Hezbollah says targeted Israeli 'intel base' in Tel Aviv, naval base

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said it targeted Israeli positions in the Tel Aviv suburbs on Tuesday including an intelligence base, and launched rockets at a naval base in north Israel’s Haifa.

The attacks came after a tense night in Lebanon, with state media reporting heavy Israeli bombardment in and near south Beirut and authorities saying four people including a child were killed in strikes near the country’s biggest public hospital.

Hezbollah fighters launched a “salvo of rockets” targeting the “Glilot base of the 8200 military intelligence unit”, the resistance group said in a statement, after claiming similar attacks on the base in the Tel Aviv suburbs the night before.

Also Tuesday, the group said it fired rockets at another position in Tel Aviv’s suburbs, and launched a “salvo of rockets” targeting the “Stella Maris naval base northwest of Haifa”, a coastal city in northern Israel.

The Israeli military said in a statement that following sirens “in central Israel, approximately five projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon. The majority… were intercepted”.

It also said that following sirens “in the Upper Galilee area and northern Golan Heights, approximately 15 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon” with some intercepted and the rest falling in open areas.

It said it was not immediately aware of any casualties.

The announcements came after the Israeli army said Monday it continued to hammer Hezbollah positions across Lebanon. It said it struck about 300 targets in the previous 24 hours, some targeting a financial firm linked to Hezbollah.

A Lebanese security official told AFP that the country’s national airline had to switch landing strips late Monday after Israeli strikes near Beirut’s only international airport hit close to the main runway.

On September 23, Israel escalated its air campaign against targets in Lebanon and later sent in ground forces after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah, acting in support of Hamas resistance group fighting Israel in Gaza.

At least 2,467 people have been killed in a year of violence, according to Lebanese authorities, more than half of them since September 23, according to an AFP tally of official figures.