Hezbollah militants have shelled Israeli territory from Lebanon, injuring 18 people, local media reported on Wednesday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the attack, saying that it had retaliated, striking targets in the neighboring country.
The Shiite armed group has repeatedly bombarded its southern neighbor since the military conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out last October. Hezbollah launched a volley of missiles at Israel late on Saturday while Iran was conducting its massive aerial attack on the country.
Read more: Israel has ‘lost the war’ in Gaza even if it enters Rafah: Hezbollah leader
Agence France-Presse estimates that at least 363 people in Lebanon have been killed as a result of the hostilities in recent months, including at least 70 civilians.
On Wednesday, The Times of Israel quoted a statement from the Galilee Medical Center that it had admitted 18 people following a drone strike on Arab al-Aramshe, a predominantly Bedouin village. One of the victims is said to have been in critical condition, while another two were seriously wounded.
Local broadcaster KAN claimed that the Lebanese militants had fired missiles, and not used UAVs. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, the IDF confirmed that a “number of launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel.”
Read more: Israeli strikes kills about dozen in Lebanon : Hezbollah vows response
According to the statement, the Israeli military responded by striking the “sources of the fire and a Hezbollah military compound in southern Lebanon where terrorists were operating.”
Hezbollah, for its part, said that it had targeted an Israeli military air surveillance unit and a gathering of Israeli soldiers as well as a command headquarters. On top of that, the Shiite militant group claims to have damaged an Israeli military vehicle, presumably injuring some of the people inside.
On Sunday, the IDF reported conducting airstrikes on multiple allegedly Hezbollah-related targets in Lebanon. According to a post on its Telegram channel, Israeli warplanes hit a number of other military installations in the south of the country, as well as a “significant” Hezbollah weapons manufacturing site close to the Syrian border.