Scores of rockets have been fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel, hours after Israeli air strikes killed four officials from the militant Hezbollah group, including a senior military commander.

The Israeli military said that about 90 projectiles were detected. Officials added that some were intercepted, but several fires were caused by the strikes.

Taleb Sami Abdullah, 55, who was known within Hezbollah as Hajj Abu Taleb, was the most senior commander killed since fighting began eight months ago.

His death came amid rising escalation along the Lebanon-Israel border that has seen Hezbollah intensify its attacks on northern Israel while Israeli air strikes have struck deep inside Lebanon.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported that rockets were being fired from south Lebanon into northern Israel.

Sirens were sounded in northern Israel, according to Israeli media.

A Hezbollah official said Abdullah was the most senior commander to be killed in Lebanon since the latest round of violence along the Lebanon-Israel border began in October adding that he was the commander of the group’s Nasr Unit that is charge of parts of south Lebanon close to the Israeli border.

The Israeli strike destroyed a house in Jwaya where Mr Abdullah and three other officials were holding a meeting, about six miles from the border, late on Tuesday.

The Hezbollah official said Mr Abdullah was more senior than a commander who was killed in January, Wissam al-Tawil.

Israeli air strikes on Lebanon have killed over 400 people, most of them Hezbollah members, but the dead also include more than 70 civilians and non-combatants.

On the Israeli side, 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed since the war in Gaza began.