Hezbollah Rockets Pound Israeli Sites; 30 Operatives Killed in Lebanon

Hezbollah launched multiple strikes on Israeli military installations Wednesday, while 30 militants were reportedly killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, intensifying an ongoing cross-border conflict.

The Lebanese resistance movement announced it had fired missiles at Israel’s Tzrifin military base near Ben Gurion International Airport, south of Tel Aviv. A rocket from Lebanon also hit the airport grounds. The Israeli army reported that Hezbollah had fired around 120 projectiles into central and northern areas, triggering sirens across Israeli cities.

Hezbollah also targeted a military base in the Israeli settlement of Metulla, with a direct hit resulting in deaths and injuries among Israeli soldiers. The Lebanese group claimed to have destroyed a Merkava tank during the operation, which caught fire. Additional rocket fire reportedly struck Israeli soldiers gathered in Kfar Sold, Sasa, and Kiryat Shmona settlements. Hezbollah further targeted Ma’ale Golani barracks, Rawia base in the Golan Heights, and an explosives facility in Hadera, south of Haifa. The group vowed to continue retaliatory actions until Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza cease.

The Israeli military conducted new airstrikes on Lebanon. In the town of Barja, south of Beirut, Israeli airstrikes hit a residential building late Tuesday, killing at least 20 civilians and injuring dozens. Lebanese Civil Defense reported that rescuers found 30 bodies in the rubble, with search operations ongoing to locate potential survivors.

An Israeli strike also hit the coastal town of Jiyeh, killing one person and injuring 20 others.

More than 3,000 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israeli airstrikes since October 2023, with nearly two-thirds of the casualties occurring in the last six weeks.