Hezbollah rockets land near Tel Aviv after big Israeli strike on Beirut

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT — 

Lebanon's Hezbollah question fired dense rocket barrages astatine Israel connected Sunday, and the Israeli subject said houses had been destroyed oregon acceptable alight adjacent Tel Aviv, aft a almighty Israeli airstrike killed astatine slightest 29 radical successful Beirut the time before.

Israel besides struck Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled confederate suburbs, wherever intensified bombardment implicit the past 2 weeks has coincided with signs of advancement successful U.S.-led cease-fire talks.

Hezbollah, which has antecedently vowed to respond to attacks connected Beirut by targeting Tel Aviv, said it had launched precision missiles astatine 2 subject sites successful Tel Aviv and nearby.

Police said determination were aggregate interaction sites successful the country of Petah Tikvah, connected the eastbound broadside of Tel Aviv, and that respective radical had insignificant injuries.

The Israeli subject (IDF) said a nonstop deed connected a vicinity had near "houses successful flames and ruins." Television footage showed an flat damaged by rocket fire.

The IDF said Hezbollah had fired 240 rockets astatine Israel, of which galore were intercepted, with sirens sounding crossed astir of the country. At slightest 4 radical had been injured by shrapnel.

Video obtained by Reuters showed a projectile exploding arsenic it smashed into the extortion of a gathering successful the bluish Israeli metropolis of Nahariya.

The subject warned connected societal media that it planned to people Hezbollah facilities successful confederate Beirut earlier strikes that demolished 2 flat blocks, according to information sources successful Lebanon. Afterwards, the IDF said it had deed bid centers "deliberately embedded betwixt civilian buildings."

On Saturday, it had carried retired 1 of its deadliest and astir almighty strikes connected the halfway of Beirut.

Lebanon's wellness ministry connected Sunday raised the decease toll from 20 to 29. It said 84 radical had been killed successful each connected Saturday, taking the decease toll to 3,754 since October 2023.

The existent was began aft Hamas militants killed 1,200 radical and captured astir 250 hostages successful their Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught connected Israel. Israel says it believes Hamas is inactive holding 101 hostages, including 35 the subject says are dead.

Israel’s counteroffensive successful Gaza has killed much than 44,000 Palestinians, according to the territory's wellness ministry, which does not separate betwixt combatants and civilians successful its count.

Hamas and Hezbollah person been designated a panic radical by the United States.

The IDF did not remark connected Saturday's onslaught connected Beirut oregon accidental what it had attacked.

Israel went connected the violative against the Iran-backed Hezbollah successful September, pounding the south, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut's confederate suburbs with airstrikes aft astir a twelvemonth of hostilities ignited by the Gaza war.

The Israeli violative has uprooted much than 1 cardinal radical successful Lebanon.

Israel says its purpose is to unafraid the instrumentality location of tens of thousands of radical evacuated from its northbound owed to rocket attacks by Hezbollah, which opened occurrence successful enactment of Hamas astatine the commencement of the Gaza warfare successful October 2023.

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein highlighted advancement successful negotiations during a sojourn to Beirut past week, earlier traveling to conscionable Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, and past returning to Washington.

European Union overseas argumentation main Josep Borrell connected Sunday said a U.S. cease-fire connection was awaiting last support from Israel.

"We indispensable unit the Israeli authorities and support the unit connected Hezbollah to judge the U.S. connection for a ceasefire," helium said successful Beirut aft gathering Lebanese officials.

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu had convened a gathering of his information Cabinet for 5 p.m. (1500 GMT).

Diplomacy has focused connected restoring a cease-fire based connected U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war. It requires Hezbollah to propulsion its fighters backmost astir 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Israeli border, and the Lebanese service to deploy successful the buffer zone.

The Lebanese service said connected Sunday astatine slightest 1 worker had been killed and 18 much injured successful an Israeli onslaught that caused terrible harm astatine an service halfway successful Al-Amiriya adjacent the confederate metropolis of Tyre.

The Israeli subject said it regretted and was investigating the incident, and that it was warring against Hezbollah, not the Lebanese Army.

Lebanon's caretaker premier minister, Najib Mikati, said the onslaught "represents a nonstop bloody connection rejecting each efforts to scope a ceasefire, fortify the army's beingness successful the south, and instrumentality ... 1701."

Borrell said the EU was acceptable to allocate 200 cardinal euros ($208 million) to enactment the Lebanese army.