Man killed in Nahariya rocket barrage as US envoy comes to Jerusalem for truce talks

Medics say Braen Direktor, 27, was killed by shrapnel as he took cover; IDF strikes on Beirut and Tyre after US envoy leaves Lebanese capital to meet with Netanyahu

By Emanuel Fabian
and Agencies 21 November 2024, 4:30 pm Edit
Security and emergency services at the scene where a man was killed by a missile fired from Lebanon, in the northern city of Nahariya, November 21, 2024. (Fadi Amun/Flash90)
Security and emergency services at the scene where a man was killed by a missile fired from Lebanon, in the northern city of Nahariya, November 21, 2024. (Fadi Amun/Flash90)

A 27-year-old man was killed by a barrage of rockets on the northern city of Nahariya on Thursday as the US special envoy to the region held meetings with Israeli leaders in hopes of securing a ceasefire to end fighting with the Hezbollah terror group.

In Lebanon, airstrikes hit a Beirut suburb and other areas, including the coastal city of Tyre, and the Israel Defense Forces warned civilians in both places of more strikes to come.

The strikes came hours after US envoy Amos Hochstein left Lebanon for Israel, where he brought high hopes for a long-sought deal to a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday morning. He was scheduled to meet later Thursday with Defense Minister Israel Katz.

With fighting continuing for now, Hezbollah launched at least two dozen rockets into Israel’s north in a series of attacks, including a late morning bombardment in which at least 10 rockets were launched toward the northern coastal city of Nahariya, according to the IDF.

Medics said shrapnel from one rocket struck a playground in the city, killing a man who had apparently been taking cover next to a low wall, rescuers said.

He was declared dead at the scene, the Magen David Adom medical service said.

Braen Direktor, 27, who was killed November 21, 2024 by a Hezbollah rocket attack in Nahariya, in northern Israel. (Facebook, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The victim was named as Braen Direktor, a 27-year-old from the northern town of Maalot-Tarshiha.

Two women were also lightly injured during the rocket attack, MDA said.

The army said most of the rockets had been intercepted but impact sites were found in and around the city. According to Channel 12 news, three rockets hit the coastal town.

Some 25 rockets were fired at the north of the country over the morning, some of which were intercepted, the IDF said. A drone launched from Lebanon was also shot down by the Air Force over the Western Galilee, the IDF said.

Nahariya, a city of some 60,000 eight kilometers (five miles) from the Lebanese border, has been repeatedly attacked since fighting intensified in late September, including a strike there last week that killed two people.

Nahariya Mayor Ronan Marli told the Kan public broadcaster that retribution for Thursday’s strike should be “very heavy.”

“People are being killed here by rockets as they walk in the streets,” Marli said. “Until there is a signed agreement, we need to hit hard until they [Hezbollah] beg for an agreement.”

Hochstein’s arrival in Israel appeared to point to optimism that a deal may be coming together, after two days of talks in Lebanon that the US mediator said had notched significant progress and put a deal “within our grasp.”

The envoy has been nudging Israel and Hezbollah’s Lebanese interlocutor toward a deal that would end the war and bolster enforcement of a buffer zone in southern Lebanon meant to be free of Hezbollah arms. Among the remaining sticking points is Israel’s insistence that any deal allow the IDF to continue hitting Hezbollah if needed.

Ahead of Hochstein’s arrival in Israel, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said: “In any agreement we will reach, we will need to maintain freedom to act if there are violations.”

Hochstein held talks with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer Wednesday evening.

US special envoy Amos Hochstein gives a statement to the media after his meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP/Bilal Hussein)

Hochstein and Netanyahu were slated to meet in Jerusalem early Thursday afternoon, according to a Likud statement.

The meeting coincided with the International Criminal Court deciding to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defense chief Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza, a move likely to complicate international efforts to broker an agreement in Lebanon or the Strip.

Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah escalated into open war in September after months of near-daily drone and rocket fire from Hezbollah that drew Israeli reprisals.

In Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, Hochstein met twice with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation efforts on behalf of the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group.

Israel carried out successive rounds of heavy strikes in Hezbollah’s southern Beirut stronghold after Hochstein departed. The IDF warned people to evacuate the area before the strikes.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported “three violent strikes on Haret Hreik” neighborhood. Three strikes in the same area were also reported at dawn.

Several airstrikes were also reported in the coastal Lebanese city of Tyre. The strikes come shortly after the IDF issued evacuation orders for several neighborhoods, saying it was going to strike Hezbollah targets.

Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, published maps alongside the announcement, which called on civilians in Burj el-Shemali, al-Housh, and Maashouq to immediately evacuate and head north of the Awali River.

“Hezbollah’s terror activities force the IDF to act forcefully against it in these areas, and we do not intend to harm you. Anyone who is near Hezbollah elements, facilities, or weapons is putting his life in danger,” Adraee said.

It came after the IDF overnight launched airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs after a lull of a few days amid the visit by envoy Hochstein to Lebanon.

Before the strikes were carried out on the Hezbollah stronghold, the IDF had also issued evacuation warnings.

Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern Israeli towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Palestinian terror group Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in the south, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increasing rocket fire by the terror group.

The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 44 civilians. In addition, 71 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.

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