Hezbollah launches dozens of rockets at north; drone from Lebanon intercepted
Lebanese terror group says barrages are response to recent IDF strikes, without mentioning killing of senior Radwan commander on Thursday
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Hezbollah launched some 65 rockets from Lebanon at northern Israel on Friday, according to the military, after a senior commander in the Lebanese terror group’s elite Radwan force was killed in an Israeli strike the night before.
A Hezbollah statement claiming responsibility for the rocket fire said the barrages were a response to recent IDF strikes in southern Lebanon, without specifically mentioning Thursday’s airstrike on Ali Jaafar Maatouk and other operatives.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, several of the rockets were shot down by the Iron Dome air defense system, while others impacted open areas.
No injuries were caused and troops shelled the launch sites with artillery, the IDF said.
Later, a rocket launcher used in one of the barrages against the community of Abirim was targeted in a drone strike, alongside a building used by the terror group, in southern Lebanon’s Ayta ash-Shab, the military said.
Meanwhile, the IDF said fighter jets struck Hezbollah weapons depots in Blida, Tayr Harfa and Houla. Another Hezbollah site was also struck in Houla, the IDF added.
Some 65 rockets were launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon at northern Israel today, the IDF says.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a series of barrages, in what it says was a response to recent IDF strikes in southern Lebanon.
According to the IDF, several rockets were shot… pic.twitter.com/0fNyXcDQ1B
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) July 19, 2024
In the morning, the military said a suspected drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon was shot down by air defenses. Sirens had sounded in the Galilee over fears of falling shrapnel. There were no injuries.
The drone attack from Lebanon came hours after a drone launched overnight by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck Tel Aviv, killing an Israeli and wounding several others.
The Houthis, along with other Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria, have claimed to have launched dozens of drones and cruise missiles at Israel during the ongoing war in Gaza sparked by Hamas’s devastating October 7 terror onslaught, while Lebanon’s Hezbollah has attacked communities and IDF positions in northern Israel on a near-daily basis.
So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 12 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 370 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 67 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.