Hezbollah says it hit Israeli observation post with 62 rockets

Funeral of deputy head of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, in Beirut

People carry placards with pictures of deputy head of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, who was killed by what Lebanese and Palestinian security sources say was a drone strike by Israel, as mourners gather during his funeral in Beirut, Lebanon January 4, 2024. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it killed Arouri in the attack. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

Source: X07689

Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it hit a key Israeli observation post early on Saturday with 62 rockets as a "preliminary response" to the killing of Hamas' deputy chief earlier this week.

Senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri was killed on Tuesday, Jan. 2 in an Israeli drone strike on Beirut's southern suburb of Dahiyeh.

Analysts said the strike could be seen as a message to Hamas ally Hezbollah that even its prime stronghold of Dahiyeh could be vulnerable to Israeli attack.

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Hezbollah had said his killing would not go without punishment. Its head Sayyed Hassan Nassallah said on Friday that being "silent" on the strike would allow all of Lebanon to be vulnerable to more attacks.

The statement on Saturday said the group had hit a main post on an elevated hilltop that Israel relied on for "aerial observation" and "air control".

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. (This story has been corrected to say that the the Hamas official was killed this week, not the last, in paragraph 1)

This article was produced by Reuters news agency. It has not been edited by Global South World.

By Reuters