Hizbollah targets Israel base to avenge killings in Lebanon

BEIRUT — Hizbollah said it targeted an Israeli command base on Tuesday in retaliation for the killings of one of its commanders and the Hamas deputy leader.

Hizbollah and its arch-foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily fire across the border since the Hamas-Israel war broke out on October 7.

The Shiite Muslim movement said on Tuesday it had targeted the "enemy's northern command centre in the city of Safed with several drones".

It said the attack was part of its response to the killings of Hamas deputy leader Saleh Al Aruri on January 2 and of Heizbollah field commander Wissam Tawil on Monday.

The Israeli forces confirmed that a "hostile aircraft" had come down at one of its bases in the north and said that "no injuries or damage were reported".

On Saturday, Hizbollah said it had fired more than 60 rockets at an Israeli military base, also in response to Aruri's killing in Beirut which was widely blamed on Israel.

Hizbollah number two Naim Qassem in a speech on Tuesday warned that Israel's wave of targeted killings "cannot lead to a phase of retreat but rather to a push forward for the resistance".

He described Tawil as a member of Hizbollah's elite Al Radwan Brigade who had fought on several fronts.

On Tuesday morning, an Israeli strike targeted a car in the south Lebanon village of Ghandouria, the National News Agency (NNA) said.

The strike left "three Hizbollah fighters dead" a security source told AFP, requesting anonymity because of security concerns.

Tawil, a top Hizbollah commander, was set to be buried in his south Lebanon village later on Tuesday.

He was the highest-ranking Hizbollah member to be killed since October 7.

Hizbollah, a Hamas ally, said Tawil was involved in the abduction of Israeli soldiers which triggered the group’s last war with Israel in 2006 as well as “specific operations... in Syria”.

He had also “directed numerous operations” against Israeli forces since the Gaza war began, Hizbollah said.

The three months of cross-border violence have killed more than 180 people in Lebanon, including over 135 Hizbollah fighters, but also more than 20 civilians including three journalists, according to an AFP tally.

In northern Israel, nine soldiers and at least four civilians have been killed, according to Israeli authorities.