Rocket fired from south Lebanon hits building in Israeli settlement

JERUSALEM

A rocket launched from southern Lebanon on Friday struck a building in the Shtula settlement in northern Israel, causing material damage but no casualties, the Israeli Army Radio reported.

The Israeli army has identified approximately 60 rockets fired from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel since Friday morning, according to the report.

The attack follows Hezbollah's announcement of carrying out over 10 operations targeting Israeli settlements, military sites, and troop gatherings near the Lebanon border.

On Thursday evening, an Israeli airstrike on a house in the district of Tyre, southern Lebanon, resulted in the death of a woman and injuries to 10 others.

Israel has reported over 425 rocket attacks from southern Lebanon on its northern settlements since Wednesday, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

As a consequence of Hezbollah's rocket attacks on Israeli targets since Wednesday, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said some 3,500 dunums (3.5 square kilometers) have been burnt in the Meron and Biriya forests.

Tensions have intensified between Hezbollah and the Israeli military over the past two days, following the killing of prominent Hezbollah leader Talib Sami Abdallah in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.

Tensions have risen along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Over 37,300 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 85,100 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio