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A drone strike has hit central Israel, wounding more than 60 people, some of them critically, rescue services say.

It is one of the bloodiest attacks in Israel in a year of war.

The Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s (local time) strike.

The group said it targeted a training camp of the IDF’s Golani Brigade based between Tel Aviv and Haifa, BBC reported.

Hezbollah said the strike was retaliation for two Israeli strikes in Beirut on Thursday that killed 22 people.

Israel’s advanced air defence systems mean that it is rare for so many people to be hurt by drones or missiles.

Israeli media reported that two drones were launched from Lebanon, and Israel’s military said one was intercepted.

It was not immediately clear whether military members were hurt or what was hit in the city of Binyamina.

There were no details from Israel’s military, which earlier reported that at least 115 rockets were fired from Lebanon.

It was the second time in two days a drone has struck in Israel. On Saturday, during the Israeli holiday of Yom Kippur, a drone hit in a suburb of Tel Aviv, causing damage but no injuries.

The strike came on the day the US announced it would send a new air-defence system to Israel to help bolster its protection against missiles.

Israel is now at war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon – both Iran-backed militant groups. It is also expected to strike Iran in retaliation for a missile attack earlier in October, though it has not said how or when. Iran has said it will respond to any Israeli attack.

The Israel Defence Forces said Sunday (local time) it had “intercepted a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) that was launched from Lebanon in the northern naval area”.

“No warning sirens were activated, which the IDF will be probing,” The Jerusalem Post reported.

UN-Israel standoff escalates

The United Nations says Israeli tanks have burst through the gates of a base of its peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, the latest accusation of Israeli violations and attacks that have been denounced by its own allies.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN to evacuate the troops of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force from combat areas in Lebanon on Sunday.

Hours later, the force reported what it described as additional Israeli violations, including two Israeli Merkava tanks destroying the main gate of a base and forcibly entering before dawn that morning.

Soon after the tanks left, shells exploded 100 metres away, releasing smoke that blew across the base and sickened UN personnel. It said 15 needed treatment, despite wearing gas masks.

It did not say who fired the shells or what sort of toxic substance it suspected.

Five peacekeepers were injured at the base of the UN Interim Forces in southern Lebanon. Photo: AAP

It also accused Israel’s IDF military of halting a logistics convoy. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to the statement.

“Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and Resolution 1701,” the UN force said.

“UNIFIL’s mandate provides for its freedom of movement in its area of operations, and any restriction on this is a violation of Resolution 1701. We have requested an explanation from the IDF from these shocking violations.”

On X, IDF said an initial review showed that one its tank that was trying to evacuate injured soldiers while still under fire backed several metres into a UNIFIL post.

“No danger was posed to UNIFIL forces by the IDF activity,” it said.

In his earlier statement addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Netanyahu said: “The time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones.”

Israeli Apache helicopters have been firing missiles towards southern Lebanon. Photo: AAP

“The IDF has requested this repeatedly and has met with repeated refusal, which has the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields.”

Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which Israel has battled on the ground since launching an incursion at the start of this month, denies Israel’s accusation that it uses the proximity of peacekeepers for protection.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah militants resumed a year ago when the Iranian-backed group began launching rockets at northern Israel in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war.

Five peacekeepers have been wounded in a series of strikes in recent days, most blamed by UNIFIL on Israeli forces.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, typically one of Israel’s most vocal supporters among Western European leaders, spoke to Netanyahu by phone on Sunday and denounced the “unacceptable” Israeli attacks, her government said.

Italy has more than a thousand troops in the 10,000-strong UNIFIL force, making it one of the biggest contributors of personnel. France and Spain, which each have nearly 700 soldiers in the force, have also condemned the Israeli attacks.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz reiterated on Sunday that Israel had banned Guterres from entering, due to what it said was antisemitic and anti-Israeli conduct, including his failure to adequately condemn Iran for a missile attack.

The presence of UNIFIL puts peacekeepers from 50 separate countries in harm’s way, in a force initially set up in southern Lebanon in 1978.

Israel’s assault against Hezbollah over the past three weeks has been the deadliest in Lebanon in decades, driving 1.2 million Lebanese from their homes and inflicting an unprecedented blow on the group by killing most of its senior leadership.

Israeli officials say UNIFIL has failed in its mission of upholding UN Resolution 1701, passed after the 2006 war. It calls for the border area of southern Lebanon to be free of weapons or troops other than those of the Lebanese state.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, has expressed “deep concern” about reports of the strikes, urging Israel to ensure their safety and that of the Lebanese military, which is not party to Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah.

Israel eyes Iran targets

US officials believe Israel has narrowed down targets in its potential response to Iran’s recent attack to military and energy infrastructure, NBC reports.

The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation in a year of war as Israel battles Iran-backed groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

Tehran, a major oil producer, has threatened Israel with severe consequences if the Islamic Republic is attacked.

Israel has repeatedly said it will respond to Iran’s missile barrage on October 1, which was launched in retaliation for Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and the killings of a string of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

US and Israeli officials said a response could come during the current Yom Kippur holiday, according to the report.

Israeli officials have not publicly commented on the report.

The fighting in the region which includes all of Tehran’s allied militant groups – Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis and armed groups in Iraq – has raised fears that the US and Iran will be sucked into a full-scale conflict in the oil-producing Middle East.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said on Sunday it had targeted a military site in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights with drones as part of its support of the Palestinian people and Lebanon.

It said it would continue escalating attacks against Israeli strongholds.

-AAP