Hezbollah, regarded as the most strongly armed non-state group in the world, has come under increased attack from Israel during the past week.
The group had already been engaged in tit-for-tat hostilities along Lebanon's southern border since the 7 October Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and Israel's war on Gaza.
The recent uptick in fighting began with a coordinated two-day Israeli attack on 17 and 18 September in Lebanon, which involved the detonation of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah. At least 38 people were killed and more than 3,000 were wounded.
That was followed on 20 September by an air strike on a densely populated area in Beirut, which killed at least 45 people, including two top Hezbollah commanders, as well as several women and children. This week, wide Israeli bombing of southern and eastern Lebanon has killed at least 560 people and forced tens of thousands more to flee their homes.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah, which has already been firing rockets into northern Israel for months, for the first time directed a ballistic missile toward Tel Aviv, Israel's most populous city.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/explainers/israel-war-lebanon-what-arms-hezbollah-have