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Israel carries out airstrike in Beirut after Hezbollah rockets hit northern Israel

Israel carries out airstrike in Beirut after Hezbollah rockets hit northern Israel


Israel carries out airstrike in Beirut after Hezbollah rockets hit northern Israel

BEIRUT — Israel hit a Beirut suburb with an airstrike Friday, not long after Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets following a vow by the terrorist group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah to retaliate against Israel for a mass bombing attack, the Israeli military and the terrorist group said.

The Israeli military said it had carried out a “targeted strike” in Beirut. It offered no further immediate details, but explosions could be heard coming from the city's southern suburbs.

The strike came after Hezbollah pounded Israel with 140 rockets, which the Israeli military said came in three waves targeting sites along the ravaged border with Lebanon.

Following the attacks, the Israeli military said that it had struck areas across southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, but didn't provide details of damage.

Hezbollah said that its attacks had targeted several sites along the border with Katyusha rockets, including multiple air defense bases as well as the headquarters of an Israeli armored brigade they said they’d struck for the first time.

The Israeli military said that 120 missiles were launched at areas of the Golan Heights, Safed and the Upper Galilee, some of which were intercepted. Fire crews were working to extinguish blazes caused by pieces of debris that fell to the ground in several areas, the military said.

The military didn't say whether any missiles had hit targets or caused any casualties.

Hezbollah said that the rockets were in retaliation for Israeli strikes on villages and homes in southern Lebanon, not two days of attacks widely blamed on Israel that set off explosives in thousands of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies.

Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily fire since Oct. 8, a day after Hamas terrorists carried out their massacre of more than 1200 Israeli men, women and children.

Nasrallah on Thursday vowed to keep up daily strikes on Israel despite this week’s deadly sabotage of its members’ communication devices, which he described as a “severe blow.”

At least 20 were killed in the attacks and thousands were wounded when pagers, walkie-talkies and other devices exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In recent days, Israel has moved a powerful fighting force up to the northern border, officials have escalated their rhetoric, and the country’s security Cabinet has designated the return of tens of thousands of displaced residents to their homes in northern Israel an official war goal.