Hezbollah Fires 140 Rockets Into Northern Israel Day After Chief Nasrallah Vowed Retaliation

Israel’s military stated that the rockets came in three waves on Friday afternoon, targeting sites along the Lebanon border. It also said that Hezbollah targeted a children's playground.

Hezbollah on Friday launched around 140 rockets at northern Israel, a day after the Iran-backed militant group’s chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed to retaliate against Israel for the mass bombing attack. 

Israel’s military stated that the rockets came in three waves in the afternoon, targeting sites along the Lebanon border, the Associated Press reported.

Israel Foreign Ministry also shared visuals of northern Israel after "intensive Hezbollah rocket fire from Lebanon".

The ministry pledged to retaliate following the attack. "Make no mistake: those who harm the people of Israel will pay the price," it wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack and said it had targeted several sites along the border with Katyusha rockets. The militant group also agreed to attacking multiple air defence bases and the headquarters of an Israeli armored brigade, which they said they had hit for the first time.

Israel Defence Forces shared an image from northern Israel after the attack and claimed a children’s playground was targeted by Hezbollah. 

The X post was captioned: “When you see sirens sounding alerts, picture this. This is the result of one of Hezbollah’s indiscriminate missile and rocket launches at Israel. This time, they hit a children’s playground.”

The militant group stated that the rockets were in retaliation for Israeli strikes on villages and homes in southern Lebanon.

Although Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire nearly every day since October 8, a day after the Israel-Hamas war began, the rocket barrages launched at Israel on Friday were heavier than usual, AP reported.

Nasrallah on Thursday, September 19, had vowed to continue daily strikes on Israel despite this week’s synchronised blasts across Lebanon which left thousands of Hezbollah members wounded. He described the attack as a “severe blow.”

Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the two days of attacks that targeted thousands of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies. However, Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the explosions.

Amid the ongoing escalations, fear persists in the Middle East that nearly a year of fire exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel could escalate into an all-out war.