BEIRUT: The Israeli military said it was carrying out “extensive” air strikes in south Lebanon and the eastern Beqaa Valley on Wednesday after Hezbollah fired a ballistic missile that reached the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
“The IDF (Israeli military) is currently conducting extensive strikes in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa area,” the military said in a statement.
It said it was striking Hezbollah targets and weapons storage facilities.
It also said that some 40 projectiles had crossed into northern Israel from Lebanon, setting off warning sirens in the area. “Several projectiles were intercepted,” the military said.
The Israeli military said a drone crossing into Israeli territory from Syria was intercepted by fighter jets south of the Sea of Galilee, casuing no damage or injuries.
Earlier, Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Wednesday it fired a rocket targeting Mossad spy agency headquarters near Tel Aviv, which it blamed for the assassination of its leaders and the blowing up communications devices used by its members.
There were no reports of damage or casualties and the military said there was no change to civil defense instructions for central Israel.
Three people were killed and nine others injured in an Israeli strike on the Lebanese Shi'ite town of Maaysrah in the Christian-majority Keserwan region, the country's health ministry said. It was the first time the area was struck in recent hostilities between the Israeli military and Hezbollah.
The Israeli military has been conducting its heaviest air strikes of the war this week, targeting Hezbollah leaders and hitting hundreds of targets deep inside Lebanon.
An Israeli strike in Beirut on Tuesday killed senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Qubaisi, who headed the group’s missile and rocket force.
He is one of several key figures who have been assassinated since fighting broke out between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah nearly a year ago in parallel with the Gaza war.
In response, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that killing valuable members of Lebanon's Hezbollah will not bring it to its knees.
“The organisational strength and human resources of Hezbollah is very strong and will not be critically hit by the killing of a senior commander, even if that is clearly a loss,” Khamenei said.
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READ: Pope says escalation in Lebanon ‘unacceptable’
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’Lebanon is at the brink’
Israel’s offensive since Monday morning has killed 569 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV.
A new offensive against Hezbollah has stoked fears that conflict between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza is widening and could destabilize the Middle East.
The UN Security Council said it would meet on Wednesday to discuss the conflict. “Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon – the people of Israel – and the people of the world — cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
Half a million people are estimated to have been displaced in Lebanon, said Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. He said Lebanon’s prime minister hoped to meet with US officials over the next two days.
In Beirut, thousands of displaced people who fled from southern Lebanon were sheltering in schools and other buildings.
Israel’s military said its airforce conducted “extensive strikes” on Tuesday on Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and dozens of launchers that were aimed at Israeli territory.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the attacks had weakened Hezbollah and would continue. Hezbollah “has suffered a sequence of blows to its command and control, its fighters, and the means to fight. These are all severe blows,” he told Israeli troops.
