Hezbollah claimed responsibility on Monday for a powerful cross-border rocket attack on an Israeli military base, the latest sign that the Lebanese militia is ramping up their use of newer and more sophisticated weaponry as it attempts to sap the strength of Israeli forces already fighting Hamas.

Although the Israeli military reported no casualties in the attack, footage from the scene verified by The New York Times showed damage to at least six buildings, with one entirely reduced to rubble and burning.

Hezbollah said it had struck the Biranit military base, the headquarters for the Israeli army’s 91st Division, with two Burkan rockets — a powerful improvised munition that the group is increasingly using against Israeli forces. The group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has said the weapons can carry as much as 500kg of explosives.

Video recorded from Lebanon that was released by Hezbollah and verified by the Times shows two munitions apparently hitting the base.

Nasrallah said during a speech earlier this month that his group intended to keep up the pressure on Israel by striking deeper into Israeli territory with newer and more advanced weapons. “There has been a quantitative improvement in terms of the number of operations and the type of weapon used,” Nasrallah said.

Fabian Hinz, a research fellow for the International Institute for Strategic Studies with expertise in missile proliferation in West Asia, said that the use of the Burkan, which has a greater explosive payload than other weapons Hezbollah has used, represents an escalation.

“It is a heavier weapon that is being used,” he said. But, he added, using the Burkan — which is short-range and can only hit targets immediately across the border — may have less escalatory potential than using “longer-range rockets to conduct strikes deeper into Israel”.

Hezbollah, which exercises de facto control over southern Lebanon, also claimed responsibility on Monday for a separate Burkan rocket attack on another Israeli military base, as well as three strikes by exploding drones on Israeli soldiers near Kiryat Shmona.

The Israeli military said it had responded to the attacks by hitting Hezbollah’s operational command centres and infrastructure inside Lebanon. Photographs verified by the Times showed damage to St George Church in Yaroun.