Hezbollah launches one of heaviest rocket barrages; IDF targets terror sites deep inside Lebanon

The Iranian proxy terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon fired one of its heaviest rocket barrages at northern Israel before dawn on Sunday morning.

Israel Defense Forces said that they had detected about 50 rocket launches toward Israeli territory, while Hezbollah claimed that they had fired 60 rockets at Israel. There were no reports of injuries or damage, with the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepting some of the rockets while others fell in open areas. 

The Hezbollah attack on Sunday was one of the most intense since the terror group began carrying out daily rounds of rocket fire against targets in northern Israel on Oct. 8, just one day after the Hamas terrorists invaded and massacred residents of southern Israel

The latest Hezbollah barrage came after a weekend of Israeli strikes on the terror group's sites in Lebanon, including one strike in the northeastern part of the country shortly after midnight on Sunday. 

For weeks, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) has been conducting strikes against Hezbollah targets situated deep in Lebanese territory in response to the escalating attacks against Israel.

On Sunday morning, the IDF confirmed that it had struck the northern Lebanese city of Baalbek, with the military stating that its fighter jets had “struck a Hezbollah manufacturing site containing weapons in the area of Baalbek.”

According to a journalist from AFP, the Israeli strikes in Baalbek targeted a Hezbollah center in al-Osseira, wounding three people.  

Hezbollah said in a statement that it had targeted two army bases in northern Israel with more than 60 Katyusha rockets in response to the “bombing of a place in the [northeastern Lebanese] city of Baalbek.”

In response to Hezbollah’s retaliation early on Sunday, the IAF immediately struck some of the Hezbollah rocket launchers used in its attack, according to an IDF statement.

Baalbek is considered a Hezbollah stronghold, and the IAF strike was the fourth time that forces struck Hezbollah targets there since October. Baalbek is nearly 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Israeli border. 

The Israeli strike on Baalbek came after Hezbollah claimed that it had launched two drones with bombs at Iron Dome batteries in northern Israel. Hezbollah also launched several rockets and missiles at the border areas near Mount Dov, Margaliot and Shomera. There were no injuries or damage reported.

The IDF said it struck three Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon on Saturday.

Hezbollah terror forces began their daily attacks against targets in northern Israel and have already killed several civilians and IDF soldiers. In addition, they have damaged more than 400 homes. Around 100,000 residents from the north have been evacuated from their homes to other parts of Israel to protect them from Hezbollah rocket attacks. They are still living as internally displaced citizens in hotels and other housing accommodations throughout Israel.