A Hezbollah unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crossing from Lebanon gets intercepted by an Israeli fighter jet over an area near the Lebanon-Israel border (Picture: EPA)

Israel has launched the largest airstrikes across Lebanon, hitting more than 40 Hezbollah sites – in what it called ‘an act of self-defence’ – while the militant group responded by firing drones and hundreds of Katyusha rockets.

Warning sirens sounded in northern Israel, while flights from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport suspended all flights and re-directed all incoming planes.

Explosions were heard in the distance as the military’s Iron Dome aerial defence system shot down missiles from southern Lebanon.

At the same time, about 100 Israeli fighter jets struck ‘thousands’ of Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, according to IDF commander.

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