Beirut: Israel launched airstrikes on several locations in Lebanon on Saturday in retaliation for a rocket attack, killing six people in the heaviest exchange of fire since its ceasefire with the militant group Hezbollah began nearly four months ago.

Israel launched strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing at least seven people, authorities here said, in response to rockets fired from across the border earlier in the day. The exchange was the largest since the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect late last year.

Israel has struck Lebanon in retaliation for rocket fire, killing a child and an adult, in the most intense exchange since the Israel-Hezbollah truce began.