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Israel army claims Hezbollah 'targets civilians', launches strike in retaliation

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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced early Sunday that it had initiated fresh attacks on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. This came after the Iranian-backed organisation launched a barrage of rockets, aimed at civilian areas in northern Israel over the course of several hours.

"The IDF (military) is currently striking targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation in Lebanon," the Israeli military statement said. It later added that Hezbollah had fired some 115 projectiles "towards civilian areas in northern Israel" over the past few hours.

The Israeli military's actions on Sunday are said to be in response to Hezbollah's initial retaliation for the Israeli strike in Beirut and and earlier attack in Lebanon with the help of pagers and walkie-talkies.

The Lebanese militant group claimed responsibility for launching a barrage of missiles at an Israel's Ramat David airbase near Haifa, deep inside Israel early Sunday.

Later, IDF claimed that "Hezbollah's terrorism targets civilians" stating the group launched overnight airstrikes causing damage in Israel. "Hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians spent their night hiding in bomb shelters, while barrages of rockets were flying over their heads, some hitting their homes, and rocket alert sirens were constantly sounding throughout the night. Thousands of children will stay in bomb shelters today instead of going to school due to the risk to their lives. We must stop this reality." said the Israeli military in a statement.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah claimed that it was targeting the Israeli military production sites. In a statement, the Irn-backed group said that it "bombed the Rafael military industry complexes" in northern Israel with "dozens" of rockets,

The attack came after an Israeli airstrike that occurred more than a day earlier, resulting in the deaths of at least 37 people, including two Hezbollah leaders, as well as women and children. The extent of damage caused by the rockets fired by Hezbollah remains unclear, although one man in a village in the lower Galilee was reported to have suffered minor injuries from shrapnel. The airstrike targeted an eight-story building in a densely populated area of Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah members were reportedly meeting in the basement. The strike claimed the lives of Ibrahim Akil , a top Hezbollah official who led the group's special forces unit, and Ahmed Wahbi, a senior commander in the group's military wing.

Meanwhile, the attack last week involved a series of explosions that targeted the group's pagers and walkie-talkies on Tuesday and Wednesday, resulting in at least 37 deaths, including two children, and injuring around 3,000 people. Although Israel has not confirmed or denied responsibility, the attacks were widely attributed to them.
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