Hezbollah launches missile barrage at Israel’s Haifa naval base, escalating conflict after Israeli strikes hit Beirut suburbs and southern Lebanon.
BEIRUT: Hezbollah said it targeted Israel’s Haifa naval base with a barrage of missiles on Tuesday. The attack was a direct response to extensive Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon.
Israel carried out successive air raids for a second day on southern Lebanon and suburbs of Beirut. The military issued evacuation warnings to residents ahead of the strikes.
Hezbollah said it fired “a barrage of high-quality missiles” at the base around 8:00 pm local time. The Israeli military confirmed detecting several incoming projectiles, stating most were intercepted.
The Lebanese militant group said the strike avenged Israeli attacks on its strongholds. Israel had launched large-scale strikes on Lebanon after Hezbollah’s initial attack on Monday.
That initial attack aimed to “avenge” the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. US-Israeli strikes were responsible for Khamenei’s death, according to Hezbollah.
Israel announced new “simultaneous strikes in Tehran and Beirut” on Tuesday morning. By evening, it said it had hit approximately 60 targets linked to Hezbollah and Hamas.
The Israeli military also deployed troops to several locations in southern Lebanon. Defence Minister Israel Katz authorised the IDF to take control of additional strategic positions.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 13 attacks against Israel on Tuesday. It said it targeted at least five Israeli tanks, three of them inside Lebanese territory.
The group also used attack drones and rocket salvos against bases in northern Israel. It targeted the occupied Golan Heights and a military gathering near the border.
Additionally, Hezbollah claimed to have downed an Israeli drone over Nabatiyeh. It said all attacks responded to “criminal Israeli aggression on dozens of Lebanese cities”.
Beirut’s southern suburbs were subjected to a series of air strikes from early Tuesday. AFP photographers saw huge plumes of smoke rising over the capital.
Lebanese authorities recorded the displacement of more than 58,000 people. The evacuations followed Israeli strikes on targeted areas.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said its Beirut headquarters was targeted overnight. Israel also struck the offices of Hezbollah’s Al-Nour radio broadcaster, the station announced.
Hezbollah condemned the strikes on “two civilian media outlets”. It accused Israel of trying to silence “the voice and image of the resistance”.
The southern city of Sidon was struck twice on Tuesday, a city largely spared in the last war. One strike hit a headquarters of the Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya.
The surroundings of the city of Tyre were also struck after evacuation warnings. This marked a significant expansion of the conflict’s geographical scope.
The Sun Malaysia
