Barrage of 35 rockets from Lebanon targets northern communities as Passover begins
IDF says no injuries in attack, troops shell launch sites; Israeli fighter jets also strike several other Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon
A barrage of some 35 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the northern community of Ein Zeitim near Safed on Monday evening as Jewish Israelis sat down for the Passover Seder meal.
The attack set off sirens in Safed and nearby towns. The IDF said there were no injuries in the attack and that troops shelled the launch sites.
Israeli fighter jets also struck a Hezbollah position in southern Lebanon after hitting two more buildings where Hezbollah operatives were gathered earlier, the IDF said.
Hezbollah said it had fired “dozens” of Katyusha rockets at an army headquarters in northern Israel in response to raids targeting villages in southern Lebanon.
A Hezbollah statement said it had bombarded “the headquarters of the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the 91st Division at Ein Zeitim Base with dozens of Katyusha rockets”.
This was in response to Israeli attacks on “southern villages and civilian homes,” most recently in Srifa, Odaisseh and Rab Tlatin.
עוד מהמטח האחרון לעבר צפת
صفد ???? pic.twitter.com/G2hXio6fvQ
— بتول ♔ (@Bmajed11) April 22, 2024
The back and forth came hours after a Hezbollah surface-to-air missile downed an Israeli military drone over southern Lebanon shortly after midnight.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group said it shot down an Elbit Hermes 450 unmanned aerial vehicle over the Lebanese town of Aaichiyeh, some 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the Israeli border.
Israeli fighter jets struck the missile launch site used in the attack, the IDF said, adding that the incident was under further investigation.
לפני זמן קצר מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו תשתית טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון.
כמו כן, מוקדם יותר היום הותקפו שני מבנים צבאיים במרחבים ארזון ואל עדייסא, בהם פעלו מחבלי הארגון>> pic.twitter.com/QSLNA6Jzi8
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 22, 2024
Fresh rocket sirens subsequently sounded in the border community of Arab al-Aramshe. Three rockets fired from Lebanon struck open areas near the town, causing no injuries or damage, the IDF said.
Since October 8, Hezbollah and allied terror groups have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a daily basis with rockets, drones, anti-tank missiles and other means, saying it is doing so to support Gaza during the war there.
The largely evacuated Bedouin town was the site of a deadly Hezbollah drone attack on Wednesday. Maj. (res.) Dor Zimel, 27, critically wounded in the April 17 incident, succumbed to his wounds on Sunday.
Israel has threatened to go to war to force Hezbollah away from the border if it does not retreat and continues to threaten northern communities, from where some 70,000 people were evacuated to avoid the fighting.
So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in eight civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 11 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 285 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon, but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 54 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier and at least 60 civilians have been killed.
AFP contributed to this report
