens were also heard in the Israeli cities of Kiryat Ata, Acre, the Lower Galilee, and the Central Galilee, warning residents of incoming rockets from Lebanon.

The army urged residents in these areas to seek shelter as tensions between the two sides continue to escalate.

Israel has pounded Lebanon since early Monday with airstrikes that have killed more than 700 victims and injured nearly 2,200, according to figures released by the Lebanese Health Ministry.​​​​​​​

The ministry also said that the death toll in Lebanon since last October is 1,540, in addition to the more than 77,000 displaced from the southern and eastern parts of the country.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,600 victims, 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 turning the Gaza conflict into a regional war.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara