BEIRUT: Hezbollah said it fired rockets at northern Israel on Sunday, a day after it declared several areas in the region a “legitimate target” due to the presence of Israeli troops.
The Iran-backed Lebanese group, at war with Israel since last month, said it targeted a “military industries base north of Haifa... with a large rocket salvo.”
Since late September Hezbollah has announced similar strikes against defense industry facilities and military bases near Haifa, a major northern Israeli city.
The group also claimed rocket fire on Nahariya and drone strikes near Acre, both of which are north of Haifa.
Hezbollah issued an evacuation warning for more than 20 areas in northern Israel on Saturday.
It called on residents to “evacuate immediately,” saying the mentioned zones have “become legitimate military targets” for its forces.
Israel also pressed on with its aerial campaign on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Sunday.
At least eight people were killed and 25 wounded in an Israeli raid near the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The Israeli military on Sunday told residents of several villages in south Lebanon to leave immediately, warning that it would strike Hezbollah targets there.
But it did not mention the Sidon suburb of Haret Saida.
In the southern city of Nabatiyeh, “a house was completely destroyed, and residential buildings, shops and dozens of cars were severely damaged” after an Israeli strike on a neighborhood, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said.
Hezbollah and Israel have been trading cross-border fire since October last year.
Last month, Israel escalated air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds and sent in ground forces, after killing several top commanders in the group.
Israel dealt Hezbollah a seismic blow when it assassinated it’s leader Hassan Nasrallah on September 27 in an air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.