Lebanon’s Hezbollah launches big rocket, drone attack at Israel after commander’s killing

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it launched a large rocket and drone attack at Israel on Thursday in retaliation for the killing of a top commander, the latest surge of violence in the steadily worsening conflict at the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Fought in parallel to the Gaza war, the conflict between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel has been gradually intensifying for months, raising fears of a full-scale war, which both sides say they wish to avoid and diplomats are working to prevent.

As the latest violence played out in areas, at, or near the frontier – in keeping with the pattern of the last nine months – the sound of sonic booms rattled nerves for the second day in a row in Beirut and more widely across Lebanon.

Israeli jets broke the sound barrier over several areas of Lebanon, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

Hezbollah said it launched more than 200 rockets and a swarm of drones at 10 Israeli military sites in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Hezbollah commander Mohammed Nasser in the south on Wednesday. Nasser is one of the most senior Hezbollah commanders to be killed by Israel during the conflict.

Nasser was of great importance to Hezbollah, which said he took part in battles in conflicts in Syria and Iraq from 2011 until 2016 and fought in the group’s last war with Israel in 2006. Two other senior Hezbollah commanders have also been killed.