Israeli army detects rocket fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army on Wednesday said it detected an anti-tank rocket fired from Lebanon toward the Israeli northern Metula town.

According to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, the rocket did not cause any casualties or damage.

The Hezbollah group, for its part, said it targeted spy equipment in the Israeli army's Metula military post with appropriate weapons.

Earlier, KAN reported the launch of 25 rockets by the Hezbollah group from Lebanon toward the Mt. Meron area in the Upper Galilee area in northern Israel.

The rockets landed in open areas without causing any injuries or damage, but triggered the activation of sirens in the Galilee area, the broadcaster added.

Hezbollah group said in another statement that its fighters targeted with rockets a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the army's Mitat barracks.

Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah amid a months-long exchange of cross-border fire, especially with Hezbollah threatening military retaliation after the assassination of its top commander Fouad Shukr in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on July 30.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of an Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 40,000 people since last October following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara