Airstrikes reported near Beirut, Damascus; 6 hurt in rocket attacks on northern Israel
Lebanese media says at least 23 killed in airstrikes in Almat, north Beirut; new defense minister says IDF has defeated Hezbollah on the battlefield; IAF downs drone from Iraq
At least six people were wounded on Sunday in a series of attacks from Lebanon on northern Israel, as Lebanese and Syrian media outlets reported at least 29 people dead in two separate strikes attributed to Israel and the incoming defense minister said the military had defeated Hezbollah on the battlefield.
In the latest attack from Lebanon, on which the IDF had yet to comment, three people were reported wounded in an apparent anti-tank missile strike in the northern border town of Metula.
First responders said that one person was moderately hurt and two others were in good condition.
Earlier on Sunday afternoon, three men who were injured in a barrage on northern Israel arrived at the hospital independently, Nahariya’s Galilee Medical Center said. The three, all residents of Sheikh Danun, were wounded by the blast of a rocket impact in the Kibbutz Kabri area as they were working in a field.
Two of them, aged 37 and 20, were in moderate condition, while the third, aged 47, was lightly wounded, according to the hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces said that at least 35 rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel by early evening on Sunday. Some were intercepted, while others landed in open areas, according to the military.
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Hebrew media reported that a dining hall in the northern town of Tel Hai sustained serious damage in an earlier barrage. There was no report from the military of an impact in the area, though sirens sounded in the border community on Sunday morning.
The Israeli Air Force also shot down a drone launched at Israel “from the east,” which is generally taken to mean Iraq, on Sunday morning, the IDF said, adding that parts of the drone landed in an open area in the Golan Heights after the interception.
The attacks came as the IDF continued its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which aims to allow some 60,000 northern residents to return safely to their homes after being displaced by near-daily cross-border attacks since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror onslaught.
Speaking Monday at a ceremony marking the handover to Gideon Sa’ar, his replacement as foreign minister, amid the rocket fire on northern communities, new Defense Minister Israel Katz asserted, “The blows we inflicted defeated Hezbollah and the elimination of [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah is the crowning jewel.”
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s health ministry said that at least 23 people, including seven children, were killed and six others injured in an Israeli strike on Almat, north of the capital Beirut on Sunday, adding that the death toll was likely to climb.
There was no immediate comment from the IDF on the airstrike.
In Syria, medical officials at a local hospital told the Syrian Sham FM radio that six people were killed and 15 others wounded in an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Sayyidah Zaynab suburb of Damascus, a Shiite stronghold.
The strike targeted a residential building, according to Sham FM and the official SANA news agency.
There was also no immediate comment on that strike from Israel, which rarely acknowledges individual operations in Syria.
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Also Sunday, the IDF said the commander of Hezbollah’s artillery forces in southern Lebanon’s Blida was killed in a recent airstrike after he was spotted by troops of the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit as he was launching an anti-tank missile at Israel.
A short while later, the IDF said it carried out an airstrike against one of Hezbollah’s main command centers in Blida, killing the commander.
The 869th has directed numerous strikes on Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure during operations in southern Lebanon with the 91st Division in recent weeks.
This video released by the IDF on November 10, 2024, shows an airstrike on a Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon’s Blida. (Israel Defense Forces)
Amid the ongoing fighting, Hebrew media reported that Biden administration officials were continuing to push for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, even as the region shifted its focus to the incoming US administration following last week’s presidential election.
The Ynet news site reported that US President-elect Donald Trump has informed the Biden administration that he expects to see progress in efforts to reach a ceasefire.
Citing anonymous US officials, the report added that US special envoy Amos Hochstein was confident that the two sides would be able to reach an agreement and bring an end to more than a year of Hezbollah attacks and Israel’s reprisals and recently begun ground operation in southern Lebanon.
In October, ahead of the November 5 presidential elections, Trump pledged to end the “suffering and destruction in Lebanon.”
“I want to see the Middle East return to real peace, a lasting peace, and we will get it done properly so it doesn’t repeat itself every five or 10 years,” he said.
US officials have said they will make a final push to reach deals on the conflicts, although it is unclear how much leverage they have over Israel and other regional actors now gearing up for the incoming administration.
Army Radio reported that Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer secretly visited Russia last week, apparently as part of Israel’s efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Russia is a major player in Syria, and its cooperation in a diplomatic arrangement to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah could be an important piece of a deal that keeps the Iran-backed group from rearming.
Asked by The Times of Israel, Dermer’s office had no comment on the report.
A Russian delegation visited Israel on October 24. A source in Netanyahu’s office told The Times of Israel that the Russian delegation’s visit was not connected to hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Times of Israel staff and agencies contributed to this report.
