More than 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers and other "terrorist sites," including a weapons storage centre in southern Lebanon, are allegedly destroyed by Israeli aeroplanes.

The launchers were prepared to fire against Israel, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). If there were any casualties, it remained unclear at first.
Israel carried out at least 52 strikes in the southern region of the country on Thursday night, according to the state-run National News Agency of Lebanon. Lebanon also carried out strikes on military installations in the northern region of the country.
Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, had earlier said that the deadly explosions that occurred earlier this week "crossed all red lines" and accused Israel of essentially declaring war.

Israel has not said it was behind the attacks - which saw pagers and walkie-talkies explode simultaneously across the country - on Tuesday and Wednesday, and which Lebanese authorities said killed 37 people and wounded 3,000.But Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said Israel is embarking on a "new phase of the war", concentrating more of its efforts on the north.

The previously sporadic cross-border fighting escalated on 8 October 2023 - the day after the unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen from Gaza - when Hezbollah fired at Israeli positions, in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Since then hundreds of people, most of them Hezbollah fighters, have been killed in the cross-border fighting, and tens of thousands have also been displaced on both sides of the border.

Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of the Palestinian armed group Hamas. Both are backed by Iran and proscribed as terrorist organisations by Israel, the UK and other countries.

In a statement late on Thursday, the IDF said its warplanes "struck approximately 100 launchers and additional terrorist infrastructure sites, consisting of approximately 1,000 barrels that were ready to be used in the immediate future to fire toward Israeli territory".

"The IDF will continue to operate to degrade the Hezbollah terrorist organisation’s infrastructure and capabilities in order to defend the state of Israel".

Lebanese security sources cited by Reuters news agency and the New York Times said the Israeli strikes were one of the most intense since the war in Gaza began in October last year.

In addition, the IDF advised locals in northern Israel along the border with Lebanon to stay away from crowds, watch out for their areas, and stay close to bomb shelters.

Drones crossed the border after Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon launched two anti-tank rockets early on Thursday morning.

Two Israeli soldiers were reported dead and a third gravely injured by the IDF.