Hezbollah rockets launched late on Sunday got past Israeli air defence systems and landed in Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, causing damage to buildings, police said. Israeli media reported 10 people wounded in rocket strikes in Haifa and the city of Tiberias.
Hezbollah said it had targeted a military site south of Haifa with a salvo of Fadi 1 missiles.
For days, Israel has bombed the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh - considered a stronghold for Hezbollah. (AP PHOTO)
Israeli air strikes battered Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday in the most intense bombardment of the Lebanese capital since Israel sharply escalated its campaign against Iran-backed group Hezbollah last month. Large fireballs lit the darkened skyline and booms reverberated across Beirut.
The Israeli military said fighter jets struck targets in Beirut belonging to Hezbollah's Intelligence Headquarters and weapons storage facilities. It said strikes also targeted Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa area.
Hamas-led militants launched rockets into Israel from Gaza at the start of the October 7 2023 attacks.
The Hamas attacks that day killed 1200 people and more than 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures. They provoked an Israeli offensive in Gaza that has laid waste the densely populated coastal enclave and killed almost 42,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.
A grey haze is hanging over Beirut after a night of heavy air strikes. (AP PHOTO)
On the eve of the anniversary, pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested Israel around the world from Australia to Jakarta, Istanbul and Rabat after rallies in major European capitals, Washington and New York on Saturday.
Iran launched a missile attack on Israel last week in response to its operations in Lebanon and Gaza, where Hezbollah and Hamas militants are Tehran's allies in a so-called Axis of Resistance.
Israel, which says its objective is the safe return of tens of thousands of citizens to homes in northern Israel, vowed retaliation amid fears that tensions will escalate into an all-out regional conflict.
Israel snubbed a US-backed push for a ceasefire in launching ground operations in Lebanon.
On Sunday, the US government reacted to Israel's heavy bombardment there by saying military pressure can enable diplomacy but can also lead to miscalculations.
On Sunday night, Israel declared three more areas on its northern border as closed military zones in addition to more than five closed last week as military staging areas.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 26 people were killed and 93 others wounded when Israeli airstrikes hit a mosque and a school sheltering displaced people on Sunday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza government media office. The Israeli military said it had conducted "precise strikes on Hamas terrorists".
In attacking Israel last week, Iran also cited assassinations of militant leaders, which have devastated Hezbollah's senior ranks.
The UN says there were "many instances" where Israeli air strikes had targeted civilians. (EPA PHOTO)
The conflict in Lebanon, which started a year ago with cross-border strikes by Hezbollah in solidarity with Hamas, has rapidly expanded in the past couple of weeks.
More than 2000 people have been killed in Lebanon in nearly a year of fighting, most in the past two weeks, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The ministry said on Sunday that 25 people were killed on Saturday.
"Last night was the most violent of all the previous nights," said Hanan Abdullah, a resident of Beirut's southern suburbs.
"There were dozens of strikes - we couldn't count them all - and the sounds were deafening."
The United Nations' refugee chief said on Sunday there were "many instances" where Israeli airstrikes had violated international law by hitting civilian infrastructure and killing civilians in Lebanon.
Israel says it targets military capabilities and takes steps to mitigate the risk of civilian harm, while Lebanese authorities say civilians have been targeted. Israel accuses both Hezbollah and Hamas of hiding among civilians, which they deny.
