IDF drone strike kills 2 Hezbollah members amid repeated rocket attacks from Lebanon
Military says fighter jets took out rocket launchers primed for attack on Israel; Hezbollah rockets impact in Kiryat Shmona without setting off sirens, no injuries reported
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israeli military on Wednesday killed two Hezbollah operatives in a drone strike in southern Lebanon, as the Iranian-backed terror group fired several rocket barrages at northern Israel over the course of the day.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the strike in the evening, after reports in Lebanese media said two people were killed and four critically injured in the attack.
Late Wednesday, Hezbollah confirmed the death of two operatives, saying that Muhammad Badreddine, from Harouf, and Hussein Chaito from at-Tiri, were killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” using its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.
Israeli fighter jets also struck Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon’s Houla that were primed for an attack on northern Israel, the IDF said Wednesday.
The military said that jets also struck buildings used by Hezbollah in Rab al-Thalathine, Blida, and Ayta ash-Shab, adding that a building used by Hezbollah in Naqoura, just across from the Israeli border, was struck by ground troops.
Lebanese authorities said the strike in Blida killed one person.
כלי טיס של חיל האוויר בהכוונת כוחות אוגדה 91, חיסל לפני זמן קצר שני מחבלים שפעלו במרחב מרג'עיון, בשטח דרום לבנון. בנוסף, מטוסי קרב תקפו מבנה צבאי המשויך לארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, במרחב עייתא א-שעב. כמו כן, בוצע ירי ארטילרי למרחב רמיש >> pic.twitter.com/4DpgYXJZUP
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 14, 2024
Hezbollah fired several rockets toward the Israeli border community of Manara Wednesday morning, which the IDF said struck open areas, causing no injuries.
Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted a military base in the area.
Sirens sounded in Kiryat Shmona and nearby towns later in the day, when a rocket fired from Lebanon was intercepted by air defenses, according to the IDF.
About an hour later, at about 4:30 p.m., Hezbollah fired two rockets from Lebanon into Kiryat Shmona, causing damage, according to the municipality.
A spokesman for the city said no sirens sounded before the rockets impacted. The attack caused no injuries.
Hezbollah fired several more rockets at Kiryat Shmona around 10 p.m., triggering sirens in the city and surrounding areas in the Galilee panhandle.
The rockets struck uninhabited areas and there were no reports of injuries, according to the army. The terror group confirmed launching the attack, saying it was aiming at an army barracks in response to the Israeli strike on Blida earlier in the day.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 26 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 410 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 71 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.
The northern front has yet to see the major escalation which the region has been bracing for some two weeks, since Israel killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in the wake of a deadly Hezbollah rocket attack that killed twelve children and young people in the Golan Heights.
The assassination of Shukr came hours before Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran, in a blast for which Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility. Both Iran and its proxy Hezbollah vowed to retaliate for the killings.
In Lebanon Wednesday, US special envoy Amos Hochstein sought to de-escalate the situation, meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally.
Hochstein urged Israel and Hamas to reach a hostage-ceasefire agreement to end the ongoing fighting in Gaza, which could also quiet the fighting with Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies.
“The deal would also help enable a diplomatic resolution here in Lebanon and that would prevent an outbreak of a wider war,” Hochstein said. “We have to take advantage of this window for diplomatic action and diplomatic solutions. That time is now.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
