9 months ago
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TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Hezbollah hurled dozens of projectiles into Israel aboriginal Wednesday, including a rocket aimed astatine Tel Aviv that was the militant group's deepest onslaught yet and marked a further escalation aft Israeli strikes connected Lebanon killed hundreds of people.
The Israeli subject said it intercepted the surface-to-surface missile, which acceptable disconnected air-raid sirens successful Tel Aviv and crossed cardinal Israel. There were nary reports of casualties oregon damage. The subject said it struck the tract successful confederate Lebanon wherever the rocket was launched.
Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic rocket targeting the office of Israel's Mossad quality agency, which it blames for a caller drawstring of targeted killings of its apical commanders and for an onslaught past week successful which explosives hidden successful pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of radical and wounded thousands, including galore Hezbollah members.
The Israeli subject said it was the archetypal clip a projectile fired from Lebanon had reached cardinal Israel. Hezbollah claimed to person targeted an quality basal adjacent Tel Aviv past period successful an aerial attack, but determination was nary confirmation. The Palestinian Hamas militant radical successful Gaza repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv successful the opening months of the war.
The motorboat ratcheted up tensions arsenic the portion appeared to beryllium teetering toward different all-out war, adjacent arsenic Israel continues to conflict Hamas successful the Gaza Strip. A question of Israeli strikes connected Monday and Tuesday killed astatine slightest 560 radical successful Lebanon and forced thousands to question refuge.
Fleeing families person flocked to Beirut and the coastal metropolis of Sidon, sleeping successful schools turned into shelters, arsenic good arsenic successful cars, parks and on the beach. Some sought to permission the country, causing a postulation jam astatine the borderline with Syria.
Hezbollah's latest strikes included dozens of rockets fired Wednesday into bluish Israel, with 1 hitting an bare location and sparking a occurrence successful the metropolis of Safed. The Israeli subject said that astatine 1 constituent the militants fired 40 projectiles simultaneously.
Israel responded with its ain caller strikes connected Hezbollah. In Lebanon, astatine slightest 3 radical were killed and 9 wounded successful an Israeli onslaught adjacent Byblos, according to the country's Health Ministry. The coastal municipality is northbound of Beirut and acold from Hezbollah's main strongholds.
The Israeli subject has said determination are nary contiguous plans for a crushed invasion, but it has declined to springiness a timetable for the aerial campaign.
Tensions betwixt Israel and the Lebanese militant radical person steadily escalated implicit the past 11 months. Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles and drones into bluish Israel successful solidarity with Palestinians successful Gaza and its state Hamas, a chap Iran-backed militant group.
Israel has responded with progressively dense airstrikes and the targeted sidesplitting of Hezbollah commanders portion threatening a wider operation.
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an exigency gathering connected Lebanon for Wednesday astatine the petition of France.
Nearly a twelvemonth of warring betwixt Hezbollah and Israel had already displaced tens of thousands of radical connected some sides of the borderline earlier this week’s escalation. Israel has vowed to bash immoderate it takes to guarantee its citizens tin instrumentality to their homes successful the north, portion Hezbollah has said it volition support up its rocket attacks until determination is simply a cease-fire successful Gaza, thing that appears progressively remote.
The rocket occurrence implicit the past week has disrupted beingness for much than 1 cardinal radical crossed bluish Israel, with schools closed and restrictions connected nationalist gatherings. Many restaurants and different businesses are unopen successful the coastal metropolis of Haifa, and determination are less radical connected the streets. Some who fled southbound from communities adjacent the borderline are coming nether rocket occurrence again.
Israel has moved thousands of troops who had been serving successful Gaza to the bluish border. It says Hezbollah has immoderate 150,000 rockets and missiles, including immoderate susceptible of striking anyplace successful Israel, and that the radical has fired immoderate 9,000 rockets and drones since past October.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli subject spokesperson, said the rocket fired Wednesday had a “heavy warhead” but declined to elaborate oregon corroborate it was the benignant described by Hezbollah. He dismissed Hezbollah's assertion of targeting the Mossad headquarters, located conscionable northbound of Tel Aviv, arsenic “psychological warfare.”
The Iranian-made Qader is simply a medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic rocket with aggregate types and payloads. It tin transportation an explosive payload of up to 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds), according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. Iranian officials person described the liquid-fueled rocket arsenic having a scope of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles).
Cross-border occurrence began ramping up Sunday successful the aftermath of the pager and walkie-talkie bombings, which killed 39 radical and wounded astir 3,000, galore of them civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, but Israel did not corroborate oregon contradict responsibility.
On Sunday, Hezbollah launched astir 150 rockets, missiles and drones into bluish Israel.
The adjacent day, Israel said its warplanes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and onslaught drones, including weapons concealed successful backstage homes. The strikes racked up the highest one-day decease toll successful Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising monthlong warfare successful 2006.
An Israeli airstrike successful Beirut connected Tuesday killed Ibrahim Kobeisi, whom Israel described arsenic a apical Hezbollah commandant with the group’s rocket and rocket unit. Military officials said Kobeisi was liable for launches toward Israel and planned a 2000 onslaught successful which 3 Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and killed. Hezbollah aboriginal confirmed his death.
It was the latest successful a drawstring of assassinations and different setbacks for Hezbollah, which is Lebanon's strongest governmental and subject histrion and is wide considered the apical paramilitary unit successful the Arab world.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said six radical were killed and 15 were wounded successful the onslaught successful a confederate Beirut suburb, an country wherever Hezbollah has a beardown presence. The country’s National News Agency said the onslaught destroyed 3 floors of a six-story flat building.
The U.N.’s High Commissioner for Refugees successful Lebanon said 1 of its staffers and her young lad were among those killed Monday successful the Bekaa region, portion a cleaner nether declaration was killed successful a onslaught successful the south.
Hezbollah fired 300 rockets connected Tuesday, injuring six Israeli soldiers and civilians, astir of them lightly, according to the Israeli military.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said astatine slightest 564 radical person been killed successful Israeli strikes since Monday, including 50 children and 94 women, and that much than 1,800 person been wounded, a staggering toll for a state inactive reeling from the deadly pager and walkie-talkie bombings past week.
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Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell successful Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
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