Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel in response to Beirut killings

The Lebanese militia Hezbollah fired a volley of rockets at a small military base in northern Israel on Saturday morning. According to the group, this was an initial response to the killing of a senior Hamas commander in Lebanon five days ago, which has raised fears of a wider battle. conflagration.

Hezbollah said in a statement that the attacks had caused casualties, but there were no immediate Israeli reports of injuries and the attack was initially seen by analysts as more of a symbolic response to the killing than a significant escalation.

The Israeli military said in a statement that about 40 rockets had been fired from Lebanon at Mount Meron, an area with a military radar station located about eight kilometers south of the Israel-Lebanon border. The army said it had responded by attacking a militant group in Lebanon involved in the rocket fire.

Hezbollah could still respond with a more powerful attack, while Hamas has not retaliated for the killing of senior commander Saleh al-Arouri. Mr al-Arouri was killed in Beirut on Tuesday in an attack blamed on Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah. Lebanese and US officials have also blamed the attack on Israel, although Israel has not confirmed this.

At least for now, the limited nature of Saturday’s exchange tempered fears that Mr. al-Arouri’s killing would immediately lead to a major escalation between Hezbollah and Israel.

The exchange came about as Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, and Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Union’s top diplomat, separately visited the region in an effort to reduce the risk of a regional war breaking out.

Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on October 7, prompting Israel to respond in Gaza with one of the deadliest military campaigns of this century. At the same time, Israel is engaged in a second low-level conflict with Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas and a fellow proxy of Iran.

That second front was largely within the border areas of northern Israel and southern Lebanon, with both sides generally limiting their attacks to within a few kilometers of the border, far from major cities such as Tel Aviv or Beirut.

But the killing of Mr. al-Arouri, in a building deep inside a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut, raised fears that Hezbollah could respond with a more powerful attack of its own on major cities in central Israel.

Mr Blinken was in Turkey on Saturday morning, while Mr Borrell visited Lebanon, where he said his priority was to “prevent regional escalation and advance diplomatic efforts” for peace in the region.

Euan district contributed reporting from Beirut, Lebanon.