IDF strikes deep in Lebanon after Hezbollah bombards Safed area with over 60 rockets
Terror group claims attacks in response to previous IDF strikes in southern Lebanon; Hezbollah weapon depots in northeastern Lebanon destroyed in strikes
On Saturday evening, the IDF said it carried out airstrikes deep in Lebanon, targeting what it said were Hezbollah weapons depots in the Beqaa Valley and Baalbek region.
The Israel Defense Forces launched airstrikes deep in Lebanon on Saturday, after the Hezbollah terror group bombarded northern Israel with over 60 rockets, including a barrage launched in the early morning hours.
The rocket attacks marked the second day in a row that Hezbollah has targeted the Safed area, though the terror group has claimed to have targeted nearby Israeli military bases.
Safed lies some 13 kilometers (eight miles) from the border with Lebanon, and unlike many communities nearer the frontier, the city of some 38,000 remains largely inhabited, with attacks that deep into Israel relatively uncommon.
In the first attack at around 1 a.m., the Israel Defense Forces said a salvo of five rockets was fired from Lebanon toward the Safed area. Sirens had sounded in the northern city and several other towns.
The IDF said air defenses intercepted some of the five rockets and others hit open areas.
Later in the morning, two barrages were launched at the Safed area, the first with 20 rockets and the second with some 35, the IDF said.
The military said that air defenses intercepted several of the rockets and others hit open areas. Some of the impacts in open areas sparked fires.
There were no injuries in the attacks.
In statements claiming the attacks, Hezbollah said that it had launched barrages as revenge for Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Friday, which the IDF said targeted sites used by the terror group and its operatives.
The Iran-backed group claimed to have targeted military bases near the northern communities of Amiad and Elifelet, south of Safed.
Also early Saturday, the IDF said a drone launched from Lebanon was intercepted by air defenses after sirens sounded in the Western Galilee town of Gornot HaGalil.
Later Saturday, two drones launched from Lebanon impacted an area north of Kiryat Shmona, the IDF said.
There were no reports of injuries in the attacks, also claimed by Hezbollah.
A short while after the morning barrages, one of the rocket launchers used in the attack was destroyed in a drone strike, the military said. Another airstrike targeted a launcher used in an overnight barrage.
A separate strike hit a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Kfar Roummane, the IDF added.
Later in the day, Israeli fighter jets struck a building in southern Lebanon’s Blida where the IDF said it identified a group of Hezbollah operatives.
Another building used by Hezbollah in Blida was also hit, the military added.
On Saturday evening, the IDF said it carried out airstrikes deep in Lebanon, targeting what it said were Hezbollah weapons depots in the Beqaa Valley and Baalbek region.
Some of the strikes were reported by Lebanese media near the Syrian village of Hawsh al-Sayyid Ali, adjacent to Lebanon’s Hermel District, some 140 kilometers (85 miles) from Israel.
Additional strikes targeted weapons depots and buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the IDF added.
The military released footage of the strikes.
Earlier in the day, Lebanese media reported casualties in an alleged Israeli drone strike on a motorcycle in the coastal village of Sarafand, south of Sidon.
There was no immediate comment from the IDF on the strike.
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 20 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 440 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. Another 78 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have also been killed.
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