Four Israelis wounded in rocket strike from Lebanon amid escalating border clashes
2026-03-03 - 10:12
Four Israelis sustained injuries Tuesday after a rocket launched from Lebanon struck a building in the northern town of Kiryat Ye'oval in the Galilee region, Israeli media reported. Channel 13 indicated that the injuries were minor and that air raid sirens had sounded in multiple Israeli settlements near the Lebanese border following the attack. No Lebanese group immediately claimed responsibility for the specific strike. Hezbollah claims broader retaliation Earlier Tuesday, Hezbollah announced that it had targeted three military bases in northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights with rockets and drones, framing the attacks as retaliation for ongoing Israeli strikes on Lebanon. The Iran-backed group has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces since Monday, when Israel launched an "offensive campaign" against Hezbollah that has included extensive airstrikes and now a ground incursion. Israeli ground operation underway The Israeli army launched a ground incursion into southern Lebanon early Tuesday, significantly escalating the conflict along the border. The ground operation follows a day of intense airstrikes that killed at least 52 people and injured more than 150 others in Beirut's southern suburbs and southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese health officials. The Israeli military had issued evacuation warnings for dozens of towns and the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut before expanding its operations. Regional conflict expands Tuesday's cross-border attacks mark a further expansion of the wider regional conflict triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran that began Saturday. With Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of senior commanders killed, Tehran has launched retaliatory strikes across the Gulf while its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah opens a northern front against Israel. The simultaneous escalation on multiple fronts raises fears of a prolonged and devastating conflict that could draw in additional actors and further destabilize the Middle East.