Four Israeli soldiers have been killed in a Hezbollah drone strike on a military base in the north. (EPA PHOTO)

Four Israeli soldiers have been killed in a Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in the nation’s north, the military says.

A military statement says the attack on the base next to the city of Binyamina also severely injured seven soldiers.

It’s the deadliest Hezbollah strike since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago.

Israel’s national rescue service said the drone attack wounded 61 people.

The Lebanon-based Hezbollah called the attack retaliation for Israeli strikes on Beirut on Thursday that killed 22 people.

Hezbollah and Israel have traded fire almost daily in the year since the war in Gaza began, and fighting has escalated.

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 same day the United States 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 – and is 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.

A year into the war with Hamas, Israel continues to strike what it says are militant targets in Gaza nearly every day.

One strike in Gaza late on Saturday hit a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing parents and their six children, who ranged in age from eight to 23, according to health authorities.

Israel’s bombardment and ground invasions of Gaza have killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and left much of the territory in ruins.

At least 2255 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of the conflict, including more than 1400 people since September, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were Hezbollah fighters.

More than 50 people have been killed in rocket attacks on Israel, nearly half of them soldiers.