Hezbollah fires over 100 rockets towards Israel following deadly airstrike on Beirut

BEIRUT, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) — Hezbollah launched over 100 rockets at more than 30 settlements in western Galilee and a key intelligence base in northern Israel on Friday, retaliating for an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs that killed at least eight people and wounded 59 others, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.
The Israeli strike hit a building in the Jamous area of Dahieh, a Beirut suburb. Rescue teams were clearing rubble to find casualties, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
Local TV footage showed extensive damage and chaos in the densely populated neighborhood. Lebanese media reported the strike targeted Ibrahim Akil, a Hezbollah Jihad Council member. Israeli army radio, citing security officials, supported this claim. Akil’s fate remains unknown.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the Beirut attack in a brief statement.
Earlier Friday, the Israeli military said about 120 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, triggering alarms in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Safed and Upper Galilee. Some were intercepted, with debris causing fires. No injuries in Israel have been reported.
Lebanese military sources reported Israeli airstrikes hit six locations in southern Lebanon, while artillery shelled 11 border towns earlier in the day.
Tension along the Israel-Lebanon border has escalated sharply following two explosions from communications devices in Lebanon earlier this week that killed 37 and injured 2,931.
Lebanon’s government denounced the explosions as a sovereignty violation and sought an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting. Hezbollah blamed Israel for targeting its units and vowed retaliation. ■