Hezbollah says 'fired 320 Katyusha rockets at Israel'; Tel Aviv launches air strikes in southern Lebanon

Israel said it has launched air strikes in southern Lebanon to thwart an offensive by the group.

In what could potentially push the restive Middle East to the brink of another war, the Iran-backed group Hezbollah said on Sunday that it fired 320 Katyusha rockets at 11 Israeli military sites. Israel said it has launched air strikes in southern Lebanon to thwart an offensive by the group.

A view shows smoke and fire on the Lebanese side of the border with Israel, after Israel said it had noted armed group Hezbollah preparing to attack Israel and had carried out pre-emptive strikes.(Reuters)

The Lebanese militant group said it had launched drone attacks on Israel in retaliation for the killing of one of its commanders in Beirut.

The group said the attack was targeting “a qualitative Israeli military target that will be announced later” as well as “targeting several enemy sites and barracks and Iron Dome platforms.”

The strikes were in response to the killing of Fouad Shukur, a top commander of the group

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli military announced its pre-emptive strikes on Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, saying the militant group was preparing an attack.

The army said Hezbollah was planning to launch a heavy barrage of rockets and missiles toward Israel. The Iranian-backed group had been promising to retaliate for Israel's assassination of a top commander late last month.

”In a self-defense act to remove these threats, the (Israeli military) is striking terror targets in Lebanon, from which Hezbollah was planning to launch their attacks on Israeli civilians. We can see that Hezbollah is preparing to launch an extensive attack on Israel, while endangering the Lebanese civilians," he added, without providing details. We warn the civilians located in the areas where Hezbollah is operating to move out of harm's way immediately for their own safety,” Israel's military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said early Sunday.

According to several news agencies, air raid sirens were sounded in northern Israel. The country's Ben-Gurion International Airport also diverted flights as a preventive measure.

Soon after this, Hezbollah announced its attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a Cabinet meeting over the matter.

The attack came ahead of a new round of talks to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Hezbollah has said it will halt the fighting if there is a cease-fire.

With inputs from AP, AFP, Reuters