BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah fired around 250 rockets and other projectiles towards Israel on Sunday, injuring seven people in one of the militant group’s most intense attacks in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut as negotiators continued efforts to reach a ceasefire and halt a widespread war.
Some of the rockets reached the area of Tel Aviv, in the heart of Israel.
Meanwhile, an Israeli attack on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed one soldier and wounded 18 others in the southwest between Tyre and Naqoura, the Lebanese army reported. The Israeli army expressed regret, indicating that the attack occurred in an ongoing combat operations zone against Hezbollah and that their operations are exclusively aimed at the militants.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 40 Lebanese soldiers since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, although the Lebanese army has largely remained on the sidelines.
The interim Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, condemned the latest attack as a blow to the US-led ceasefire efforts, describing it as a "direct and bloody message that rejects all ongoing efforts and contacts" to end the war.
Hezbollah fires rockets after attacks in Beirut
Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles, and drones towards Israel after the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas from the Gaza Strip that sparked the war in that area. Hezbollah has framed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.
Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes against Hezbollah, and in September the low-level conflict escalated into a full-blown war when Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon, killing Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several key commanders.
The Israeli army said that around 250 projectiles were fired on Sunday, some of which were intercepted.
The Magen David Adom rescue service of Israel said it was treating seven people, including a 60-year-old man in serious condition from rocket fire in northern Israel, a 23-year-old man who was slightly injured from an explosion in the central city of Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, and a 70-year-old woman who suffered from smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire there. In Haifa, a rocket hit a residential building that police said was in danger of collapsing.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported 13 injuries that it said were caused by an interceptor missile hitting several houses in Tulkarem in the West Bank. It was not clear whether the injuries and damages were caused by the rockets or the interceptors.
The sirens sounded again in the center and north of Israel hours later.
Israeli airstrikes without warning on Saturday hit the center of Beirut, killing at least 29 people and injuring 67, according to the Ministry of Health of Lebanon.
Smoke rose over Beirut again on Sunday with new attacks. The Israeli army said it targeted Hezbollah command centers in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, where the militants have a strong presence.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,700 people in Lebanon, according to the Ministry of Health. The fighting has displaced around 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon's population.
On the Israeli side, around 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombings in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Approximately 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the northern part of the country.
The EU envoy pressures both sides to reach a ceasefire
President Joe Biden's government has spent months trying to negotiate a ceasefire, and U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.
The European Union's top diplomat called for more pressure on Israel and Hezbollah to reach an agreement, stating that one was "pending with a final agreement from the Israeli government."
Josep Borrell spoke on Sunday after meeting with Mikati and the President of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah who has been mediating with the group.
Borrell said that the EU is ready to allocate 200 million euros (208 million dollars) to help the Lebanese army, which would deploy additional forces in the south.
The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the month-long war in 2006. Lebanese troops would patrol with the presence of UN peacekeepers.
The Lebanese army reflects the country's religious diversity and is respected as a national institution, but it does not have the military capacity to impose its will on Hezbollah or resist an invasion by Israel.
One year since the only hostage release agreement
With the ceasefire talks and hostage release agreement in Gaza stalled, the released hostages and the families of those still held marked one year since the only hostage release agreement in that war.
"For a whole year, we have been waiting for another agreement to bring everyone back," said Yifat Zailer, cousin of Shiri Bibas, who remains captive along with her husband and two young children. "It's hard to keep hope, certainly after so much time and when another winter is about to begin."
Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, and it is believed that at least a third have died. The majority of the remaining 250 who were kidnapped in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, were released during last year's brief ceasefire.
The talks for another agreement recently faced several setbacks, including the dismissal of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who had been pushing for an agreement, and Qatar's decision to suspend its mediation.
Efforts have been stalled for months, largely due to Hamas' demand that Israel end the war and withdraw all troops from Gaza as part of a hostage agreement. Israel has only offered to pause its offensive.