Hezbollah’s rocket barrage causes huge damage in northern, central Israel, injures eight; IDF hits back strongly

New Delhi: Amid the continuing conflict between Israel and Lebanon, the militia group Hezbollah on Sunday, November 24 launched about 200 rockets into Israel while Israel prepared to launch every other wave of airstrikes on Beirut.

The Hezbollah rockets targeted northern and central Israel and included three drones. Israel’s aerial defence systems may most probably intercept simplest some rockets. A launcher from which projectiles were fired toward the Haifa Bay area became struck by the IDF, said the Israeli defense force in a statement.

As a minimum eight people were injured by the afternoon. In Kfar Blum, in relation to the Israel-Lebanon border, first responders with the Magen David Adom rescue service said they treated a man who sustained serious wounds.

A five-story residential building in Haifa, the biggest city on Israel’s northern coast, became evacuated resulting from fears of crumple after it became struck by a rocket, the Fire and National Rescue Authority reported. Additional damage became reported at some point of the northern cities of Kiryat Shmona and Ma’alot, along with near Petah Tikvah in central Israel.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for missile and drone strikes on a defense force target in Tel Aviv, in retaliation for Israel’s up-to-the-minute airstrikes on Beirut, Xinhua news agency reported.

The attacks were carried out at 06:30 am local time (0430 GMT) “with a salvo of high quality missiles and a squadron of attack drones,” and “the operation achieved its goals,” Hezbollah said in a statement, without specifying its target and the right location.

The group said in other separate statements that it also launched for the primary time “an air attack with a squadron of suicide drones on the Ashdod naval base, one hundred fifty km from the Lebanese-Palestinian border.”

The group also claimed launching drone attacks on a newly-established operations room for the Israeli army at some point of the settlement of Metula in northern Israel, and missile attacks on other northern cities including Hatzor Haglilit, Ma’alot, and Kfar Blum.

Lebanese defense force sources told Xinhua that violent clashes have been ongoing it be because early hours of Sunday between Hezbollah and IDF that had advanced in Lebanon’s south-eastern town of Khiam, the village of Yaroun at some point of the central sector, and the village of Chamaa at some point of the western sector of the border area.

Israel blew up about 18 houses on the eastern fringe of Khiam, including the municipality building, they said.

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes carried out seven raids on towns and villages in eastern Lebanon and 10 on those at some point of the south, and the Israeli artillery shelled eleven border towns and villages in southern Lebanon with about 50 shells, they added.

The Israeli defense force also announced plans to resume airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburb, urging residents to evacuate the realm in a post on social media platform X.

Since September 23, the Israeli army has intensified its air attack on Lebanon in an escalation of conflict with Hezbollah. Israel similarly initiated a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon in early October.

(With IANS inputs)