• Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Israeli bombardment of several villages near the border

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at Israeli artillery positions Friday, a bombardment it said was in response to Israeli strikes in the south.

Hamas ally Hezbollah has exchanged near-daily cross-border fire with the Israeli army since the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on October 7 triggering war in Gaza.

Hezbollah fighters targeted “enemy artillery positions… with dozens of Katyusha rockets” the group said in a statement, adding it was “in response to the enemy’s attacks on… southern villages and civilian homes.”

The Israeli army said “approximately 40 launches were identified crossing from Lebanese territory, some of which were intercepted.”

“No injuries were reported,” it said, adding that it had earlier intercepted two Hezbollah attack drones that had crossed from Lebanon.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Israeli bombardment of several villages near the border.

The violence has so far killed at least 363 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also including at least 70 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

In Israel, the military says 10 soldiers and eight civilians have been killed.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled their homes on both sides of the border.

AFP