Ammon News - Hezbollah said it hit a key Israeli observation post early on Saturday with 62 rockets as a "preliminary response" to the killing of Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas' deputy chief.

Al-Arouri was killed on Tuesday in an Israeli drone strike on Beirut's southern suburbs.

Analysts said the strike could be seen as a message to Hamas ally Hezbollah that even its prime stronghold could be vulnerable to Israeli attack.

The Hezbollah statement on Saturday said the group had hit a main post on an elevated hilltop that Israel relied on for "aerial observation" and "air control.”

Earlier, the Israeli military said that heavy fire from Lebanon targeted northern Israel.

Shortly after rocket sirens sounded across northern Israel, the military said that "approximately 40 launches from Lebanon toward the area of Meron in northern Israel were identified.”

Al Arabia