UPDATE - 5 Israelis injured as Hezbollah strikes military industrial complexes in northern Israel

UPDATES NUMBER OF INJURED, ADDS MORE DETAILS, EDITS THROUGH

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – Lebanese group Hezbollah said on Sunday that it bombed Israeli military industrial complexes north of Haifa, with Israel saying five people were injured in the attack.

In a statement, the group said it targeted strategic military sites, specifically the complexes of Rafael Electronics Company north of Haifa with dozens of missiles as an initial response to this week’s “pager and wireless devices massacre.”

Hezbollah said it also targeted the Ramat David airbase and its facilities with dozens of missiles in retaliation for Israel’s repeated assaults on various Lebanese regions.

The Israeli army confirmed the attack and reported that over 115 rockets had been launched from southern Lebanon toward northern Israel.

Israeli daily Haaretz said five people were injured by shrapnel from rockets in Kiryat Bialik near Haifa, as well as in the towns of Ilyut in Lower Galilee and Judeh Makr in Western Galilee.

According to the newspaper, one Israeli died and another was seriously injured in a traffic accident following the activation of air-raid sirens in the Zarin Valley in northern Israel.

The Israeli ambulance service Magen David Adom said early Sunday that at least three people had been injured due to the rocket fire on Haifa.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that classes in northern Israel, from Haifa to the Lebanese border, were suspended due to the rocket attacks from Lebanon.

Separately, the Israeli army said it launched attacks on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response to its rocket fire on Haifa.

No information was yet available about injuries or damage.

Tension has mounted amid Israeli anticipation of an imminent response from Hezbollah to Friday’s deadly attack that killed at least 45 people, including children and women, and injured dozens in Beirut’s southern suburb.

Hezbollah confirmed that at least 16 of its members, including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and top commander Ahmed Wahbi, were killed in the Israeli strike.

The attack came two days after at least 37 people were killed and over 3,000 others injured in two waves of wireless communication device explosions across Lebanon.

While the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the explosions, Tel Aviv has not denied or confirmed its involvement.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi