Scores of rockets were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel on Wednesday morning, hours after Israeli airstrikes killed four officials from the militant Hezbollah group including a senior military commander.
The Israeli military said that about 90 projectiles were detected, of which some were intercepted, and that several fires were caused by the strikes.
Taleb Sami Abdullah, 55, who was known within Hezbollah as Hajj Abu Taleb, was the most senior commander killed since fighting began eight months ago. His death came amid rising escalation along the Lebanon-Israel border that has seen Hezbollah intensify its attacks on northern Israel while Israeli airstrikes have struck deep inside Lebanon.
On Tuesday, Hamas responded to the U.S.-backed proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza, saying it wants some “amendments” on the deal. The militant group's reply apparently fell short of an outright acceptance that the United States has been pushing for but kept negotiations alive over an elusive halt to the eight-month war.
UN says Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups may have committed war crimes in a deadly raid
While supporting the broad outlines of the deal, Hamas officials have expressed wariness over whether Israel would implement its terms, particularly provisions for an eventual permanent end to fighting and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in return for the release of all hostages held by the militants.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 37,100 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. Palestinians are facing widespread hunger because the war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies. U.N. agencies say over 1 million in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by mid-July.
UN says Israeli forces, Palestinian armed groups may have committed war crimes in deadly raid
Israel launched the war after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250.