Hezbollah claims responsibility for firing 'intense rocket barrages' at Israeli positions

Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it launched several rocket barrages at Israeli army positions in the annexed Golan Heights on Tuesday (Aug 20) in response to Israeli strikes on east Lebanon a day before .


On Monday Israel's military said that fighter jets struck a number of Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in the area of Bekaa in Lebanon, and large amounts of weapons had been hit.

That Israeli strike came after a soldier in northern Israel was killed by Hezbollah fire, the latest death in 10 months of cross-border exchanges between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israeli forces.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement saying,  Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in the areas of the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights, approximately 55 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanese territory. Some of the projectiles were intercepted, while the rest fell in open areas. No injuries were reported.

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IDF claimed that shortly after the launches, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck one of the launchers from which the projectiles were fired.

Fears of an escalation have mounted since Hezbollah and Iran vowed to respond after an Israeli strike on Beirut last month killed a top Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, shortly before an attack in Tehran blamed on Israel killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

79-year-old hostage dies in Gaza

An Israeli community announced on Tuesday the death of hostage Avraham Munder in the Gaza Strip, saying he was  physically and mentally tortured in captivity.

Kibbutz Nir Oz announces with great sadness the murder of the late Avraham Munder, 79, in captivity in Gaza after suffering physical and mental torture for months, the community said in a statement.

Munder, his wife, daughter and grandson were abducted by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel.

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The other family members were released during the single, week-long truce of the war last November, while his son was killed on the day of the attack.

The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,199 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also captured 251 people, 111 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 40 the military and Israeli officials say are dead.