Israeli Air Force planes attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon throughout the day Wednesday after the Iran-backed terrorist group continued to fire heavy rocket and missile barrages at the Upper Galilee.
“IDF forces are attacking targets of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the area of Southern Lebanon,” the Israel Defense Forces confirmed.
The military’s announcement came shortly after Hezbollah terrorists fired anti-tank missiles towards Moshav Avivim in the northeastern Galilee, scoring direct hits on two homes and causing a fire but not wounding anyone.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hezbollah took responsibility for firing “dozens” of Katyusha rockets at the northwestern Galilee moshav of Shomera. The IDF said that it detected 10 launches. All projectiles struck open areas and no alarms were triggered during the incident, according to the military.
Several projectiles were also fired at the northwestern border communities of Zar’it, Shtula and Netu’a.
In a statement cited by Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese daily close to Hezbollah, the terrorist group said it carried out Wednesday’s strikes in response to “Israeli attacks on the steadfast southern villages …, specifically the massacre in Hanin.”
On Tuesday, IAF jets struck a home in the Southern Lebanese town, killing at least two people and injuring six others. Both of the fatalities were Hezbollah terrorists, according to Israel Hayom.
In the hours following the strike, Hezbollah fired several barrages towards the largely evacuated northern communities of Shomera, Zar’it, Kiryat Shmona, Manara and Margaliot. No casualties were reported, although residents experienced power outages. In addition, a coop with approximately 4,000 chickens was destroyed in Margaliot.
In total, Hezbollah took responsibility for at least eight rocket and missile barrages on Tuesday, the first day of Passover. The IDF responded by striking the sources of the launches in Lebanon, as well as with airstrikes on terrorist infrastructure in the country.
Tehran’s terrorist proxy in the Land of the Cedars has carried out near-daily attacks on the Jewish state since joining the war in support of Hamas a day after the Oct. 7 massacre in the northwestern Negev.
A Hezbollah source in the Lebanese parliament told Qatar’s Al-Araby Al-Jadeed outlet on Tuesday that Hezbollah’s terrorism would “increase and reach deep into Israel as a response to the expanding Israeli attacks.”
Hezbollah has killed nine civilians—Israelis as well as a foreign worker—and 11 IDF soldiers since it began its current round of attacks at the behest of Iran.