Rockets fired at Israeli settlement

Saudi Gazette reports a rocket barrage was launched from southern Lebanon toward Israel early Sunday. Israeli Channel 14 reported that at least 50 rockets were fired toward the Upper Galilee, triggering sirens across the region.

Hamas and Iran have vowed to retaliate for the assassination of the group’s political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, while Hezbollah pledged to respond to the killing of its commander, Faud Shukr, in Beirut.

Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah amid a months-long exchange of cross-border fire.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of an Israeli onslaught in Gaza, which has caused nearly 40,000 deaths since October 2023.

According to the Tehran Times, Lebanon's Hezbollah announced on Sunday that it had targeted a new settlement inside occupied Palestine as part of ongoing operations in solidarity with Gaza.

In a statement, the Lebanese resistance movement explained that it had added the settlement of Beit Hillel to its current range of fire and targeted it for the first time with dozens of Katyusha rockets. 

Beit Hillel is a settlement in the north, about five kilometers away from Kiryat Shmona, which is closer to the Lebanese border and has been under constant Hezbollah fire. 

The extent of attacks on Kiryat Shmona saw Israelis flee the settlement to Tel Aviv and elsewhere. They have been replaced by the Israeli occupation forces who have gone into hiding amid ongoing precision strikes by Hezbollah. 

The Lebanese resistance emphasized that targeting Beit Hillel for the first time was a response to Israeli assaults "on the steadfast southern villages and safe homes". 

The statement added that the new operation was carried out especially after the Israeli military waged attacks on the southern Lebanese villages of Kfarkela and Deir Siriane (Marjeyoun District), which injured civilians. 

Hezbollah reaffirmed that targeting a new settlement also comes alongside its support for Gaza and the Palestinian resistance. 

According to the Lebanese news agency NNA, the Lebanese resistance has said its fighters carried out a "direct hit" on Israeli surveillance equipment in the settlement of Ramya, destroying the equipment. 

The ramifications of the Lebanese resistance’s moves against the Israeli occupation regime have been covered by The Financial Times, the British newspaper.

Based on satellite images, the newspaper said, the Israelis have sustained severe damages after ten months of confrontations with Hezbollah. 

The newspaper pointed out that Hezbollah's operations led to the largest evacuation in the northern occupied Israeli territories since the "establishment of Israel" more than 75 years ago, reporting that Hezbollah's fire caused damage to buildings, crops, and commercial activities. 

Reports have also cited data from the Israeli army that showed Hezbollah had deployed only a small fraction of its massive arsenal between October 2023 and mid-July 2024, launching about 6,700 rockets and 340 drones at the north, while confirming that the impact was widespread and significant. 

Hezbollah has carried out some 2,500 military operations targeting occupation sites, settlements, and military posts on the other side of the Lebanese border. 

This covers over 300 days of military support operations from October 8, 2023, to August 3, 2024, according to a new report from Hezbollah's military media. 

Hezbollah has vowed to avenge the assassination of its senior commander Faud Shukr in Beirut's suburb last week. 

In a speech, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, vowed to retaliate but has kept Tel Aviv waiting on the nature of the response. 

Analysts say the vague warning by Seyyed Nasrallah has also left the Israelis in a state of fear and panic.