BEIRUTU, Lebanon: Lebanese militant group Hezbollah threatened Israel with more attacks if its offensive in Lebanon continued, after a drone attack on a base near Israel鈥檚 Haifa Sunday killed four soldiers.
Israel鈥檚 military said four soldiers were killed in the attack, the deadliest such assault on an Israeli base since September 23, when Israel increased its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hezbollah 鈥減romises the enemy that what it witnessed today in southern Haifa is nothing compared to what awaits it if it decides to continue its aggression against our... people,鈥� it said.
In what it described as a 鈥渃omplex鈥� operation, the Iran-backed group said it had launched dozens of missiles toward Nahariya and Acre north of Haifa 鈥渨ith the goal of keeping Israeli defense systems busy.鈥�
At the same time, it launched 鈥渟quadrons of various drones, some of which were being used for the first time, toward various areas in Acre and Haifa, where they were able to get past Israeli air defense radars without being detected鈥� and hit the training camp in Binyamina south of Haifa, it added.
They 鈥渆xploded in the rooms where dozens of officers and soldiers of the Israeli enemy were present.鈥�
After claiming the Binyamina attack, Hezbollah said it had launched missiles at a 鈥渕aintenance and rehabilitation base鈥� of the army, also south of Haifa.
The incident comes two days after air raid sirens sounded in central Israel after two aerial drones entered the country from Lebanon. At least one building north of Tel Aviv was damaged during the incident.
Hezbollah has been regularly firing rockets and drones into Israel for more than a year, but has reached further since the fighting escalated in late September.
Israel鈥檚 air defenses, including the Iron Dome system, have intercepted most of the projectiles, with few casualties caused by strikes or falling debris.
The escalation in Lebanon has killed more than 1,300 people and displaced over a million more from their homes, according to official figures.