West Asia crisis: Hezbollah launches missiles on Israeli military bases near Haifa

Iran-aligned Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said on Saturday (Oct 12) that it launched a salvo of missiles at an Israeli military base south of the coastal city of Haifa, as Israelis marked the Yom Kippur holiday.

In a statement, Hezbollah said that its fightersstruck a base "south of the city of Haifa, targeting the explosives factory there with a salvo of... missiles." Earlier in the day, Hezbollah warned Israelisto stay away from Israeli army sites in residential areas in the north of the country.

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Hezbollah said that the "Israeli enemyarmy uses the homes of Israelis in north Israel, and has military bases inside residential neighbourhoods in major occupied cities such as Haifa, Tiberias, and Acre."

No sirens sound in Israel

Despite Hezbollah's claims that it launched missiles in Haifa, a report by The Times of Israel said that there were no sirens in Israel and there had been no news of any attack.

The report said that there had been no IDF (Israel Defense Forces)Command alerts in Israel since shortly before 4 am local time.

On Wednesday, residents in Haifarushed for coveras air raid sirens sounded and blasts were heard overhead in the city.Ballistic missiles arrived just minutes after the alarms first went off, leading to people quickly heading for the nearest shelters, a report by the news agency Reuters said.

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire for almost a year, with the group saying it is acting in support of Palestinian ally Hamas over the Gaza war.

Israel's UN ambassador's message to Hezbollah

On Wednesday, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations (UN)Danny Danon gavea messageto Hezbollah.

"If Hezbollah wants this situation to de-escalate, it is very simple. They have to do two things," he said. "First, they must immediately stop shelling our civilian communities. Second, Hezbollah must withdraw to the north of the Litani River in accordance with the UNResolution 1701, which was adopted here in the Security Council in 2006," Danon said.

"Until that happens, Israel will continue our operations to degrade Hezbollah’s terror network. We found a lot of weapons in the bunkers next to our border, and we will do whatever it takes to secure our people and enable the 70,000 displaced Israelis to return home safely," he added.

US-made munition used in Israeli strike on central Beirut

A day after Danon's remarks,two Israeli air strikeskilled 22 people and wounded 117 in central Beirut, Lebanese health authorities said. The attacks targeted a Hezbollah official, but security sources said he had survived.

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This was the deadliest strike on Lebanon's capital city since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah started about a year ago.

A report by The Guardian on Saturday said that a US-made munition was used in the Israeli strike on central Beirut.

The report said that it found remnants of a US-manufactured joint direct attack munition (JDAM) in the rubble of the collapsed apartment building on Friday afternoon. Jdams are guidance kits built by the Americanaerospace company Boeing.

(With inputs from agencies)