Lebanon’s Hezbollah launched over 100 rockets early Sunday across a wider and deeper area of northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa, as the sides appeared to be spiraling toward all-out war following months of escalating tensions.
The rocket barrage overnight sent thousands of people scrambling into shelters. The Israeli military said rockets had been fired “toward civilian areas,” pointing to a possible escalation after previous barrages had mainly been aimed at military targets.
The barrage came after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday killed at least 37 people, including one of Hezbollah’s top leaders as well as women and children. The militant group was already reeling from a sophisticated attack that caused thousands of personal devices to explode just days earlier.
Here’s the latest:
Deaths from Israeli strike on southern Beirut rise to 45
The death toll following an Israeli strike on a southern Beirut suburb has risen to 45, Lebanon’s health ministry says, as search operations continue for the third day.
The statement also says some remains have been collected and are yet to be identified
Ali Harake, a local official and engineer at the scene says they are still looking for “around 15 bodies.” Meanwhile, the local municipality has brought in a crane in an attempt to retrieve people’s belongings from the damaged buildings.
Friday’s strike killed a top Hezbollah official Ibrahim Akil among a dozen other members of the militant group. Civilians, including at least two children, were among those killed in the busy neighborhood.