5 killed, one seriously wounded in direct Hezbollah rocket strike near Metula
Strike hit apple orchard where the men were working; IDF issues evacuation orders in Lebanon’s Baalbek ahead of strikes
Five people were killed and one was seriously wounded on Thursday when a rocket fired from Lebanon struck an orchard near the northern town of Metula.
The victims were all agricultural laborers who had been working in the apple orchard at the time of the strike. One was an Israeli citizen, while the others were foreign nationals.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed in a short statement that two rockets had been fired from Lebanon at the Metula area, and said the details of the incident were being examined.
Their deaths bring the number of civilians killed in the last year of cross-border attacks on northern Israel to 37.
Following the attack, Metula local council head David Azoulay lambasted the country’s leaders for “normalizing the situation” in the north.
It wasn’t long before rocket warning sirens blared once more, this time in Karmiel and other communities across the Galilee region, as Hezbollah launched a barrage of some 30 rockets toward northern Israel.
Some of the projectiles were intercepted by air defenses, the IDF said, while others struck open areas. There were no reports of any injuries.
Meanwhile in Lebanon, the IDF issued a warning to all residents of northeast Lebanon’s Baalbek and surrounding suburbs to evacuate immediately ahead of airstrikes on Hezbollah sites.
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“You are in a combat zone where the IDF intends to attack and target Hezbollah infrastructure, assets, installations and weapons, and does not intend to harm you,” Col. Avichay Adraee said on X, attaching a map of the areas that will be targeted.
“Remaining in the red zone exposes you and your family members to danger,” he added.
Civilians were called to leave the area using the routes highlighted on the map.
Elsewhere in Lebanon, an Israeli drone strike hit a motorbike near the coastal town of Naqura, the country’s official National News Agency reported.
Another motorbike was hit in the eastern Beqaa Valley, it added.
A Lebanese security source, meanwhile, told AFP that one person was killed by an Israeli strike on a road where a Hezbollah van carrying munitions was hit the previous day.
The drone strike hit the Araya-Kahhale road, which links the capital Beirut to Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley, said the source, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
It targeted a car, killing the driver, the source said, without identifying the victim.
The IDF also said on Thursday that the commander of a Hezbollah anti-tank guided missile unit had been killed in a recent airstrike.
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According to the IDF, a strike carried out by fighter jets this week in the southern Lebanon village of Burj Qallawiyah killed Muhammad Khalil Alian.
Alian was the commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank array in the Hajjar regional unit, which is responsible for attacks on northern Israel’s Ramim Ridge region.
Meanwhile, the IDF said a Wednesday drone strike in Mazraat al-Yahoudiyeh, just north of Tyre, killed a cell of Hezbollah members who launched a missile at an Israeli Air Force unmanned aerial vehicle, adding that the UAV was not harmed in the incident.
The IAF released footage of the drone strike.
The strikes were carried out in tandem with the ongoing ground campaign in southern Lebanon, where the IDF’s 91st and 146th divisions are continuing to operate against Hezbollah.
The continued exchange of fire between Israel and the terror group in Lebanon came as senior US envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk were expected to meet their Israeli counterparts to discuss a possible deal to end the fighting in Lebanon and secure Israel’s northern borders, allowing tens of thousands of displaced residents to return home.
The Kan public broadcaster on Wednesday published the details of what it said was the draft agreement drawn up by the US for a ceasefire in Lebanon and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which forbids Hezbollah from maintaining a presence south of the Litani River.
If accurate, the draft agreement would allow Israel the freedom to operate against Hezbollah should it violate the agreement. Oversight in Lebanon would also be increased, with the establishment of a new International Monitoring and Enforcement Mechanism chaired by the US.
Since October 8, 2023, 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 against the Hamas terror group there.
Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught in southern Israel, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increasing rocket fire by the terror group.
The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 37 civilians. In addition, 61 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.
Two soldiers have been killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and there have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
The IDF estimates that more than 2,000 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups, along with hundreds of civilians, have also been reported killed in Lebanon.
Hezbollah has named 516 members who have been killed by Israel amid the fighting, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. These numbers have not been consistently updated since Israel began a new offensive against Hezbollah in September. PJC
Agencies contributed to this report.
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