Israel's wars with Iran-backed groups grind on with rockets killing 7 in Israel, IDF airstrikes in Syria

Tel Aviv, Israel — Rocket fire from Lebanon killed at least seven people in northern Israel on Thursday, including four foreign workers, in the deadliest of such attacks since Israel's invasion earlier this month. The attacks on two separate locations came as senior U.S. diplomats were in the region to push for cease-fires in Lebanon and Gaza, hoping to wind down the raging wars between Israel and Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East in the Biden administration's final months.

The Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon has been firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel daily, and drawing retaliatory strikes, since Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack from the Gaza Strip, triggering the war there. 

Hezbollah and Hamas are ideological allies and both have long been deemed Iranian proxy groups — and designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S., Israel and many other countries.