Hezbollah says attacks Israeli troops with drones, artillery, missiles

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement said it targeted troops in northern Israel with drones, artillery and missiles on Monday, claiming a string of new attacks.

The Israel-Lebanon border has seen daily exchanges of fire since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7.

Hezbollah fighters targeted soldiers west of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel “with three attack drones”, the Iran-backed group said in a statement, adding shortly after that it had also targeted troops in the area with artillery fire.

Both statements claimed the attacks were “direct hits”.

Earlier Monday, Hezbollah said it had fired “Burkan missiles” at an Israeli barracks, and also claimed a number of other attacks on Israeli positions.

Israel’s army said “three UAVs (drones) were identified striking adjacent” to an army post, without specifying where. It added that “no injuries were reported”.

In a statement, it said “25 launches were identified from Lebanon toward several locations adjacent to the border”, and added that aerial defences “intercepted a number of the launches and the rest fell in open areas”.

“Tanks, a fighter jet, and a helicopter struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure in Lebanon” in response to “launches toward Israeli territory”, it said, while the army struck fighters attempting to fire “anti-tank missiles” in south Lebanon.

Deadly skirmishes on Israel’s northern border began on October 7 when Gaza-based Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostage, according to Israeli officials.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, and its subsequent military campaign on Gaza has killed more than 13,000 people, according to authorities in the Hamas-run territory.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said this month that his group, a Hamas ally, was using new weapons against Israel, including Burkan missiles, adding that they could carry “a payload of 300-500 kilogrammes” (660-1,100 pounds).

The group has also been using attack drones for the first time and has flown reconnaissance drones deep into Israel, Nasrallah said.

At least 90 people have been killed on the Lebanese side in cross-border skirmishes since last month, according to an AFP tally, most of them Hezbollah combatants but including at least 10 civilians.

Six soldiers and three civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, according to authorities there.