UPDATE - Israel strikes Hezbollah post in south Lebanon after aircraft interception

ADDS ISRAEL STRIKING HEZBOLLAH POST, CHANGES HEADLINE

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army said its air defense intercepted two flying aircraft overnight Friday above the northern city of Haifa.

A statement said the aircraft were shot down after air-raid sirens blared near the Arab-majority city of Shefa-Amr in Israel.

No injuries were reported.

The army said it struck a post belonging to the Lebanese group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in response to the aircraft infiltration and firing at an Israeli drone.

There have been no comment from Hezbollah.

Tension flared along the Israeli-Lebanese border, with Israeli forces and the Hezbollah group exchanging fire multiple times in the past week in the deadliest confrontations since a month-long war in 2006.

Israeli forces launched a sustained and forceful military campaign against the Gaza Strip in response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.

The conflict began last Saturday when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood -- a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea and air.

Hamas said the operation was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip.

That response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening the living conditions in an area that has reeled under a crippling siege since 2007.

More than 3,300 people have been killed since the outbreak of the conflict on Saturday, including 1,900 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis.