Hezbollah launches 100-rocket barrage at northern Israel
Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets at the northern Golan Heights and the Galilee Panhandle on Tuesday morning, according to the Israel Defence Forces.
The Iranian terror proxy fired a 70-rocket barrage at the two areas at approximately 7 a.m., in one of the heaviest barrages since the start of the war. Just over an hour later, another 30 rockets were fired at the northern Golan.
No warning sirens were triggered by the second barrage.
No casualties or damage were reported from either barrage, with most of the projectiles either intercepted or hitting open areas.
In response, the IDF said that fighter jets struck three launchers used to fire rockets at the Golan Heights.
Also following the rocket attacks, the Israeli Air Force carried out a series of attacks on Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon, according to reports. The terrorist group’s Beirut-based Al-Manar TV station reported strikes in the Hasbiyeh and Khola areas and artillery fire directed towards Hula and Merkaba in Southern Lebanon, later in the morning reporting an Israeli strike on a house in Bint Jbeil.
The IDF later confirmed that IAF fighter jets targeted terrorist infrastructure in the area of Bint Jbeil and a military compound near Khiam.
Hezbollah took responsibility for the barrages, claiming to have fired “more than 100 Katyusha rockets” at an Israeli military base, barracks and artillery positions. The terrorist group said that it was in response to Monday’s Israeli strike on the Baalbek area of the Bekaa Valley that reportedly killed at least one civilian.
The terrorist group also claimed to have fired a Burkan missile at an Israeli outpost in the morning hours, saying it scored a direct hit.
IDF strikes Hezbollah compounds deep in Lebanon
Late on Monday, Israeli fighter jets attacked Hezbollah compounds deep inside Lebanese territory in the eastern Bekaa Valley, the IDF said.
“The sites belong to Hezbollah’s aerial forces that planned and carried out various attacks against the State of Israel,” the IDF said, adding that the attacks were in retaliation for Hezbollah sending explosives-laden suicide drones into the Golan Heights in recent days.
At least one civilian was killed and several others injured in four strikes in the Baalbek area, Reuters reported.
The IDF again attacked Hezbollah targets in the Bekaa Valley on Tuesday.
The IDF said that fighter jets struck two “military command centers” in the Baalbek area in response to the Hezbollah launches earlier in the day.
“Hezbollah used these sites to store significant assets used to strengthen its weapons arsenal,” the military said.
According to the Lebanese government’s National News Agency, one person died and another eight were wounded as a result of an Israeli strike on a residential building in Dhour Al-Ayroun, located between Al-Safari and Sarein. Another Israeli strike reportedly targeted a house on the outskirts of Nabi Chit.
The IDF said on Monday that two suspected drones from Lebanon hit open areas in the northern Golan Heights, with no reports of casualties or damage. Hezbollah in a statement said that the terrorist group had launched four explosive-laden drones at an IDF base in the area.
On Sunday, Hezbollah fired some 80 rockets at northern Israel.
“On the northern border, we are aware of the complex reality of the residents of the north. In the last two days, we struck a large number of targets and eliminated several terrorist cells,” IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Monday night.
“All this, alongside continuing to strengthen our readiness for war in the north.”
Nasrallah meets Hamas delegation
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah met recently with a Hamas delegation led by senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hiya, according to Ynet. Hezbollah said that the meeting dealt with “developments in Gaza and the West Bank, the supporting fronts and negotiations to stop the aggression in Gaza.”
Hezbollah has been launching near-daily attacks across the Israel-Lebanon border since Oct. 7, killing 17 people and causing extensive property damage. Some 62,000 Israelis have been evacuated from communities along the border.
The radical Shi’ite organization is part of the so-called Iran-led “Axis of Resistance,” which also includes Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis and other Iranian-backed terrorist groups in the Middle East.
Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, in Beirut on May 8, 2023. Photo by Mohammad Kassir/Shutterstock..
Gallant warns of wider war in Lebanon
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told senior White House envoy Amos Hochstein during a meeting in Tel Aviv last week that Hezbollah’s ongoing aggression was pushing Israel to a “critical point.”
His remarks echoed his warning back in November that Hezbollah was dragging Lebanon into a war, and that Lebanon’s civilian population would end up paying the price.
Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant during a press conference in Tel Aviv on Dec. 18, 2023. Credit: Chad McNeeley/U.S. Department of Defence.
“I am telling the citizens of Lebanon: The residents of Gaza are already walking with white flags and moving south. Hezbollah is dragging Lebanon into a possible war, and it is close to making a grave mistake,” said Gallant.
“The ones who will pay the price are the Lebanese people. What we are doing in Gaza we know how to do in Beirut,” added the minister.
“Our pilots are sitting in their cockpits, planes pointing north, and the air force’s power is huge,” he said.
