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BEIRUT – One soldier was killed and 18 others injured in an Israeli attack on a Lebanese army center on Sunday, the Lebanese army said. The militant group Hezbollah, meanwhile, fired about 160 rockets and other projectiles into northern and central Israel, wounding at least five people.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, while the Lebanese army has largely remained on the sidelines.

The Israeli military expressed regret over the attack, saying it took place in an area where ongoing combat operations against Hezbollah were taking place. It said in a statement that its operations are exclusively against Hezbollah and not the Lebanese army, and that the attack is under review.

Lebanon’s interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned it as an attack on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message calling out all efforts and continued contacts” to end the war. are rejected.

“(Israel writes) again in Lebanese blood a blatant rejection of the solution under discussion,” said a statement from his office.

The attack took place in southwestern Lebanon on the coastal road between Tire and Naqoura, where there was heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah fires rockets after attacks on Beirut

Hezbollah began firing missiles, rockets and drones into Israel after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack from the Gaza Strip sparked the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes since the rocket fire began, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war, when Israel launched waves of airstrikes over large parts of Lebanon, killing Hezbollah’s top leader Hassan Nasrallah and several of killed its leaders. top commanders.

Hezbollah fired a total of about 160 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, some of which were intercepted, the Israeli military said.

Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom said it was treating two people in the central city of Petah Tikva, a 23-year-old man who suffered minor injuries from an explosion and a 70-year-old woman who suffered from smoke inhalation from a car that flew into fire. First responders said they had treated three other people in northern Israel, closer to the border, including a 60-year-old man who was in serious condition.

It was unclear whether the injuries and damage were caused by the missiles or the interceptors.

Israeli airstrikes early Saturday hit central Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 66, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed more than 3,500 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians were killed in bombings in northern Israel and in the fighting following the Israeli ground invasion in early October. About 60,000 Israelis have been expelled from the north of the country.

The EU envoy calls for pressure on both sides to reach a ceasefire

The Biden administration has tried for months to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.

The European Union’s top diplomat called for more pressure on both Israel and Hezbollah to reach a deal, saying a final agreement from the Israeli government was “pending.”

Josep Borrell spoke on Sunday after a meeting with Mikati and Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who mediates with the group.

Borrell said the EU is ready to provide 200 million euros ($208 million) to help the Lebanese army, which would deploy additional troops in the south.

The impending deal would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah militants and Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, below the Litani River, in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. Lebanese troops are said to be patrolling the area, with UN peacekeepers present.

The Lebanese army reflects the country’s religious diversity and is respected as a national institution, but it does not have the military capacity to impose its will on Hezbollah or resist Israel’s invasion.

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Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.