BEIRUT — Israeli warplanes bombed targets on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre on Friday after Hezbollah fighters fired dozens of rockets and anti-tank missiles across the border, Lebanese security officials and the Israeli military said.
The pre-dawn salvo of roughly 30 rockets struck open areas near the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, slightly damaging property but causing no serious injuries, according to an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement. In response, the IDF said it conducted “precision strikes” against what it described as Hezbollah command nodes, weapons depots and observation posts.
Lebanese civil defense workers told local media that at least four civilians — two women and two children — were killed when a residential building collapsed in the village of Deir Qanoun en-Nahr, several kilometers from one of the impact sites. A senior hospital official in Tyre said another 11 people were treated for shrapnel wounds.
The exchange marks the most intense single-day bout of fire between the two sides since the Gaza conflict erupted in October, drawing Iran-aligned groups into near-daily skirmishes along Israel’s northern frontier. Hezbollah, a Shiite militia backed and armed by Tehran, said in a statement that Friday’s rockets were “retaliation for continuous Israeli aggression” and vowed to “broaden the response” if civilian areas remain under attack.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, speaking on state television, warned that “Israel’s persistence in striking Lebanese soil will open new fronts that Tel Aviv cannot imagine.” Israeli officials counter that they are acting in self-defense, pointing to more than 5,000 projectiles fired from Lebanon since October.
U.N. peacekeepers from the UNIFIL mission said they were “deeply concerned” about the latest escalation and urged both parties to avoid actions that could spiral into a wider war. Diplomatic sources in New York confirmed that France has circulated a draft Security Council statement calling for an immediate cessation of cross-border fire and a return to the 2006 Blue Line arrangements.
Military analysts say both Israel and Hezbollah appear keen to avoid an all-out conflict while simultaneously trying to shape the post-Gaza balance of power. “Neither side wants 2006 all over again, but miscalculation is a real danger,” said Lina Khatib, director of the SOAS Middle East Institute in London.
With Israel’s ground campaign in Gaza still under way and negotiations over hostage releases stalled, regional diplomats fear that any additional Lebanese casualties could pressure Hezbollah to escalate further or draw Iran more directly into the confrontation. Washington and Paris have intensified back-channel talks aimed at reviving a demarcation deal that would move Hezbollah’s elite Radwan units away from the border — but officials concede that window is rapidly closing.
For now, residents on both sides of the frontier are bracing for a tense weekend, while airlines have begun rerouting flights away from northern Israeli and southern Lebanese airspace. As one Tyre shopkeeper put it, “We’ve learned to live with drones overhead, but tonight the sky felt different.”