Israel reports rocket fire from Lebanon amid escalation with Hezbollah

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army said on Thursday that it had detected five rockets and a drone launched from Lebanon towards Western Galilee in northern Israel amid simmering tensions with Hezbollah.

A military statement said some of the rockets fired toward the Ma'ayan Baruch settlement were intercepted by air defense systems.

No injuries or damage were reported.

Hezbollah said that its fighters targeted the Israeli army's Ma'ayan Baruch outpost with artillery shells.

Separately, the Israeli army published footage of the interception of a drone fired from South Lebanon towards Western Galilee, which caused rocket sirens to sound in several areas in northern Israel.

Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah amid a months-long exchange of cross-border fire, especially with Hezbollah threatening military retaliation after the assassination of its top commander Fouad Shukr in an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb on July 30.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of an Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip which has killed nearly 40,000 people since last October following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara