A Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in central Israel killed four soldiers and severely wounded seven others overnight, the military said — the deadliest strike by the militant group since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago.

The Lebanon-based Hezbollah said the attack near Binyamina city was retaliation for Israeli strikes on Beirut last week that killed 22 people.

It later said it targeted Israel’s elite Golani brigade, launching dozens of missiles to occupy Israeli air defence systems during the assault by "squadrons" of drones.

Israel’s national rescue service said the attack wounded 61. With Israel’s advanced air-defence systems, it’s rare for so many people to be hurt by drones or missiles. Hezbollah and Israel have traded fired almost daily in the year since the war in Gaza began, and fighting has escalated.

Inside Gaza, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 20 people including children at a school overnight according to two local hospitals. The school in Nuseirat was sheltering some of the many Palestinians displaced by the war.

Meanwhile, explosions hit outside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. People were carried into the hospital.

Hezbollah's deadly strike in Israel came the same day that the United States announced it would send a new air-defence system to Israel to help bolster protection against missiles, along with troops needed to operate it. An Israeli army spokesperson declined to provide a timeline.

Israel is now at war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — both Iran-backed militant groups — and is expected to strike Iran in retaliation for a missile attack earlier this month. Iran has said it will respond to any Israeli attack.