Hezbollah fired more than 60 rockets at an Israeli military base today in response to the assassination of a Hamas deputy leader in Beirut.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel yesterday that the group would quickly respond “on the battlefield” to Aruri’s assassination.
“As part of the initial response to the crime of assassinating the great leader Sheikh Saleh al-Aruri… the Islamic resistance (Hezbollah) targeted the Meron air control base with 62 various types of missiles,” the Iran-backed group said in a statement.
The assassination of Aruri on Tuesday in a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut was carried out by Israel and raised fears of further worsening, a US defence official told AFP.
The Israeli military said it had identified about 40 rocket launches from Lebanon this morning.
In nearly three months of cross-border shelling in Lebanon, 175 people have been killed, including 129 Hezbollah fighters, as well as more than 20 civilians, including three journalists, according to AFP.
