Hezbollah launches dozens of missiles at Israel, US says bolstering military presence in West Asia

Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah on Saturday said it had launched dozens of Katyusha missiles at Israel, reported AFP.

Israel said it intercepted most of the projectiles.

The Iran-backed group said its attack, on Beit Hillel in northern Israel, was in response to Tel Aviv’s recent strikes on Kfar Kila and Deir Siriane in Lebanon.

Iran said on Saturday that it expects Hezbollah to ‘hit deeper’ inside Israeli territory soon, The Times of Israel reported.

Saturday’s attack by Hezbollah came days after an Israeli strike in Iran’s Tehran that killed Ismael Haniyeh, a top leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Fouad Shukur, a top military commander of Hezbollah, was also killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut a day earlier. Several civilians were also injured.

“The action was designed and carried out by the Zionist regime [Israel] and supported by the US,” the group said in a statement on Saturday, reported AP. It added that “the warmongering and terrorist Zionist regime will receive harsh punishment in the suitable time, place, and capacity”.

Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily strikes for the past 10 months amid Tel Aviv’s war on the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza. Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas.

According to Axios, “three US and Israeli officials said they expect Iran to attack Israel as early as Monday”. Officials said they did not know...

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