Hezbollah drone explodes in northern town, seriously injuring man
Local security team member rushed to hospital as Israeli strikes on terror group’s sites in Lebanon continue
A resident of northern Israel was seriously wounded Saturday when an explosive-laden drone sent into the country from Lebanon exploded in a kibbutz in the Galilee, the Israeli army said.
The injured man was a member of the Hanita local security team who was also serving as an IDF reservist, the military said.
He was taken to a hospital for treatment and his family was notified.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah had earlier claimed to have targeted a building used by Israeli forces in the border community.
The terror group said it launched suicide drones and rockets from Lebanon at the northern community Saturday afternoon. Sirens warning of incoming drones had also sounded in multiple towns close to the northern border on two occasions.
Hezbollah has been carrying out daily rocket, missile and drone attacks on northern Israel amid the war in Gaza.
Later Saturday the IDF struck buildings it said were used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Tayr Harfa, Aalma ash-Shab, and Yarine. Another explosive-laden drone launched by Hezbollah struck an area near Kfar Blum. The IDF said there were no injuries in the attack. Several more rockets were launched at the Western Galilee, the military added.
מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר מספר מבנים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים טיר חרפא, עלמא א-שעב, ויארין שבדרום לבנון.
כטב"ם שחצה מלבנון נפל לפני זמן קצר במרחב כפר בלום, אין נפגעים. בנוסף, זוהו מספר שיגורים שחצו משטח לבנון לעבר הגליל המערבי pic.twitter.com/ldXt2zc1Xe
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 13, 2024
On Friday night the Lebanon-based terror group fired a large barrage of rockets as well as explosives-laden drones at northern Israel as the country braced for an expected retaliatory attack by Iran or its proxies to an alleged Israeli strike in Syria that killed several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members.
The drones were intercepted as were several of the rockets deemed to endanger populated sites.
On Saturday morning the IDF said fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets in several different areas of southern Lebanon. The targets included buildings used by the terror group in Houla and Bayt Lif, and two Hezbollah command centers in Odaisseh and Taybeh, according to the IDF.
The army said troops opened fire at an area near Rmeish to “remove a threat.” It also said it struck a large Hezbollah compound in the Rihan area of southern Lebanon.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו לפני זמן קצר בארבעה מרחבים שונים במקביל שורת מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון.
במסגרת התקיפה, הותקפו מבנים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים חולא ובית ליף, ושתי מפקדות של הארגון במרחבים אל עדייסא וא-טייבה>> pic.twitter.com/9KbfhmOOTJ
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 13, 2024
The compound included several buildings and a military post, according to the army.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a daily basis with rockets, drones, anti-tank missiles and other means, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there. Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy in Lebanon and Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are backed by Iran.
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 10 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 273 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon, but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 53 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier and at least 60 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.
Tensions in the region have been high since an alleged Israeli strike in Damascus last week killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members, among them a senior Quds Force commander, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi. Iran has vowed revenge.
Hezbollah has said it supports Iran’s right to “punish” Israel, and in televised remarks last week, its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said a response was coming.
