IDF launches ‘extensive’ strikes against Hezbollah in 10 areas of southern Lebanon

Attacks follow day of rockets raining on Katzrin in Golan, wounding 1 and causing heavy damage; visiting site, Ben Gvir demands response ‘in most unequivocal, clearest way’

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted a Hezbollah site in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024. (Rabih Daher/ AFP)
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted a Hezbollah site in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024. (Rabih Daher/ AFP)

The IDF said Thursday that it carried out “extensive” airstrikes against Hezbollah terror group sites in southern Lebanon overnight, as the spiraling violence between the two sides showed no sign of losing momentum.

Attacks carried out by fighter jets targeted weapon depots, buildings used by Hezbollah and a rocket launcher, in 10 areas of southern Lebanon, according to an update from the military.

The widespread strikes come in response to a Hezbollah barrage of 50 rockets the previous day at the northern town of Katzrin that caused significant damage and wounded an Israeli man.

Meanwhile, rocket and drone alert sirens sounded in the border town of Kiryat Shmona and a number of other communities in the Galilee on Thursday morning. No injuries were reported.

The widespread IDF strikes also came a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at Israel’s offensive capabilities in the north, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for a harsh response to the Hezbollah attack on Katzrin.

Most of the projectiles fired by Hezbollah were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, but several hit Katzrin, causing heavy damage to homes and injuring a man in his 30s.

The 33-year-old sustained superficial shrapnel injuries to the body and face and was in mild to moderate condition, Ziv Medical Center said. He also had a foot fracture, but was fully conscious.

A home in Katzrin that was directly hit in a rocket attack from Lebanon, August 21, 2024. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

Visiting the Golan Heights town on Wednesday, Ben Gvir demanded a harsh response to Hezbollah and greater influence over the management of the cross-border conflict in the north.

“One of the reasons I am so demanding to enter the limited cabinet is what is happening here now,” the ultranationalist minister declared in Katzrin. “You also have to attack, you also have to make a campaign. This is the opportunity we must not miss.”

“The State of Israel needs to respond in the most unequivocal, clearest way,” he added.

Ben Gvir has repeatedly demanded inclusion in the now-defunct war cabinet, though Netanyahu has consistently refused his demands and is widely regarded as deeply distrusting of the firebrand Otzma Yehudit leader due to his tendency to leak information to the press.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the scene of a direct hit from a missile attack in Katzrin, Golan Heights, on August 21, 2024. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

During a visit to the Ramat David Air Force base near Haifa on Wednesday, Netanyahu said that Israel is “ready for any scenario, both on the defensive and on the attack.”

Netanyahu called the IAF “our iron fist that can strike the soft underbelly of our enemies,” apparently hinting at Hezbollah tunnels that the group revealed in a propaganda video last week.

He said that the Air Force has repeatedly undertaken heroic missions, “and if necessary, will do so again.”

Netanyahu received a briefing from IAF’s chief of staff and the head of its air defense array on preparations for dealing with threats from the north and beyond.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the Ramat David Air Force base near Haifa, August 21, 2024. (Haim Zach/GPO)

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Wednesday that the Hezbollah rocket barrage was directed at the town of Katzrin, and not at a military base as the terror group had claimed.

“Hezbollah launched some 50 rockets this morning at the center of the city of Katzrin. Once again, Hezbollah is firing indiscriminately at Israeli civilians,” Hagari wrote on X. “Like any country that protects its citizens, we will act accordingly.”

Later Wednesday evening, the IDF said that fighter jets struck a cell of Hezbollah operatives that launched rockets at the northern community of Zar’it. According to the military, which provided footage of the strike, the operatives were spotted at a building in southern Lebanon’s Chihine.

Another airstrike targeted a building used by Hezbollah in Kafr Kila, the IDF added.

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 against the Hamas terror group there.

So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 19 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 420 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 73 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.

Lazar Berman and Sam Sokol contributed to this report.

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