This photo taken on July 3, 2024 shows smoke from Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system to intercept Hezbollah missiles fired from Lebanon towards Israeli military sites, as seen from the Lebanese side in Marjeyoun, Lebanon. Hezbollah launched a barrage of around 100 Katyusha rockets toward two Israeli military positions on Wednesday evening, retaliating against Israel's targeted killing of a senior Hezbollah military leader. (Photo by Taher Abu Hamdan/Xinhua)
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Hezbollah launched a barrage of around 100 Katyusha rockets toward two Israeli military positions on Wednesday evening, retaliating against Israel's targeted killing of a senior Hezbollah military leader.
Earlier in the day, Israel fired two air-to-surface missiles at a car in the Al-Hosh area east of Tyre city in southwestern Lebanon, killing Hezbollah military leader Mohammad Naameh Nasser.
As a regional commander of the Shiite militant group, Nasser was one of the most senior Hezbollah commanders killed by Israeli forces to date since the tension along the Israel-Lebanon border escalated last October.
In the statement, Hezbollah said the Israeli targets struck by the rockets included the headquarters of Golan Division 210 at Nafah barracks and the air and missile defense headquarters at Keila barracks, both in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported in a statement that at least 100 rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Kiryat Shmona and Galilee Panhandle in northern Israel and the northern Golan Heights, adding its aerial defense systems intercepted some of the rockets, with no injuries reported.
Earlier in a separate statement, the IDF also confirmed the killing of Nasser, who the IDF claimed was commander of Hezbollah's Aziz Unit, one of the group's three regional divisions in southern Lebanon, and in charge of "firing from southwestern Lebanon at Israeli territory."
The killing of Nasser and the Hezbollah rocket attacks marked a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. In response to Hezbollah's rocket barrage, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned of a potential ground offensive deep into Lebanon if the attacks persisted.
The tanks "coming out of the battle in Rafah can reach as far as the Litani," Gallant remarked during a visit near the Gaza Strip border. The Litani is Lebanon's longest river that stretches from the country's center to its south.
Despite expressing a preference for a ceasefire, Gallant emphasized Israel's readiness for military action. Hezbollah, for its part, previously said it would stop its attacks once Israel agrees to a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza.
Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon. ■
Smoke rises from rockets fired by Hezbollah at Israeli sites in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, as seen from Marjeyoun, Lebanon, on July 3, 2024. Hezbollah launched a barrage of around 100 Katyusha rockets toward two Israeli military positions on Wednesday evening, retaliating against Israel's targeted killing of a senior Hezbollah military leader. (Photo by Taher Abu Hamdan/Xinhua)
