Hezbollah targets Israel air base with barrage of rockets in ‘response’ to Hamas leader’s killing

In response to the killing of Hamas leader Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut last week, Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on Saturday claimed to have targeted a crucial Israeli military post with a barrage of as many as 62 guided missiles, Al Jazeera reported.

The attack, Hezbollah said, was a “preliminary response” to the killing of a Hamas leader in Beirut this week.

“As part of the initial response to the crime of assassinating the great leader Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri, the Islamic resistance (Hezbollah) targeted the Meron air control base with 62 various types of missiles,” the Iran-aligned group said in a statement after conducting strikes in northern Israel.

In response to the Hezbollah attack, Israeli military said that it hit back by striking a “terrorist cell” that took part in the launches, Al Jazeera reported. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Meanwhile, sources said that the Israeli Air Force were not able to take off their fighter jets from Meron air control base in the North as the runway was damaged by Hezbollah missiles.

The deputy chief of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed in a drone strike on Tuesday in the southern suburb of Beirut, while he was meeting with a group of Palestinian and Lebanese men from factions allied to Hamas.

The attack was widely attributed to Israel. However, Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it assassinated Arouri.

Arouri’s death was the first instance of a targeted assassination of a Hamas official occurring outside Palestinian territories. The incident followed Hamas’s lethal assault in southern Israel on October 7, prompting Israel’s subsequent military offensive in Gaza.

Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in a near-daily exchange of fire since the war in Gaza.

(With inputs from Ashraf Wani)