Two injured in drone attack near Metula; Hezbollah claims to target military position
Explosive UAV attack comes after Israeli strikes on terror group’s sites deep in Lebanon; 30 rockets also fired at north
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Two Israelis were hurt by an explosive-laden drone launched by the Hezbollah terror group from Lebanon at northern Israel on Monday.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the drone struck an area near the northern community of Metula. Hezbollah in a statement claimed to have targeted an Israeli military position.
The IDF did not immediately release details on the casualties.
Shortly before the drone attack, the military said it struck some 15 buildings and infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force at a compound in south Lebanon’s al-Lwaiza.
Earlier, a barrage of some 30 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Golan Heights, the IDF said. There were no injuries in the salvo, and the military said it shelled the launch sites with artillery.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it launched dozens of rockets at an army base in the Golan Heights in response to an earlier IDF strike in northeastern Lebanon.
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah compound in the Sefri area near northeastern Lebanon’s Baalbek, the military said Monday morning.
Three people were lightly wounded in the strike, according to Lebanese media.
Baalbek, an area identified in the past as a Hezbollah stronghold, is around 100 kilometers from the Israeli border.
The strike came after Hezbollah launched more than 60 rockets at northern Israel on Sunday.
The IDF said it also struck Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon’s Ramyeh, Ayta ash-Shab, Marwahin, and Jabal Blat on Sunday night.
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 on the border have resulted in nine civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 11 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 290 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 56 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 60 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.
Israel has threatened to go to war to force Hezbollah away from the border if it does not retreat and continues to threaten northern communities, from where some 70,000 people have been evacuated to avoid the fighting.
In a separate incident overnight, Israeli fighter jets shot down a drone that was heading toward Israel from “the eastern direction,” the military said.
The IDF said the aircraft had been tracked throughout the incident, and there was no threat to civilians.
It did not elaborate on where the drone was shot down.
The incident came as the Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed to have launched two drones at Israel overnight, targeting two military positions, including a base in Eilat.
Amid the war, several drones have been launched at Israel by Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria. Iran itself also carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel last month with hundreds of drones and missiles.
