Following a preliminary investigation conducted by the IDF regarding the death of Noa and Nir Baranes by a rocket attack on their vehicle in the Golan Heights on Tuesday, it appears that there was no attempt at interception.
The Air Force classifies the roads as "open areas"; therefore, they were not provided cover by the defense systems. Interceptors were not launched against the missiles sent from southern Lebanon.
Security officials claim that the Air Force, in particular, and the Home Front Command need to update the instructions to the public and accordingly place signage, instructions, and publications so that similar events do not happen.
Yesterday afternoon, a senior Hezbollah operative, Yasser Nimr Qarnabsh, was killed in a targeted counterattack in a vehicle on the Damascus road in Beirut. In the past, Qarnabsh was one of the security guards of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and, over the years, has held several high-up positions in the organization.
IDF was criticized for the minimal response
Within a few hours, Hezbollah operatives from southern Lebanon responded with a barrage of about 40 rockets. Despite the high vigilance of Israel's air defense system, one of them directly hit the vehicle in the Golan and caused the death of the Baranes couple.
Security officials have criticized the conduct of the IDF because, contrary to claims by senior IDF officers that they would avoid enabling Hezbollah to have fixed equations and would become more unpredictable, the Shiite organization manages to create fixed equations. For example, in response to painful attacks in southern Lebanon, it launches rocket barrages, and in yesterday's case, a deadly response.