(Al Jazeera Media Network) Hezbollah says it targeted the Ashdod naval base in southern Israel “for the first time”, adding that it conducted an operation against a “military target” in Tel Aviv using advanced missiles and strike drones.
The Israeli military reported air raid sirens in central and northern areas, including the Tel Aviv suburbs. The military said it intercepted a number of the projectiles fired at northern Israel, and that 250 projectiles had been fired from Lebanon.
Later on, Israeli army radio reported that ‘340 missiles’ had launched from Lebanon.
The attacks wounded at least 11 people, including a man in “moderate to serious” condition, according to medical agencies.
They come a day after Israel killed at least 29 people in a strike in central Beirut. At least 66 others were wounded, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.
“(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,” a statement from his office read.
Meanwhile, the European Union’s top diplomat called for more pressure on both Israel and Hezbollah to reach a deal, saying one was “pending with a final agreement from the Israeli government.”
“We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701,” Josep Borrell said after his meeting with Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who has been mediating with the group.
Borrell said the EU is ready to allocate $208 million to assist the Lebanese military, which would deploy additional forces to the south.
The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution (1701) that ended the 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol the area, with the presence of UN peacekeepers.
The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.
