Hezbollah announced that one of its top commanders was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon.
Mohammed Nimah Nasser is the latest senior member of the Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group to be targeted by Israel in nearly nine months of cross-border violence that has raised fears of all-out war.
Hezbollah said it launched 100 rockets and missiles at Israeli military positions “as part of the response to the assassination.” No injuries were reported.
The Israeli military said Nasser commanded a unit that launched rockets from southwest Lebanon and accused him of directing a “large number of terrorist attacks.”
He also describes him as the “counterpart” of Taleb Sami Abdullah, the commander of another unit whose assassination last month prompted Hezbollah to launch more than 200 rockets and missiles into northern Israel in a single day.
Since then, there have been numerous diplomatic efforts to ease tensions, with the UN and the United States warning of the potentially catastrophic consequences of a war that could also involve Iran and other allied groups.
There have been almost daily exchanges of fire on the Israeli-Lebanese border since the day after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on October 7.
Hezbollah said it was acting in support of the Palestinian group, which is also backed by Iran. Both are considered terrorist organizations by Israel, the United Kingdom and other countries.
So far, more than 400 people have been killed in Lebanon, the vast majority Hezbollah fighters, and 25 people in Israel, mostly soldiers.
Tens of thousands of people from communities on both sides of the border have also been displaced.
