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| Hezbollah rockets sparked fires in several locations in northern Israel on Wednesday |
Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement has fired multiple barrages of rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike that killed one of its senior commanders. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported identifying more than 200 projectiles that crossed the border on Wednesday. Some caused fires, but no casualties were reported.
This escalation followed a vow from a top Hezbollah official to increase the intensity, force, and quantity of its attacks. The statement was made at the funeral of Taleb Sami Abdullah, a field commander targeted in a strike in southern Lebanon on Tuesday night.
Exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border have occurred almost daily since the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began on October 7. Hezbollah has stated its actions are in support of the Palestinian group. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are designated as terrorist organizations by Israel, the UK, and other countries.
According to Lebanese authorities and the UN, more than 375 people have been killed in Lebanon, including at least 88 civilians, while the Israeli military reports that 18 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed in Israel. The hostilities have also displaced tens of thousands from border communities in northern Israel and southern Lebanon.
Israeli media described Hezbollah's rocket and missile fire on Wednesday as "unprecedented" since the conflict's escalation eight months ago. Sirens sounded across northern Israel throughout the morning, with more than 170 projectiles identified as crossing from Lebanon. Some were intercepted, while others caused fires in northern Israel.
The IDF responded by striking launchers in the southern Lebanese border areas of Yaroun and Hanine, as well as "terrorist infrastructure sites" in Yater. Subsequent strikes targeted Yater again, as well as Taybeh, Markaba, Rachaya al-Foukhar, and Tallouseh, following new launches towards northern Israel.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli air strikes destroyed a house in Yater, injuring one person. It also mentioned that warplanes and drones targeted Markaba and that phosphorus shells were fired towards Odaisseh. By late afternoon, the total number of projectiles launched from Lebanon had reached 215, according to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper. The Israeli Fire and Rescue Authority stated that the fires sparked by the rockets had endangered "strategic sites and facilities." Firefighters, volunteers, park rangers, and soldiers were close to controlling the blazes in the northern communities of Biriya, Kadita, Ein Zeitim, and Tziv'on.
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| Hezbollah vowed to escalate its attacks on Israel in response to what it called the "assassination" of commander Taleb Abdullah |
Hezbollah announced it carried out at least 17 operations against Israel on Wednesday, including eight in retaliation for the "assassination" of Taleb Abdullah and three other fighters. The group's targets included Israeli military headquarters in Ein Zeitim and Ami'ad, a military air surveillance station in Meron, and a "military factory" in Sasa.
Speaking to hundreds of mourners at Abdullah’s funeral in Beirut, Hashem Safieddine, head of Hezbollah's Executive Council, stated that Israel had "not learned from past experiences." He asserted, "Experience has proven that the more leaders are martyred, the more stable and entrenched the resistance becomes. We will increase our operations in intensity, strength, quantity, and quality."
The IDF reported that Abdullah and three other Hezbollah operatives were killed in a strike on a Hezbollah command-and-control center in the village of Jouaiyya on Tuesday night. They described Abdullah as "one of Hezbollah’s most senior commanders in southern Lebanon" and accused him of planning and executing "a large number of terror attacks against Israeli civilians."
Lebanese security sources told Reuters that Abdullah was Hezbollah’s commander for the central region of the southern border strip and was more senior than Wissam Tawil, a commander of the elite Radwan Force killed in an Israeli strike in January.
In response to rocket fire last week that caused wildfires burning through 3,500 acres of land in northern Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated his government was prepared for "a very strong action in the north," adding, "One way or another we will restore security."
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi affirmed that his forces were "ready to move to an offensive" against Hezbollah.
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