Hezbollah said on Tuesday that its rocket and drone attack on Israel was a "defensive act" after more than a year of Israeli strikes despite a ceasefire.
"For fifteen months, Israeli aggression against Lebanon has continued through killing, destruction, bulldozing, and all forms of criminal acts," a statement from the Iran-backed group said, making no mention of the recent killing of Iran's supreme leader, unlike a previous missive.
The group's "response against a military barracks in the usurping entity is a defensive act and a legitimate right", it added.
Israel responds with fresh airstrikes
Following the statement, Israel launched a fresh wave of airstrikes targeting Dahiye in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The Israeli army claimed to attack Hezbollah headquarters and weapons depots.
The strike locations also included Hadath, southern villages, and Ghobeiri and Haret Hreik in the southern suburbs.
Al-Manar, the Lebanese television network affiliated with Hezbollah, reported that its office in Dahiye was hit in the Israeli airstrikes.
The IDF reported that it killed Reza Khazai in the strikes, Hezbollah’s military buildup chief for Iran’s Quds Force, near Beirut. Khazai coordinated Hezbollah-Iran operations, oversaw weapons, and domestic arms production. The strike targets Hezbollah’s Iranian-directed activities.
Hezbollah says it attacked Israeli bases
Hezbollah on Tuesday said it targeted three Israeli military bases in response to the strikes on the group's strongholds in Lebanon, including the south Beirut suburbs.
"In response to the criminal Israeli aggression on dozens of Lebanese cities and towns", Hezbollah fighters targeted with drones the Ramat David air base and the Meron base in northern Israel with drone strikes, the Iran-backed group said in multiple statements.
They added that they also targeted a base in the occupied Golan Heights with a rocket barrage.
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