Israel's military said on Wednesday it had begun striking southern Lebanon after issuing a call to evacuate all areas south of the country's Litani River.
"The Israeli military has begun a wave of strikes in the southern Lebanon area," the military said in a statement.
Later in the day, Hezbollah said it had targeted an Israeli military base near Tel Aviv in central Israel and a naval base in Haifa in the north with swarms of attack drones. The announcements by the pro-Iran group came shortly after Israel activated air raid sirens following what it said were launches from Iran and Lebanon.
The Israeli military said "several launches... from Lebanon toward Israeli territory were successfully intercepted after sirens sounded in central Israel".
Lebanon was dragged into the regional war on Monday when the pro-Iran Hezbollah group launched an attack on Israel, saying it wanted to "avenge" the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei during U.S.-Israeli strikes, sparking Israeli retaliation.
Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had struck two Israeli military vehicles in the southern Lebanese village of Houla, as Israel's army reportedly advances over the border.
In a statement, the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said it struck an armored personnel carrier in Houla with "appropriate weapons, achieving a direct hit."
In a separate statement, Hezbollah said it had also struck a Merkava tank in Houla, "achieving a direct hit."
Hezbollah’s attacks come despite a decision by the Lebanese cabinet declaring the group’s military activities illegal and ordering security forces to enforce the ban.
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