Man killed in Hezbollah barrage on Ma’alot-Tarshiha in north

Victim named as Muhammad Naim; drones also hit Ashkelon and Nahariya; IDF probing failure to intercept projectiles

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

The scene of a Hezbollah rocket attack impacting in Ma’alot-Tarshiha, northern Israel, October 29, 2024 (David Cohen/Flash90); inset: Muhammad Naim, 24, who was killed in the attack (Courtesy)
The scene of a Hezbollah rocket attack impacting in Ma’alot-Tarshiha, northern Israel, October 29, 2024 (David Cohen/Flash90); inset: Muhammad Naim, 24, who was killed in the attack (Courtesy)

One person was killed when a large barrage of rockets fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon slammed into the town of Ma’alot-Tarshiha, the Magen David Adom emergency service reported on Tuesday morning.

The victim was later named as 24-year-old Muhammad Naim, a resident of the town.

The Israel Defense Forces said some 50 rockets were fired in the barrage, some of which were intercepted.

MDA said several others were being treated for acute anxiety at the scene of the impact.

Footage posted to social media showed numerous Iron Dome interceptor missiles being launched to counter the attack.

The fatal attack came after several drones were launched at Israel on Tuesday morning from both Lebanon and Yemen, causing explosions in the cities of Nahariya and Ashkelon in northern and southern Israel, respectively. There were no casualties in those attacks.

At around 7 a.m., drone infiltration sirens sounded in the southern coastal city of Ashkelon. Footage posted to social media showed the drone striking an open area adjacent to a residential neighborhood in the city.

The IDF assessed that the explosive drone was launched from Yemen. The Iran-backed Houthis did not immediately take responsibility for the attack.

The impact caused no injuries but sparked a small fire. The IDF was investigating why it failed to shoot down the drone.

The Houthi rebel group has fired over 220 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones at Israel over the past year — mostly toward the southernmost city of Eilat — saying that the attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been battling Hamas since the terror group’s October 7 attack.

July saw the Israeli Air Force conduct its first-ever direct strike in Yemen in response to a drone attack on Tel Aviv that killed a man in his apartment.

In September, the IAF conducted airstrikes targeting infrastructure in western Yemen that the military said was used by the Houthis, in response to a series of ballistic missile attacks.

Minutes after the explosion in Ashkelon, drone infiltration sirens sounded in the city of Nahariya, near the border with Lebanon in northern Israel.

The IDF said that a drone launched from Lebanon in the incident struck an open area in the city. But a dashcam video showed the explosive-laden drone striking the cables of a pedestrian bridge near the city’s train station.

Shrapnel from the blast rained down on the area, causing slight damage to a train carriage. No injuries were caused in the incident and the IDF said it is investigating it further.

Separately, the IDF said another drone launched from Lebanon on Tuesday morning was shot down by air defenses over the Upper Galilee.

Hezbollah has launched over 12,400 projectiles at Israel from Lebanon over the past year, according to IDF data. It too says it is acting is support of Gaza as Israel battles the Hamas terror group there.

Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis are all supported by Iran.

IDF troops operate in southern Lebanon in a handout image published on October 29, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

During the past day, the military said it killed dozens of terror operatives and destroyed some 110 Hezbollah sites in airstrikes across Lebanon.

The targeted sites included rocket launchers aimed at Israel and weapon depots, the IDF said in an update on Tuesday morning.

Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 60 people were killed on Monday in Israeli raids on several areas in the eastern Beqaa Valley, most of them in the Baalbek region. The tolls reported by the country do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The strikes came as Israel’s ground forces continued to operate in southern Lebanon, where troops killed several Hezbollah operatives and located sites belonging to the terror group, including tunnel infrastructure and weapon bunkers.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis.

Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack along with increasing rocket fire by the terror group.

The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 31 civilians. In addition, 60 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.

Two soldiers have been killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and there have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

The IDF estimates that more than 2,000 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups, along with hundreds of civilians, have also been reported killed in Lebanon.

Most Popular
read more: