Lebanon militants fire at Israel as border clashes escalate

Palestinian group Hamas, embroiled in war with Israeli forces in Gaza, said Sunday its militants in south Lebanon had launched rockets towards Israel, in a fresh escalation along the border.

A second group announced rocket launches at Israel’s north, while powerful Iran-backed movement Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, said it had shot down an Israeli drone over Israeli territory using a surface-to-air missile.

Cross-border exchanges have become an almost daily occurrence since October 7, when Hamas militants stormed southern Israel and killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

Israel has responded with an unrelenting bombardment of Gaza, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has killed more than 8,000 people, also mostly civilians.

The Israeli army on Sunday reported launches from Lebanon which it said targeted areas near the border.

Israeli forces had returned fire towards the origins of the launches, the army added. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli air force carried out several raids on south Lebanon towns.

Hamas’s military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement its fighters in Lebanon had launched 16 rockets at Nahariya, a coastal town Israel’s Galilee region, “in response to the crimes of the occupation (Israel) against our people in Gaza”.

The armed branch of Jamaa Islamiya group also said it had fired “targeted rockets” at the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona, the NNA reported.

Shiite group Hezbollah said it had targeted multiple Israeli army positions, also announcing the death of one of its fighters on Sunday.

Since October 7, cross-border violence has killed at least 59 people in Lebanon according to an AFP tally.

Most were Hezbollah fighters, although there have been four civilians among the victims, including one journalist.

Israeli officials have reported four deaths, including one civilian.

There are fears that if Hezbollah were to launch its own war with Israel, the conflict could spill over into the wider region.

Nearly 29,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon due to the clashes, according to the International Organization for Migration.