UPDATE - Rocket barrages from Lebanon target northern Israel amid escalating tensions: Media

UPDATES WITH REMARKS FROM LOCAL ISRAELI OFFICIAL, ADDS DETAILS

By Ikrame Imane Kouachi

ANKARA (AA) — Rocket barrages were fired on Friday from Lebanon toward Israeli settlements in northern Israel, local media reported.

Israeli Channel 12 reported that 10 rockets were fired from Lebanon towards the Kiryat Shmona settlement in northern Israel.

It added that some 20 rockets were launched from Lebanon targeting Israeli border settlements.

Sirens have been sounding across northern Israel, according to Yedioth Ahronoth daily.

Israeli Army Radio later reported that since Friday morning, more than 60 rockets had been fired from Lebanon toward northern Israeli border settlements.

Israeli police also reported that, following the launch of rockets from Lebanon, fires broke out in several locations in northern Israel settlements, without providing any further details.

The cross-border weapons fire has led to an exodus from Israeli border settlements.

Later, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that David Azoulay, head of Metula’s local council, confirmed around 50 incidents of rockets and debris falling in Metula in the past 24 hours.

He added that there was significant damage to homes, playgrounds, open spaces, and electricity and water infrastructure.

Azoulay also noted that fires broke out as a result of Hezbollah's periodic rocket attacks, causing damage to a storage facility.

Metula has been one of the most heavily targeted locations since cross-border attacks began nearly a year ago between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

Separately, the Lebanese group Hezbollah reported it targeted an Israeli tank with a guided missile near the Al-Malikiyah military site, causing casualties and starting a fire.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start last year of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,800 people, most of them women and children, following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

In Israeli attacks in Lebanon, at least 1,947 people have since been killed, nearly 9,400 injured, and 1.2 million others displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi