Hezbollah Launches 215 Rockets Targeting Northern Israel

Northern Israel was targeted with an intense barrage of rockets, missiles, and drones by Hezbollah on Wednesday. This significant escalation followed the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) killing a senior Hezbollah commander in an airstrike the previous night.

In what was the largest attack by Hezbollah during the ongoing conflict at the Lebanon border amid the Gaza Strip war, around 215 rockets, missiles, and drones were launched at northern Israel. The group stated the assault was in retaliation for the death of their top commander, Taleb Abdullah.

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At a funeral procession in Beirut, senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine vowed that the group would increase the intensity and quantity of its attacks against Israel. "If the enemy is screaming and moaning about what happened to it in northern Palestine, let him prepare himself to cry and wail," Safieddine declared.

The attacks began early Wednesday with a salvo of at least 90 rockets targeting several northern Israeli areas, including Tiberias, Safed, and Rosh Pina, forcing tens of thousands of residents into shelters during the Shavuot holiday. Following this, 70 more rockets were launched at the Mount Meron area, which houses a critical air traffic control base. Additionally, ten rockets struck Kibbutz Zar’it, and an anti-tank missile damaged a factory in Kibbutz Sasa.

Later in the morning, a drone from Lebanon exploded in an open area near Zivon. In the afternoon, more rockets were fired at the upper and western Galilee regions.

Many of the rockets have been intercepted 

The IDF reported that many of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, preventing injuries. However, several impacts ignited fires across northern Israel. Fire and Rescue Service mobilized 25 firefighting teams and eight planes to extinguish blazes near Amiad, in the Ein Zeitim forest, and near Beit Jann. Tensions at the Israel-Lebanon border remain high.