ANKARA 

An Israeli airstrike early Saturday morning destroyed a three-story building at the western entrance of Kaouthariyet El Saiyad, a town in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh region, Lebanon’s official news agency reported.

The airstrike caused significant structural damage, blocking the road between Kaouthariyet El Saiyad and the nearby town of Ghassaniyeh. Authorities have not yet released information on casualties or assessed the full extent of the destruction.

In a related incident, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a retaliatory strike on northern Israel. In a statement, the group said its fighters launched a rocket attack on Israel's Base 7200, located near the city of Haifa, at around 6.00 am local time (0300GMT) on Saturday. The Israeli army has not yet issued a response to Hezbollah’s announcement.

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,351 people, injuring over 3,800 others, and displacing more than 1.2 million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed over 42,100 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, it expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching a ground incursion into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara