Hizbollah fires rockets after Israel strike on Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon's Hizbollah on Sunday said it fired Katyusha rockets at northern Israel in response to an overnight Israeli strike that, according to state media, hit a weapons depot and wounded six people.

Hizbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in support of Hamas since the Palestinian fighter group's October 7 surprise attack on southern Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

The Iran-backed Hizbollah said it targeted northern Israel's Dafna area with Katyusha rockets "in response to the Israeli enemy's attacks that targeted civilians in the town of Adloun, injuring several of them".

This comes after the Israeli military said its air force "struck two Hizbollah weapons storage facilities in southern Lebanon, containing rockets and additional weaponry".

Late on Saturday, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NAA) said "the Israeli enemy launched a raid" on the town of Adloun, about 30 kilometres from the border with Israel, later saying the target was "an ammunition depot".

"Six civilians sustained moderate injuries," the NNA said on Sunday, revising the figure up from three the night before.

Rockets were still exploding about an hour after the strike was first reported, the NNA said, with videos circulating online showing several large explosions in Adloun.

"Shrapnel from the explosions flew to surrounding villages," the NNA said.

Hizbollah on Sunday said in separate statements that three of its fighters were killed.

Earlier on Saturday, Hizbollah and its Palestinian ally Hamas had fired rocket salvos and explosive-laden drones at Israeli positions.

Hizbollah said it had launched "dozens of Katyusha rockets" towards northern Israel "in response" to a strike blamed on Israel that injured civilians.

Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, said they also fired a rocket salvo from south Lebanon towards an Israeli military position in the Upper Galilee.

The violence since October has killed at least 518 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally. Most of the dead have been fighters, but they have included at least 104 civilians.

On the Israeli side, 18 soldiers and 13 civilians have been killed, according