55 rockets launched at north after IDF strike on Hezbollah arms depot said to kill 10
Lebanese Health Ministry says dead are all Syrian nationals and include a woman and her two children; no injuries reported in rocket attacks, but several fires erupt
Hezbollah launched a barrage of some 55 rockets at a northern Israeli kibbutz on Saturday in what it said was a response to an Israeli airstrike overnight that killed at least 10 people and wounded five others. The Israel Defense Forces said it targeted a weapons depot belonging to the terror group.
In a separate incident Saturday, two IDF soldiers were wounded in an explosive drone strike on a military position near the northern community of Misgav Am, the military said. One of the soldiers was listed in serious condition, while the other was lightly hurt. Hezbollah claimed the attack saying it launched two drones at Israel.
The large barrage targeted Ayelet HaShahar, a kibbutz located some 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the Lebanon border. The community is not among dozens of evacuated towns.
There were no reports of injuries, but the rockets sparked blazes in at least 10 locations in the Upper Galilee. The Fire and Rescue Service said it was working to extinguish the fires in fields and other open areas near Mishmar HaYarden, Ayelet HaShahar, and Mahanayim.
Several Iron Dome interceptions were seen during the rocket salvos.
Hezbollah took responsibility for the barrage, saying it came in response to the deadly Israeli strike near Nabatieh. At least 10 people were killed and five wounded in the Israeli strike, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
The Lebanese ministry said all the dead were Syrian nationals and included a woman and her two children. Five others were wounded, of whom two were in critical condition. Hezbollah said all the dead were civilians.
The strike on Wadi al-Kfour in Nabatieh province was among the deadliest in Lebanon since the Hezbollah terror group started launching attacks on October 8, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, sparking Israeli responses.
Mohammad Shoaib, who runs a slaughterhouse in Wadi al-Kfour said the area struck was an “industrial and civilian area,” that contained factories producing bricks, metal, and aluminum, as well as a dairy farm.
The uncle of three of the people killed in the strike said they were factory workers who were in their housing accommodations when they were hit. He denied that there were weapons at the facility.
“There was nothing at all like that,” Hussein Shahoud said. “There was metal for construction, for building, for all kinds of purposes.”
The IDF confirmed carrying out the airstrike near Nabatieh overnight, saying it targeted a Hezbollah weapons depot.
Additionally, the IDF says fighter jets struck buildings used by Hezbollah in Hanine and Maroun al-Ras, also in southern Lebanon.
It published footage of the latter strikes.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו אמש, מבנים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים חנין ומארון א-ראס שבדרום לבנון. בנוסף, במהלך הלילה הותקף מחסן אמצעי לחימה של הארגון במרחב נבטיה.
צה״ל תקף בירי ארטילרי במרחבים רמיש, לבונה, כפר שובא ועייתא א-שעב שבדרום לבנון pic.twitter.com/k9zVKXusXz
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 17, 2024
Following the deadly strike in Nabatieh, the Upper Galilee Regional Council told residents of communities near the border with Lebanon to restrict their movements and remain near bomb shelters.
The instructions were given to residents who have not yet evacuated from Hulata, Yesud HaMa’ala, Sde Eliezer, Ayelet HaShahar, Gadot, Mishmar HaYarden, and Mahanayim. Not long after, Hezbollah launched its rocket barrage at the area.
Also on Saturday, an Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle in the Qadmous area east of Tyre in south Lebanon, state news agency NNA reported, adding that one person was injured. A security source told Reuters one person was killed in the motorcycle attack.
The IDF later said it had targeted and killed a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, identifying him as Hussein Ibrahim Kassab. The IDF released footage of the strike.
A commander in Hezbollah's elite Radwan force was killed in a drone strike in southern Lebanon earlier today, the IDF says.
Hussein Ibrahim Kassab was struck while riding a motorcycle near the coastal city of Tyre.
The IDF releases footage of the strike. https://t.co/Zrvr4P1dp4 pic.twitter.com/xR4atHDPSl
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 17, 2024
The strike in Nabatieh came after negotiations in Doha for a ceasefire-hostage deal between Israel and Hamas paused on Friday, with negotiators due to meet again next week.
Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis since October 8, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
Tensions have soared in the region in recent weeks after a Hezbollah rocket strike killed 12 children and teens in the Golan Heights last month. Israel responded with the killing of Hezbollah’s top commander, Fuad Shukr, in the suburbs of Beirut on July 30.
Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, as has Iran for the assassination of Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran a few hours after Shukr was killed, stirring fears of an escalation to all-out war.
The skirmishes on the northern border since October 8 have resulted in 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 18 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 411 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 71 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
