Hezbollah launches more than 200 rockets at Israeli positions after commander killed

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Hezbollah launched more than 200 rockets and a swarm of drones at 10 Israeli military sites on Thursday morning in response to the assassination of a senior commander by an Israeli strike.

The recent escalation between the Iran-backed group and Israel comes amid the threat of a large-scale war, as both sides continue to trade blows on increased intensity and as a ceasefire in Gaza remains elusive. Intensive international efforts to end the war on Gaza and find a diplomatic solution to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict continue, but have failed to produce results so far.

In response to the Hezbollah barrage, the Israeli military said its air force had attacked launch sites.

Numerous fires broke out across the Galilee region and the occupied Golan Heights following Hezbollah’s attack.

“As a result of UAVs and shrapnel from the interceptions falling in the area, fires broke out in a number of areas in northern Israel,” the Israeli military said, adding that firefighting and rescue services had been sent.

Israeli media reported that at least one person was seriously injured as a result of one of Hezbollah’s attacks on a number of military posts in the Golan Heights.

At around the same time as the Hezbollah strikes, residents of Beirut reported that Israeli jets breached the sound barrier over the Lebanese capital, with buildings shaking.

Mohammed Nimah Nasser became the latest senior Hezbollah commander to be assassinated by Israel on Wednesday when an air strike hit his car near the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon.

A senior Lebanese security source told The National he was the commander of the Aziz unit, a regional division responsible for a section of the southern Lebanon border area.

Hezbollah had already fired about 100 rockets at Israel on Wednesday following the assassination.

Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, speaking at an event commemorating Mr Nasser, warned the group would not stop its reprisals.

"The series of responses continues in succession, and this series will continue to target new sites that the enemy did not imagine would be hit," Mr Safieddine said.

The killing of Mr Nasser followed that of another regional commander last month by Israel, Sami Taleb Abdullah.

Israel described the two men as “counterparts” and “two of the most significant Hezbollah” commanders in southern Lebanon.

Senior Hezbollah politician Hassan Fadlallah said Mr Nasser had known he was a target but had not left the battlefield in nine months. Hezbollah would inflict its “punitive response” on Israel for “its crime, so that this enemy understands that the arm of the resistance is long”, he said.

Israel has approved plans for a land invasion into southern Lebanon to allow tens of thousands of Israelis to return to their homes, and to clear the threat from Hezbollah.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that Israeli forces would take any action necessary against Hezbollah but that they preferred a negotiated arrangement.

Hezbollah said it will not end its attacks until Israel stops its bombardment of the Gaza Strip, where about 38,000 Palestinians have been killed since Hamas launched a deadly raid into southern Israel on October 7.

But with a ceasefire proving elusive in Gaza, fears have continued to rise that the Israel-Hezbollah conflict could escalate into a full-on war.