The strike was an "initial response" to the assassination of one of its leaders, Saleh al-Arouri, earlier in the week, Hezbollah said in a statement. Hezbollah believes Israel is responsible for the strike that killed Arouri, but Israel has not claimed responsibility.
On Friday, the leader of the Lebanese militia said his group must retaliate over the strike. "We cannot keep silent about a violation of this seriousness," said Hassan Nasrallah, according to The Associated Press. He said the cost of staying quiet is "far greater" than the risks of retaliating.
Hamas and security officials in the region attributed the strike that killed Saleh al-Arouri to an Israeli drone, although Israel has not directly acknowledged responsibility.
Hezbollah — like Hamas, an Iran-backed militant group designated as a terror organization by the United States and others — has been firing rockets across Israel's northern border since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.
Israel launched strikes early Saturday on the southern Gaza cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians evacuated to southern Gaza to seek refuge from the fighting, as directed by Israeli authorities, but the fighting has followed them there.
Martin Griffiths, the United Nations humanitarian chief warned Friday that the entire Palestinian territory “has simply become uninhabitable,” following three months of fighting that has resulted in much of Gaza being reduced to rubble and has created a humanitarian catastrophe.
The Middle East has been a tinderbox since Iran-backed Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people while taking about 240 people hostage, Israel said. Some of the hostages have been released, with about 130 still in Gaza.
Israel's response has killed more than 22,600 Palestinians, a large percentage of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Neither side differentiates between combatants and civilians.
This article originates from VOA News. Some material for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
