Hezbollah drone hits kindergarten near Haifa; kids unharmed in bomb shelter
No sirens heard in community of Nesher, but staff moved youngsters to safety as a precaution; IDF bombs terror group’s southern Beirut bastion
A drone from Lebanon exploded next to a kindergarten in the northern town of Nesher on Tuesday, shattering windows and scattering debris across the outdoor play area.
Although there was no warning siren in the Haifa suburb, the staff, aware of alerts nearby, had moved the children into the facility’s bomb shelter as a precaution.
There were no injuries to staff or children.
The drone hit a tree next to the kindergarten and exploded, causing slight damage to the building and a fence.
Sarah Yasour, a teacher at the kindergarten told media at the scene: “We had a miracle of miracles.”
“We heard a very distant siren… and said ‘Alright, let’s go in.’ We were just starting the morning assembly with the kids. Everyone was together. But the moment we heard the siren and I saw that a drone [alert] had come out, I said we’re not taking any chances right now, and within a few seconds we were all in the shelter.”
She continued: “Once we were in the shelter, we suddenly heard a huge noise and understood it must be close… Only when we went outside did we realize the scale of the miracle. It hit exactly where we had been.”
The Israel Defense Forces said it was investigating why no sirens had been sounded in Nesher even though the early warning system was triggered in other northern areas as the military sought to intercept the drone.
Sirens were activated in the Western Galilee and areas near Haifa during the incident.
פגיעת הכטב"ם בנשר | תיעוד
(אורלי אלקלעי)צילום: שימוש לפי סעיף 27א pic.twitter.com/EmaXemB1IR
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Israeli Air Force helicopters were scrambled to intercept the drone but failed to stop it.
Nesher Mayor Roi Levi said the children were moved to another kindergarten following the attack.
Footage posted to social media showed the Hezbollah drone flying over the Haifa area before it eventually hit Nesher.
The drone attack came as the IDF continued its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, aiming to make it safe for some 60,000 northern residents to return to their homes after being displaced by near-daily attacks by the Iran-backed terror group since ally Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror onslaught in the south triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
After the IDF issued evacuation orders for 11 buildings in Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh suburb, Lebanese media reported Israeli airstrikes in the area.
The IDF said it was targeting Hezbollah assets.
لحظة استهداف مبنى حرقوص في الضاحية لجنوبية pic.twitter.com/Si4UhWRUBg
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Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, published maps alongside the announcement calling on civilians to distance themselves at least 500 meters from the sites in Dahiyeh.
AFPTV footage showed plumes of smoke rising from the area. Witnesses told AFP gunfire could be heard in the area ahead of the strikes — warning shots by residents for people to leave following the evacuation call.
On Tuesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said “there will be no ceasefire and no pause in Lebanon” until war objectives are met, referring to US-spearheaded efforts to reach an negotiated end to the war.
Israel’s offensive actions “must continue to weaken Hezbollah’s capabilities and achieve the fruits of victory,” Katz wrote on X.
“We will continue to strike Hezbollah with full force until the war’s objectives are achieved,” he said. “Israel will not agree to any arrangement that does not guarantee its right to enforce and prevent terrorism independently, ensuring the war’s goals in Lebanon are met, including disarming Hezbollah, pushing them beyond the Litani River, and allowing northern residents to return to their homes safely.”
On Monday, Hezbollah rained around 190 rockets and drones on northern Israel, injuring seven people and damaging buildings and cars. The IDF said most of the rockets were either intercepted by air defenses or hit open areas.
Fighting along the northern border escalated significantly in September when Israel, after 11 months of Hezbollah cross-border fire, carried out a wave of heavy airstrikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders.
It then launched a ground invasion into southern Lebanon, aiming to push Hezbollah away from the border.
The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 41 civilians. In addition, 62 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 some 3,000 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.
Hezbollah has named 516 members who have been killed by Israel amid the fighting, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. These numbers have not been consistently updated since Israel began a new offensive against Hezbollah in September.
