 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) |
Missiles were visible curling up through the dawn sky, dark vapour trails behind them, as an air raid siren sounded in Israel and a distant blast lit the horizon, while smoke rose over houses in Khiam in southern Lebanon.
The extent of damage was not immediately clear and Hezbollah indicated it was not planning further strikes yet, while Israel's Foreign Minister said the country did not seek a full-scale war.
Sunday's strikes came as negotiators were meeting in Cairo in a last-ditch effort to conclude a halt to the fighting in Gaza.
The Iran-backed Lebanese group said it had fired 320 Katyusha rockets towards Israel and hit 11 military targets in what it called the first phase of its retaliation for Israel's assassination of Fuad Shukr, a senior commander, last month.
Israel's military said it had foiled a much larger attack with pre-emptive airstrikes after assessing that Hezbollah was preparing to launch the barrage, using 100 jets to strike more than 40 Hezbollah launch sites in southern Lebanon.