Israel And Hezbollah Trade Hundreds Of Strikes As Mideast Conflict Continues To Intensify

At least 1,600 strikes were launched from Israel into Lebanon, while Hezbollah responded by launching more than 200 rockets towards Israel, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday afternoon.

The conflict between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah continues to intensify with both sides launching multiple strikes targetting each other's territory. At least 1,600 strikes were launched from Israel into Lebanon, while Hezbollah responded by launching more than 200 rockets towards Israel, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday afternoon.

The ongoing confrontation has been described as the most violent since their last war in 2006. It began after Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups joined Hamas in fighting the Israeli onslaught triggered by the Palestinian organisation's October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel that killed over 1,000 people. Negotiations for a ceasefire have so far yielded no outcome.

Hezbollah said on Tuesday that it had attacked several Israeli targets, including an explosives factory located 60 km inside Israel, using its Fadi series rockets. Hezbollah said it had attacked the factory around 6.30 am (IST) and also struck the Megiddo airfield three separate times overnight, according to a Reuters report. 

According to Al-Jazeera, Hezbollah also claims to have attacked the logistical warehouses of the 146th Division in the Ramot Naftali military base with a missile salvo. However, it did not elaborate on the matter. It added that rockets had fallen on the Kiryat Shmona settlement in northern Israel earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, Israel said it had struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon overnight, a day after its airstrikes killed nearly 500 people in the country.

Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza has left over 40,000 people dead.

Following some of the most intense cross-border exchanges since hostilities escalated in October as the Gaza war erupted, Israel has warned people in Lebanon to evacuate areas where it claimed Hezbollah was storing weapons.

After Monday’s attack by Israel, the Lebanese minister coordinating the crisis response, Nasser Yassin, told Reuters that 89 temporary shelters in schools and other facilities had been set up, with a capacity for more than 26,000 people, as civilians fled what he called "Israeli atrocities".