Hezbollah fired its deepest barrage into Israel since the beginning of the current war, with four rounds of over 150 rockets, cruise missiles, and drones fired into the Jezreel Valley in the early hours of Sunday morning, the IDF confirmed.
Alerts were sounded in and around Haifa, the Ramat David airbase, Nazareth, Afula, the lower Galilee, and the Jezreel Valley.
Following the barrage, the IDF stated that they were conducting strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
As a result of the assault on northern Israel, six people were wounded, and they were evacuated to the Emek Medical Center in Afula, the Medical Center announced. Magen David Adom (MDA) teams were called to treat four individuals with shrapnel injuries, including a 76-year-old man in moderate condition, as well as a 70-year-old man, a 60-year-old man, and a 16-year-old girl in moderate condition.
Two houses were hit in Kiryat Bialik following a fourth wave of rocket attacks from Lebanon, according to Israeli media.
Initial reports also stated that one person had been killed and that most of the casualties were from a car accident resulting from panic from the rocket fire.
Army Radio and Israeli state broadcaster KAN reported that Hezbollah specifically targeted the Ramat David base near Haifa for the first time in the war. Hezbollah confirmed this, stating it had targeted the Ramat David base and airport in response to Israel Air Force (IAF) strikes in Beirut, which killed some of its top commanders.
The targeting of Ramat David follows Hezbollah’s publishing of drone footage of the IDF Ramat David base in July. The Ramat David base is about 46 km. (28.6 mi.) from Israel’s border with Lebanon.
The impact of the Lebanese terror group’s counterattack so far, while much farther and potentially deadlier than its general attacks limited to the Upper Galilee and Golan, has been significantly less than expected by the IDF and the general public, given its pre-war arsenal of 150,000 rockets.
Hezbollah’s terrorism targets civilians.Hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians spent their night hiding in bomb shelters, while barrages of rockets were flying over their heads, some hitting their homes, and rocket alert sirens were constantly sounding throughout the night.… pic.twitter.com/2XzgAQQ7Fp
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 22, 2024
Its attempts to perpetrate graver damage and larger casualties deeper into Israel come following a whirlwind week in which the IDF destroyed over 400 rocket launchers, many thousands of rockets, killed Hezbollah’s special forces Radwan chief and around 16 of his deputies, and has been accused of wounding around 3,000-4,000 Hezbollah operatives using explosive device sabotage.
The IDF said that it would continue massive strikes on Hezbollah&rsquo's capabilities, mostly focused on southern Lebanon in response.
‼️ Hezbollah barrage sees direct hit in Nazareth as nearly 70 cities under fire Hezbollah terrorist rockets. pic.twitter.com/iDdsh2i0bP
— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) September 21, 2024
Israel’s goal remains to deter Hezbollah into a ceasefire and to achieve some kind of removal of Radwan forces from southern Lebanon, while the Lebanese organization’s goal remains to maintain rocket fire on the Jewish state until a deal is reached with Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar.
Hezbollah specifically targeted the Ramat David base near Haifa for the first time in the war.
The Lebanese organization later confirmed this, saying it had targeted the Ramat David base and airport “with dozens of Fadi 1, Fadi 2, and Katyusha missiles” in response to the pager and walkie-talkie attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Hezbollah's response to pager attack attributed to Israel
Hezbollah rockets struck Moshav Sde Ya’akov, and a fire broke out from another rocket in Kfar Baruch. The Emek Jezreel Regional Council said that one hit caused minor property damage in the area.
One rocket struck Nazareth, and a large fire broke out elsewhere in the city. MDA reported that a 60-year-old man was slightly wounded by shrapnel in the Lower Galilee.
A barn was struck in Beit She’arim, in the lower Galilee, resulting in the deaths of several cows in the third barrage, KAN and Army Radio reported. At least one other rocket also struck another unidentified area, the IDF confirmed.
Israel Police urged the public to stay away from rocket shrapnel or fragments, as they may contain explosive material.
According to KAN, residents of Kiryat Tivon said they were unable to access public shelters because they were locked.
Al Hadath, a Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese outlet, reported that Hezbollah fired 100 rockets towards Haifa and the Upper Galilee, however, the IDF claimed it was fewer. Sometimes Hezbollah will fire rockets, but many of them do not cross the border, which could account for some of the discrepancy.
At around 2 a.m., Hezbollah reported Israeli air force jets over southern Lebanon.
The UN’s Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, issued a statement on the development, saying, “It cannot be overstated enough, there is no military solution that will make either side safer.”
New Home Front Command guidelines
The Home Front Command issued new defensive guidelines on Saturday and again early Sunday that limited gatherings to 30 people outdoors and 300 indoors from Haifa and northward, and then closed all educational settings in those areas.
There were no changes southward of Haifa, but the Home Front Command said this could change at any time based on upcoming Hezbollah attacks
According to Israeli media, these are the first alarms to be activated in Afula in more than nine months.The IDF spokesman said that the incident is being investigated.
The targeting of Ramat David follows Hezbollah's publishing of drone footage of the IDF Ramat David base in July. The Ramat David base is about 46 km (28.6 mi) from Israel's border with Lebanon.
This is a developing story.