Hezbollah rockets pummel swaths of Israel as IDF vows to eliminate group’s drone unit
Sirens set off across central, northern Israel as impacts hit Karmiel; Israel says it killed head of group’s anti-tank missiles, promises ‘forceful response’ to deadly drone strike
Rockets fired by Hezbollah continued to pummel Israel throughout Monday, setting off sirens as far south as Ness Ziona, as Israel continued to strike in Lebanon, after a drone strike a day earlier killed four IDF soldiers.
Dozens of rockets targeted Israel throughout the day, as fierce fighting continued in southern Lebanon between IDF troops and Hezbollah, while the Israeli Air Force carried out a rare strike in northern Lebanon and the IDF set a goal of completely eliminating the terror group’s drone operations.
Mid-morning, around 10 rockets were fired at the Haifa area, and the IDF said that most were intercepted and some fell in open areas. Not long afterward, a barrage of rockets set off sirens in Netanya, Baqa al-Gharbiyye and several dozens surrounding towns. The IDF said it intercepted all of the rockets fired from Lebanon, and no injuries were reported.
In mid-afternoon a barrage of 15 rockets was fired toward Karmiel in the Galilee. The IDF said that most were intercepted, although several impact sites were reported, including a rocket hitting a parked vehicle, setting it on fire. There were no injuries in the barrage, according to Magen David Adom.
In the early evening, three rockets fired from Lebanon set off a wide swath of sirens across central Israel, from as far north as Pardes Hanna all the way along the coast to Rishon Lezion, including Netanya, Tel Aviv, and Holon and dozens of surrounding towns. No injuries were reported and all three rockets were intercepted, the IDF said, adding that it was striking the launchers in Lebanon in response.
Meanwhile, the IDF said Monday afternoon that it had killed Muhammad Kamel Naim, the head of the anti-tank missile array of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, in an airstrike in southern Lebanon’s Nabatiyeh.
כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקף במרחב נבטיה שבלבנון, וחיסל את המחבל מחמד כאמל נעים, מפקד מערך טילי הנ"ט ביחידת רדואן של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה >> pic.twitter.com/ikeTmhjwxG
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 14, 2024
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his US counterpart Lloyd Austin, during a call Sunday night after the dealy Hezbollah drone strike on a Golani Brigade training base near Binyamina, that there would be a “forceful response” against the Lebanese terror group.
In the wake of that attack, the IDF has set a goal of completely eliminating Hezbollah’s Unit 127, responsible for its UAV production, maintenance and operation, The Times of Israel has learned. The effort to kill every member of the unit will now take priority in terms of intelligence collection and airstrikes.
The drone that killed the four soldiers and injured dozens last night was part of a multi-pronged aerial attack. There were short-range rockets fired at the north, three precision rockets fired toward Haifa, and three drones. One of the drones was shot down by the navy, another by Iron Dome. The third was pursued by Israeli jets and helicopters, which fired at it twice, but after it dropped off the radar, it was assumed to have crashed, and therefore no sirens sounded before the attack.
Also Monday, a reported Israeli airstrike on a town in northern Lebanon killed at least 18 people, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.
The strike hit a small apartment building in the village of Aitou, in one of the northernmost strikes since Israel launched its offensive in Lebanon. Hezbollah is mainly present in the south of the country and the southern suburbs of Beirut.
However, reports said Israel may have targeted a senior Hezbollah leader in the village. There was no immediate comment from the IDF on the strike.
The IDF said Monday afternoon that over the past day, ground forces and the IAF had killed dozens of Hezbollah operatives in close combat and in airstrikes. The IAF struck 200 targets in the past 24 hours, including rocket launchers, anti-tank missile positions, military outposts and weapons caches, according to the IDF.
Later Monday, the military said that troops from the 8th Reserve Brigade, operating on the eastern side of southern Lebanon, took over an underground complex belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force. The complex, which includes 800 meters of tunnels, is situated under a civilian village, the army said, and includes a bedroom and a fully stocked kitchen.
According to IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari, the complex was designed for a Radwan battalion to arrive, suit up, then head into Israel on foot and on motorbikes. IDF forces captured the complex late last week and found anti-helicopter missiles, mortar shells, rifles and other munitions.
Hezbollah on Monday claimed its fighters had launched rockets at a naval base near Haifa and were “engaged in violent clashes” in the Lebanese frontier village of Aita al-Shaab, saying an Israeli troop carrier had been targeted “with a guided missile.”
A year of cross-border violence between Israel and Lebanon sharply escalated in mid-September after the widespread explosions of Hezbollah communications devices in an operation widely attributed to but not officially claimed by Israel. Rocket fire from Lebanon has intensified and Hezbollah has expanded its range, targeting Tel Aviv several times and once aiming rockets at Jerusalem but hitting the outskirts. Israeli airstrikes have also expanded and the IAF has repeatedly struck targets in southern Beirut, a noted Hezbollah stronghold.
On September 30, Israeli troops began what the IDF said was a limited ground operation in southern Lebanon, during which 12 Israeli soldiers have been killed. For the past year, Hezbollah meticulously updated the terror group’s casualties, but it has not updated its figures in more than a month, with Israel claiming to take out dozens of its most senior leadership, including the group’s chief, Hassan Nasrallah, as well as hundreds of fighters.
Agencies contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.