The Israeli army said Tuesday it has intensified its ground offensive in southern Lebanon, while the Islamist Hezbollah militia said it has aimed numerous rockets at northern Israel.
The salvo was fired at several targets in northern Israel, the Iranian-backed militia said in a statement. The Israeli military said air raid sirens had been issued at several locations near the border with Lebanon.
About 135 rockets targeted Israel’s Galilee region and Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city, but most were intercepted, the military said. Some rockets also hit the outskirts of Haifa, the report said.
The Times of Israel described it as the largest rocket attack on the port city since Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel a year ago.
A woman was slightly injured by shrapnel, the Magen David Adom rescue service wrote on the X platform.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it has deployed a fourth division in southern Lebanon in its fight against Hezbollah. A division is a large military unit consisting of several brigades and usually containing thousands of soldiers.
Reports indicate that three other Israeli divisions are currently deployed in the central and eastern sectors of the front.
Hezbollah has launched attacks on Israel over the past year, claiming it was acting “in solidarity” with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The regular exchange of fire has cost lives on both sides.
Israel’s current goal is to push the militia away from the border, allowing about 60,000 evacuated Israelis to return to their homes.
Another top Hezbollah commander killed in an attack in Beirut
The Israeli Air Force said Tuesday morning it killed another senior Hezbollah commander in an attack in Beirut.
It said Suhail Hussein Husseini was killed in a targeted attack on Monday. “Husseini played a crucial role in arms transfers between Iran and Hezbollah,” the military said.
He was also reportedly responsible for the distribution of advanced weapons to units of the Shia group and “for the budgeting and logistical management of Hezbollah’s most sensitive projects.” These include war planning and special operations against Israel from Lebanon and Syria, it added.
Israel has been waging war against Islamist Hamas and other groups in Gaza since militants carried out a brutal massacre in Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
About 42,000 people have been killed since then, according to Palestinian and UN figures.
Now the conflict has spread to Lebanon, where Israeli forces have significantly intensified their airstrikes against Hezbollah, killing key members of the militia’s leadership and launching a ground offensive.
Hezbollah supports ceasefire negotiations
Hezbollah’s deputy leader expressed openness to a ceasefire with Israel on Tuesday.
In a televised speech, Naim Qassem said he supported efforts by parliament speaker and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri to broker a ceasefire to the fighting in Lebanon.
He said he trusted Berri in the negotiations. Berri has reportedly been holding ceasefire talks with Arab and foreign officials visiting Lebanon since last week.
But Qassem also said, “If the enemy (Israel) continues his war, the battlefield will decide.” Hezbollah would not beg for a solution. “We will continue, we will make sacrifices.”
At least twenty Palestinian fighters killed in Gaza
The Israeli army said on Tuesday it had killed at least 20 armed Palestinian fighters in northern Gaza.
In the Jabalia region, where troops launched a new ground offensive on Sunday, weapons stockpiles were also attacked, with air support provided to ground forces.
The IDF also reported continued fighting in central and southern Gaza. The information could not be independently verified.
UN representatives fear Gaza-like conditions in Lebanon
UN organizations fear that the people of Lebanon may face the same fate as those in the Gaza Strip as a result of continued bombardments by Israel.
Jeremy Laurence, spokesman for the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva, said the same military methods are used in both war zones. “The destruction is unbelievable in Lebanon, just like in Gaza.”
Matthew Hollingworth, director of the World Food Program in Lebanon, said the organization is currently supporting about 200,000 people a day with food, and that number is expected to rise to 1 million.
Hollingworth, who worked in the Gaza Strip until June, said people in Lebanon were afraid that what had happened to people in Gaza could happen to them too.
“From the moment I wake up until I sleep, I think about the possibility that we could end up in the same spiral of doom,” Hollingworth said.
Red Cross sends more aid to Lebanon
The German Red Cross (DRK) said on Tuesday it was flying further aid supplies to Lebanon.
A plane with 150 rescue backpacks for the treatment of serious injuries is on its way from Cologne to Beirut, the DRK said.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled southern Lebanon due to the escalating conflict. Beirut endured days of bombardments, which also hit residential areas.
The Israeli army accuses Hezbollah of using civilian homes to hide weapons, adding to fear and despair among the population, who are suffering from a lack of shelter.
More than 2,000 people have been killed and another 9,800 injured in Lebanon since the escalation of clashes between the Israeli army and the Hezbollah militia almost a year ago, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
