The Israeli military says its warplanes are attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon after receiving reports of missiles and rockets being fired into Israel.
“In an act of self-defense to eliminate these threats, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is attacking terrorists,” said IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari.
Israel said Lebanese citizens had been warned to immediately leave areas where Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shia Muslim group, was active.
Shortly after, Hezbollah said it had launched a large-scale attack on Israel in response to the killing of the group’s military commander last month.
On the other side of Israel, a siren warning of incoming rockets was heard early Sunday morning.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
In a statement, the IDF said that Hezbollah “recently launched more than 150 rockets from Lebanon towards Israeli territory”.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it had already launched more than 320 Katyusha rockets, hitting 11 Israeli military bases and barracks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is calling an emergency meeting of his security cabinet.
Mr Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were “controlling the situation” from an IDF base in Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said in a statement that its airstrikes on Israel were a response to “a month of brutality by the Zionists, which led to the killing of Fuad Shukr”.
A senior military commander of a Shia group was killed in an Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital Beirut in July.
Israel has been exchanging fire with a militant group based in Lebanon since the start of the war last October with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas, like Hezbollah, is supported by Iran.
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