© ReutersFILE: Hezbollah said it hit a key Israeli observation post early on Jan 6 with 62 rockets.
Meanwhile, top United States and European diplomats visited the region to seek ways to stop spillover from the Gaza war.
Shortly after rocket sirens sounded across northern Israel, the Israeli military said "approximately 40 launches from Lebanon towards the area of Meron in northern Israel were identified".
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
Hezbollah said it hit a key Israeli observation post with 62 rockets as a "preliminary response" to the killing of Hamas' deputy chief on Jan 2.
Tensions have been high since Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri was killed by a drone on Jan 2 in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Hamas' Lebanese ally Hezbollah. The attack was widely attributed to Israel.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Jan 5 that Lebanon would be "exposed" to more Israeli operations if his group did not respond to the killing.
Israel's military said it had responded to the Jan 6 rocket attack with an unmanned aerial vehicle strike on "the terrorist cell responsible for the launches towards the area of Metula".
Israeli fighter jets and troops also struck a series of Hezbollah targets in the areas of Ayta ash Shab, Yaroun and Ramyeh in southern Lebanon, it said, striking a launch post, military sites and "terrorist infrastructure".
Western diplomacy
© EPA-EFE/Oliver Hoslet/FileSecretary of State Antony J. Blinken (R) walks alongside High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell (L) ahead of a EU-US Energy Council Ministerial Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 4 April 2023.
Israel and Hezbollah often trade fire across the border, and the West Bank is boiling with emotion. In the Red Sea, Yemen's Houthis have said they would target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, until Israel halts its bombardment of Gaza.
Mr Blinken was meeting the leaders of Turkey and Greece on Jan 6 at the start of a week-long trip that will also take him to Israel, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
During two hours of talks in Istanbul, Mr Blinken discussed the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza with Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
A US official said Mr Blinken then held talks with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a fierce critic of Israel's military actions in Gaza.
Turkey, which unlike most of its Nato allies does not class Hamas as a terrorist organisation, has offered to mediate in the Gaza war.
During his tour, Mr Blinken hopes to make progress on how Gaza could be governed if and when Israel achieves its aim of eradicating Hamas.
The EU's top diplomat, Mr Borrell held talks with the head of the United Nations Interim Force (Unifil) in Lebanon.
"Pursuing a diplomatic solution (for the region) is not only possible, but essential," the Unifil chief, Lieutenant-General Aroldo Lazaro, said on the Telegram messaging app after the talks.
Israel's onslaught began after Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct 7, with 1,200 people killed and 240 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Israel's military operation has so far killed at least 22,600 people, according to Palestinian health officials, and devastated the densely populated enclave of 2.3 million people.
At least 122 Palestinians have been killed and 256 injured in Gaza in the past 24 hours alone, they said on Jan 6.
'They still bombed us'
The official Palestinian WAFA news agency reported on Jan 6 that 18 Palestinians were killed by an Israeli attack on a house east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
In the West Bank village of Beit Rima, the Palestinian Health Ministry said a 17-year-old was shot dead by Israeli forces and four other people were injured.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported heavy shelling in Khan Younis on Jan 6 near the Al-Amal Hospital. Shrapnel flew into the medical facility amid the sound of heavy gunfire from drones, it said in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
The traumatised residents of Gaza, most of whom have been displaced by the bombardment, are facing a devastating humanitarian crisis, with food, medicine and fuel supplies running low.
Standing outside a morgue in Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip on Jan 6, 11-year-old Mahmoud Awad said his parents and siblings had been killed by Israeli air strikes.
"We were in al-Shati refugee camp and they (Israeli army) dropped fliers saying that Gaza is a battlefield, so we fled to Khan Younis because it was a safe place, and they still bombed us," he said.
Israel denies targeting civilians in its campaign to eradicate Hamas. It says the militants deliberately embed themselves and their infrastructure among civilian populations to make it harder for Israel's military to strike.
Israel has released videos and photos in support of its claim. Hamas denies this accusation.
Israel has listed 175 soldiers as killed in action since its offensive began.
By the way, some of the missiles seem to have had a irregular flight path, which would indicate manually controlled ATGMs. Probably Iranian copies of Russian ATGMs like the Kornet with a range of 5...10km.