Israel hits Beirut with air attack after Hezbollah fires 140 rockets

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Israel and Hezbollah commercialized intensified cross-border occurrence arsenic fears of a full-blown warfare grow.

The Israeli subject says it has carried retired a “targeted strike” successful the Lebanese capital, claiming to person deed adjacent cardinal Hezbollah facilities successful the confederate Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh.

“The [Israeli military] conducted a targeted onslaught successful Beirut. At this moment, determination are nary changes successful the Home Front Command antiaircraft guidelines,” it said connected Friday, providing nary further details.

A heavy unreality of fume could beryllium seen rising implicit the capital, according to a Reuters unrecorded feed, aft residents said they heard a large blast.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said Dahiyeh is considered a Hezbollah stronghold.

“This is simply a large escalation. We are getting reports this could beryllium a targeted assassination,” she said.

“It is not the archetypal clip that Beirut’s confederate suburb is targeted, but images emerging from the country amusement a gathering astir wholly destroyed, truthful it is apt determination volition beryllium civilian casualties.”

Earlier connected Friday, Hezbollah pounded bluish Israel with 140 rockets, a time aft the group’s person Hassan Nasrallah promised to retaliate against Israel for a wide bombing attack, the Israeli subject and the Iran-backed radical said.

Israel’s subject said the rockets came successful 3 waves Friday day targeting sites on the ravaged borderline with Lebanon.

Tensions betwixt Israel and Hezbollah person soared days pursuing 2 days of sabotage attacks blamed connected Israel that acceptable disconnected explosives successful thousands of communications devices, injuring astir 3,000 people, including civilians.

But Hezbollah said the rockets were successful retaliation for Israeli attacks connected villages and homes successful confederate Lebanon.

The radical said it launched “salvoes of Katyusha rockets” against astatine slightest six Israeli “army headquarters” and bases, including a “main aerial defence base”.

“Some 140 rockets were fired from Lebanon wrong an hr starting astatine 1:02pm (10:02 GMT),” an Israeli subject spokesperson told the AFP quality bureau connected Friday.

Israeli nationalist broadcaster Kan enactment the fig of rockets astatine astir 150.

Smoke billows from the tract of an Israeli aerial onslaught connected Lebanon’s confederate colony of Kfar Kila, connected September 20 [Rabih Daher/AFP]

Videos from bluish Israel posted online showed rockets being intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome system, arsenic sirens were heard successful the background.

The Israeli subject claimed the barrage of rockets caused nary injuries and that rescue services were moving to enactment retired fires sparked by falling debris.

It listed the targeted areas arsenic the occupied Golan Heights, the Upper Galilee portion and the municipality of Safed.

The subject said its aerial defences took down immoderate of the rockets, portion others fell successful unfastened areas.

Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan said “throughout the morning, determination person been these exchanges of fire” hitting municipality successful some sides of the enactment dividing the 2 countries.

The incoming occurrence came aft the Israeli subject said it struck dozens of rocket launchers overnight that were acceptable for usage against Israel.

Khan described the overnight strikes by Israel successful Lebanon arsenic the “largest” since hostilities began successful October, pursuing the Hamas-led onslaught successful confederate Israel that triggered its warfare connected the Gaza Strip.

For astir a year, Hezbollah has engaged successful near-daily exchanges of occurrence with Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel borderline successful enactment of Hamas.Tens of thousands of radical connected some sides of the borderline person besides been forced to fly their homes owed to the fighting.

Source

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies