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The confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah are witnessing a major escalation today after a series of raids and violent exchanges of missiles, the most prominent of which was an Israeli raid on the southern suburb of the capital Beirut, which is a stronghold of Hezbollah but far from the traditional war front on the border strip.
Two security sources said the Israeli strike hit an area near key Hezbollah installations in Beirut’s southern suburbs. A thick cloud of smoke was seen rising over the Lebanese capital Beirut in a live broadcast from Reuters after residents in the city’s southern suburbs said they heard a loud explosion.
Earlier, the Israeli army announced that it had detected dozens of missiles launched from Lebanon, while Hezbollah announced that it had targeted several military command headquarters and barracks in northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights..
“About 140 rockets were fired from Lebanon within an hour,” an Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP.
This came hours after the Israeli army announced on Thursday night that it had launched raids on nearly 100 platforms in southern Lebanon, which it said were ready to launch missiles towards Israel..
In successive statements, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for targeting seven command headquarters and military barracks in northern Israel and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights with “barrages of Katyusha rockets.” It said this came “in response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks on the steadfast southern villages and safe homes.”
