Hezbollah fires missiles at Israeli naval base

Hezbollah said it targeted a naval base near the Israeli city of Haifa with missiles yesterday, the second such attack in less than 24 hours.

The Iran-backed Lebanese group said it targeted the "Stella Maris" naval base northwest of Haifa with a missile barrage, "in response to the attacks and massacres committed by the Israeli enemy."

The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area. In a separate statement, the group claimed that it had also targeted the Ramat David airbase, southeast of Haifa, with missiles yesterday.

Israel has been at war with Lebanon's Hezbollah since late September when it broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border.

It escalated its air campaign and later sent in ground forces into the country's south.

Meanwhile, Lebanon state media said the Israeli army yesterday detonated explosives planted inside houses in three border villages.

"Since this morning, the Israeli enemy's army has been carrying out bombing operations inside the villages of Yaroun, Aitaroun and Maroun al-Ras in the Bint Jbeil area, with the aim of destroying residential homes there," the official National News Agency said, the latest in a string of similar incidents that have impacted the flashpoint border area.

The war has killed more than 2,600 people in Lebanon since September 23.