Militants in Lebanon launched about 40 rockets into Israel on Saturday—one of the largest such barrages in recent months—as the Biden administration’s top diplomat arrived in the region to defuse an escalating Middle East crisis resulting from the war in Gaza.

The Israeli military said it fired back at militants who had been launching rockets. Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group, said it fired rockets at an Israeli observation post as an initial response to the killing of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri on Tuesday.