Hezbollah fires 160 rockets at northern Israel after commander slain in airstrike

June 12 (UPI) -- A Hezbollah leader was killed in an Israeli airstrike, the Iran proxy militia said Wednesday as it launched dozens of rockets at the Middle Eastern country.

Sirens blared throughout northern Israel on Wednesday as some 160 rockets were launched over the border from neighboring Lebanon .

Israel Defense Forces said the projectiles were fired over Wednesday morning, with a number of them having been intercepted while others fell into northern Israel, igniting several fires.

No injuries were reported.

The IDF said fighter jets struck a launcher in the Lebanese village of Yaroun that had fired toward northern Israel at 10 a.m.

However, sirens continued blare into the late morning, suggesting further projectiles were incoming.

בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו בצפון הארץ לפני זמן קצר, זוהו כשבעים שיגורים שחצו משטח לבנון. חלקם יורטו, מרבית השיגורים נפלו בשטחים פתוחים, זוהו נפילות במספר מרחבים בצפון הארץ, הפרטים בבדיקה. אין נפגעים.

בנוסף, כלי-טיס של חיל-האוויר תקף לפני זמן קצר במרחב יארון שבדרום לבנון משגר ממנו... pic.twitter.com/1g7Dd1VLk1 — Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) June 12, 2024

Unidentified sources told Haaretz that the barrage was the most extensive by Hezbollah since the war between Israel and Hamas, another Iran proxy militia, began Oct. 7 in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

Hezbollah has been attacking Israel amid the war, instigating several cross-border skirmishes, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of the militias fighters while raising fears of the fighting expanding from Gaza throughout the Middle East.

The militia launched the rockets as it announced the death of one of its leaders, Talib Sami Abdullah.

In a statement carried by Lebanese broadcaster Al-Manar, Hezbollah said he was killed Wednesday while "on the road to Jerusalem," which the militant group uses for Israeli airstrikes.

He was killed along with three other Hezbollah operatives in the strike.

The IDF has yet to comment on the attack.