UPDATE - 60 rockets fired from Lebanon at northern Israel after assassination of top Hezbollah commander

REVISES HEADLINE, LEDE, ADDS MORE DETAILS

By Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA ) - At least 60 rockets were launched from southern Lebanon into northern Israel late Thursday, in the first attack since Tel Aviv assassinated top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr earlier this week in Beirut.

Israel’s public broadcaster, KAN, reported that the rockets were launched towards the Western Galilee, with 15 of them being intercepted.

An Israeli army statement said that five projectiles crossed from Lebanon into Israel, some of which were intercepted, and the rest fell in open areas.

No injuries were reported.

Hezbollah has not commented on the incident.

Earlier, Israel’s Army Radio confirmed the launches toward the Western Galilee region.

At least seven people, including two children, were killed in the airstrike Tuesday in Beirut that killed Shukr, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel blamed Shukr for a missile attack Saturday that killed 12 people in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, although Hezbollah has denied responsibility.

Shukr’s assassination was followed by the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran early Wednesday in an attack blamed on Israel. Tel Aviv has not yet confirmed or denied responsibility.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah vowed a “real response” to the strike that killed Shukr.

“We are planning a real and well-calculated response, not merely a symbolic one,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech during Shukr’s funeral.

“Hezbollah will resume its regular military operations against Israel on Friday, unrelated to the response to Shukr's assassination,” he added.

Fears have grown of a full-blown war between Israel and the Lebanese resistance group amid a months-long exchange of cross-border fire.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of an Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 39,500 people since last October following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.