The Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah said it fired dozens of rockets at a military “base” in northern Israel today, presenting the operation as its first response to the killing of Hamas’s second-in-command near Beirut.

Saleh al-Arouri and six other members of the Palestinian organization were killed on January 2 in a drone strike attributed to Israel in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, a stronghold of Hezbollah.

Hamas, Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel, while a US official said on Wednesday it was an “Israeli strike”.

Israel has not claimed responsibility.

“As part of our initial response to the assassination of the great leader Sheikh Saleh al-Aruri (…) the Islamic resistance targeted the Meron base with 62 missiles of different types,” Hezbollah said.

For its part, Israel’s military said today about 40 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon at Meron, adding that it hit a cell responsible for some of that fire.

Warning sirens sounded in towns in southern Israel, the military said.

The cross-border clashes have left 175 people dead, of which 129 were Hezbollah fighters and more than 20 civilians including the three journalists.

In northern Israel, nine soldiers and five civilians have been killed, according to authorities.

Hezbollah has been conducting daily operations against Israeli soldiers along the border since October 8, supporting Hamas in Gaza.

Leader Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday warned Israel against starting a war with Lebanon, assuring his movement would fight “until the end”. He also emphasized that Tuesday’s blow against the stronghold of the movement “is serious and will not go unanswered”.

Many Hamas operatives have settled in Lebanon under the protection of Hezbollah.

Israel has vowed to “exterminate” Hamas after the unprecedented attack it launched on October 7 killed an estimated 1,140 people in the country.