ISTANBUL

The Israeli army claimed Thursday that it had detected a rocket barrage fired from Lebanon towards a northern Israeli city, according to local media.

“The Israeli army said 40 rockets were fired toward Safed in the latest barrage from Lebanon,” said Israeli daily Haaretz.

“About half of them were intercepted. The other half fell in open areas,” said the newspaper.

Haaretz added that no casualties have been reported yet, but there was damage to property, and several fires broke out.

For its part, Lebanese group Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters “targeted the main missile air defense base of the (Israeli) Northern Command at the Birya barracks with dozens of rockets.”

​​​​​​​Tensions have risen along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv pressed ahead with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 37,700 people since October following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul​​​​​​​