Israel fires on Lebanon after rocket attack

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Israel struck Lebanon on Saturday in retaliation for rockets targeting Israel, killing six people, in the heaviest exchange of fire since its ceasefire with the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah almost four months ago.

The rockets fired from Lebanon were the second ones launched since December and again sparked concern about whether the ceasefire would hold. In a statement, Hezbollah denied being responsible for the latest attack, saying it was committed to the truce.

Israel’s army said the intercepted rockets targeted the Israeli town of Metula. An Israeli official said six rockets were fired and three crossed into Israeli territory and were intercepted. The official said Israel could not confirm the identity of the group that fired the rockets.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it instructed the army to act forcefully against dozens of targets in Lebanon. Israel’s army said it struck Hezbollah command centers and dozens of rocket launchers.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said a strike in the southern village of Touline killed five people, including a child, and wounded 11 others.

On Saturday night, Israel again struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. A strike hit a garage in the coastal city of Tyre, the NNA reported, with one person killed and seven wounded. It was the first time the city had been struck since the ceasefire took effect.

And a strike on Hawsh al-Sayed Ali village along the border with Syria wounded five people, according to the NNA.

In a statement, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam asked the Lebanese military to take all necessary measures in the south but said the country did not want to return to war.

Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. The Israel-Hezbollah conflict boiled over into all-out war in September as Israel carried out massive waves of airstrikes and killed most of the terrorist group’s senior leaders. The fighting killed over 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced about 60,000 Israelis.

Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from all Lebanese territory by late January under a ceasefire struck on Nov. 27. The deadline was extended to Feb. 18.

But Israel has remained in five locations in Lebanon, across from communities in northern Israel. It has carried out dozens of airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, saying it attacked Hezbollah, while continuing drone attacks that have killed several members of the terrorist group.

Lebanon has appealed to the U.N. to pressure Israel to fully withdraw from the country. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said it was alarmed at the possible escalation of violence and urged all parties to avoid jeopardizing the progress made.

The strikes came a day after Israel said it would carry out operations in Gaza “with increasing intensity” until Hamas frees the 59 hostages it holds — 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

Israeli strikes on Friday night killed at least nine people.

“Hamas, unfortunately, understands military pressure,” Netanyahu’s foreign policy advisor Ophir Falk told The Associated Press.

Tens of thousands of Israelis on Saturday again protested both the government’s failure to negotiate a hostage deal and its move to fire the head of the country’s Shin Bet internal security service.