The Israeli Chief of Staff (center) on a previous tour near the border with Lebanon (French)
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that Lebanese Hezbollah bombed an Israeli army base during a tour by Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy at the site, on a day that witnessed the launching of dozens of rockets from southern Lebanon, and some reports described it as an unprecedented escalation.
The Commission stated that Hezbollah fired a number of missiles at the 146th Division headquarters in Gatoun, near the Nahariya settlement in the Western Galilee, during the Chief of Staff’s tour of the site.
For its part, Hezbollah announced that on Tuesday it bombed the Meron air control base in Jabal al-Jarmaq twice with missiles from several launchers, and also targeted the 146th Division headquarters with dozens of Katyusha rockets, in response to the Israeli army’s bombing of the vicinity of the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, on Monday.
Some Israeli media reported that more than 100 missiles were launched from southern Lebanon since Tuesday morning, and pictures broadcast by activists showed shells landing in the vicinity of the Meron base in Jabal al-Jarmaq.
During his inspection of the soldiers near the northern border, Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy said that Hezbollah "will pay a very heavy price."
On the other hand, former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said - commenting on the intense missile bombardment from Lebanon - that "the war government lost the northern front."
In turn, the head of the Regional Council of the Galilee region of Merom said that they do not feel that “Hezbollah’s escalation is being deterred,” and added that they were subjected to a heavy barrage of missiles towards Mount Meron.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera's correspondent said that Israeli artillery shelling targeted the vicinity of the towns of Markaba and Mays al-Jabal, and the Wadi Saluki area, south of Lebanon.
The correspondent also reported earlier that Israeli aircraft launched a series of raids on various areas in southern Lebanon, targeting the vicinity of the towns of Al-Bisariya, Jibshit, Al-Mansouri, Al-Haniya, and Ayta Al-Shaab.
Hezbollah entered into a confrontation with Israel following the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7, and the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza.
The occupation authorities were forced to evacuate tens of thousands of Israelis from settlements and towns near the border with Lebanon.
Israeli officials threatened to launch a massive military operation if a settlement was not reached that would remove Hezbollah fighters from the border beyond the Litani River, while the party threatened a strong response.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies + Israeli press