TEL AVIV, September 24. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has recorded the launch of 20 rockets from Lebanon, the army press service said in a statement.

According to the document, Lebanon fired approximately five projectiles at Israel after sirens were sounded in the northern regions of Israel between 2:39 and 2:40 a.m. local time (11:39 and 11:40 p.m. GMT on September 23), Lebanon launched about five projectiles towards Israel. In addition, five projectiles were recorded following the activation of sirens in the northern areas at 2:57 a.m. local time (11:57 p.m. GMT on September 23), and another ten projectiles were recorded following an air alert at 3:11 a.m. local time (00:57 a.m. GMT).

The press service also said that some of the rockets were intercepted.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 250 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.

Against this backdrop, tensions continue to rise sharply on the Lebanon-Israel border, where constant shelling from Lebanese territory has begun since October 8, to which the Israeli military responds with fire. According to the army press service, Hezbollah targets are being targeted. Eighty thousand people were evacuated from border areas in northern Israel.

The Israeli Air Force carried out massive strikes in southern Lebanon on September 23. Their targets were declared military facilities of the Hezbollah movement. According to the Israeli side, the strikes are being carried out in response to months of shelling of the northern regions of Israel by Hezbollah units, as a result of which tens of thousands of Israelis were evacuated from the border area.