Hezbollah said it launched dozens of rockets at the Israeli airbase in Ramat David, east of Haifa, in response to a series of Israeli attacks, including hundreds of attacks in southern Lebanon on Saturday and Sunday.
Sirens were activated across northern Israel in the early hours of Sunday.
If confirmed, the attack would be Hezbollah’s largest assault inside Israel since cross-border clashes began in October last year.
The Israeli military said more than 100 projectiles were fired early Sunday from Lebanon, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to take shelter and closing schools in northern Israel.
Educational activities will not be allowed in northern Israel until at least 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Monday, the army’s Home Front Command said, affecting “hundreds of thousands of children,” according to army spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani.
“In Haifa, many schools are closed… and offices are empty,” said Patrice Wolff, a resident who works in the medical field.
The Israeli military said it carried out hundreds of airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday. It also claimed attacks on 110 other towns early Sunday.
The Israeli military has also issued restrictions on large gatherings in northern Israel, including in Haifa, the country’s third-largest city.
No casualties or significant damage from the rockets were reported in Israel on Sunday.
“Imminent disaster”
But the latest violence could lead to an “imminent catastrophe” in the Middle East, the United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, warned on Sunday, saying that a military solution was not the answer.
“As the region teeters on the brink of imminent catastrophe, it cannot be said enough: there is no military solution that can make either side safer,” she said in a message posted on X.
Reporting from Beirut, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Ali Hashem also highlighted the significance of the Lebanese group’s attack.
“This is the first time since the 2006 war (between Israel and Hezbollah) that Hezbollah missiles have crossed” 20 km, Hashem said.
“This is the first time they are hitting targets at 45 km, 50 km, because we are hearing reports of hits or interceptions in several areas, including over the Ramat David air base, east of Haifa.”
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Zeina Khodr, also reporting from Beirut, said Hezbollah’s message is that despite the blows it has taken in recent days, “it is still capable of fighting and launching rockets and missiles across the border.”
In its statement, Hezbollah said it carried out the attack with so-called Fadi 1 and Fadi 2 rockets, not the Soviet-made Katyusha rockets from World War II that it has been using for several months.
The latest round of rocket fire comes after a week of Israeli attacks across Lebanon.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, wireless communications devices linked to Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon, injuring thousands of people and killing dozens more, including civilians. Lebanon blamed the unprecedented attack on Israel.
Death toll in Beirut strike rises
Israel also carried out an airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday, killing at least 45 people and wounding dozens more.
Senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil was among those killed in the attack that leveled an entire residential building.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in daily clashes since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.
The Lebanese group says it will continue its attacks on Israeli bases in the north of the country until Israel ends its offensive on Gaza.
The violence has displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.
Both sides appear to be engaged in a spiral of escalation, threatening to lead to a serious conflict. Hezbollah has said it is not seeking an all-out war, but is prepared to do so if it comes.
Israeli leaders have vowed to push Hezbollah out of Israel’s borders and return its citizens to northern communities, including through war if necessary.