JERUSALEM

The Israeli army said late Sunday that it intercepted two cruise missiles and a drone launched from Iraq towards the occupied Golan Heights.

“Cruise missiles were intercepted this evening (Sunday) before they crossed into the Golan Heights,” Israel’s Army Radio said on X.

It added that "the army intercepted a drone that was also launched from Iraq this morning after it entered the Golan Heights.”

Earlier, sirens were heard in the southern part of the occupied Golan Heights and near Lake Tiberias, according to Israeli media.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of Iraqi militia groups, said in a statement earlier Sunday that it attacked "vital targets" in northern Israel using drones and advanced cruise missiles.

This came an tension has mounted between Lebanon’s Hezbollah group and Israel following an airstrike Friday that killed at least 45 people, including women and children, and injured dozens in a southern suburb of the capital, Beirut.

Hezbollah confirmed that at least 16 of its members, including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and top commander Ahmed Wahbi, were killed in the Israeli strike.

The attack came two days after at least 37 people were killed and over 3,000 others injured in two waves of explosions of wireless communication devices across Lebanon.

While the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the explosions, Tel Aviv has not denied or confirmed its involvement.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala