JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel has launched a wave of airstrikes across southern Lebanon in what it called a preemptive strike on Hezbollah.
The Lebanese militant group then said it had fired hundreds of rockets and drones in retaliation for the killing of a top commander in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month.
The heavy exchange of fire did not appear to have ignited a long-feared war, but the situation remains tense.
U.S. and Arab mediators have been trying to broker a cease-fire in the 10-month-old Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, hoping to head off a wider conflict that could draw in the U.S. and Iran.
By mid-morning, it appeared that the exchange had ended with few casualties and no major damage.
