On Monday, Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement claimed a slew of new attacks against Israeli troops in northern Israel using drones, artillery, and missiles.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, there have been daily exchanges of fire along the Israel-Lebanon border.
Hezbollah militants used “three attack drones” to target soldiers west of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel, the Iran-backed group said in a statement, adding shortly after that it had also targeted troops in the region with artillery fire.
Both statements claimed the attacks were “direct hits”.
Hezbollah claimed earlier Monday that it had fired “Burkan missiles” at an Israeli barracks, as well as a series of other attacks on Israeli positions.
The Israeli army stated that “three UAVs (drones) were identified striking adjacent” to an IDF location, but did not specify where. It went on to say that “no injuries were reported.”
According to a statement, “25 launches were identified from Lebanon toward several locations adjacent to the border,” and aircraft defenses “intercepted a number of the launches, with the remainder falling in open areas.”
In response to “launches toward Israeli territory,” “tanks, a fighter jet, and a helicopter struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure in Lebanon,” it said, while the army struck fighters attempting to fire “anti-tank missiles” in south Lebanon.
According to Israeli sources, deadly battles on Israel’s northern border began on October 7 when the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group Hamas stormed southern Israel, killing over 1,200 people and seizing approximately 240 prisoners.
Israel has sworn to destroy Hamas, and its following military campaign in Gaza has killed over 13,000 people, according to Hamas-run officials.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, announced last month that his organization, a Hamas partner, was employing new weapons against Israel, including Burkan missiles, which could carry “a payload of 300-500 kilogrammes” (660-1,100 pounds).
Nasrallah also stated that the group has used attack drones for the first time and has flown reconnaissance drones deep into Israel.
According to an AFP tally, at least 90 individuals have been killed on the Lebanese side in cross-border clashes since last month, the most of them were Hezbollah fighters but included at least ten civilians.
According to Israeli authorities, six troops and three civilians have been killed.
