Hezbollah fired advanced rockets at an Israeli satellite communications station in the Elah Valley and a military base near Tel Aviv. Israel responded with heavy strikes on a Hezbollah-linked financial firm as the conflict deepens.
Beirut/Tel Aviv – The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated dramatically on Monday as the Iran-backed militant group fired long-range rockets at strategic military and communications facilities deep inside Israeli territory, including a satellite communications station in the Elah Valley and a military base near Tel Aviv.
In a series of posts on Telegram, Hezbollah stated that its fighters targeted a communications station belonging to Israel’s cyber and signals command in the Elah Valley, approximately 160 kilometers from the Lebanese border, using what it described as “advanced rockets.”
The Target: A Strategic Hub
According to Israeli media, the Elah Valley site hosts one of Israel’s oldest satellite relay stations, built in the early 1970s. The facility is easily identifiable by its dozens of large antennas, which are used for satellite communications and critical data transmission.
Hezbollah also reported firing rockets at the Home Front Command headquarters southeast of Tel Aviv, about 135 kilometers from Lebanon. The group claimed additional attacks on Israeli troop concentrations near Mays Al-Jabal and Wadi Hunin, and stated it struck Israeli vehicles with guided missiles as forces attempted to advance along the southern Lebanon front.
Israel Strikes Hezbollah Financial Network
In response, the Israeli military carried out heavy strikes on branches of Al-Qard al-Hassan, a US-sanctioned financial firm that operates primarily in Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon’s south, east, and Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The Israeli army issued evacuation warnings before striking the locations, which serve as a lifeline for Shia communities grappling with Lebanon’s severe financial crisis. The firm, which says it has over 30 branches nationwide, allows people to access funds when banks fail to do so.
An AFP photographer in Beirut’s southern suburbs witnessed a massive explosion, while an armed Hezbollah member fired warning shots to evacuate residents. The Lebanese health ministry reported one person killed in the strikes.
Rising Casualties and Regional Fallout
Lebanese authorities released grim new figures on Monday, stating that Israel’s attacks since March 2 have killed at least 486 people and wounded at least 1,313.
The Israeli military confirmed it had killed Abu Hussein Ragheb, the head of Hezbollah’s Nasr unit operating in southern Lebanon.
The intensified strikes come despite a 2024 ceasefire, with Israel having maintained attacks against Hezbollah even before the current war erupted following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran. The ground incursions and deep rocket fire signal a dangerous expansion of the northern front.
