New Fires Erupt In Israel After Hezbollah Sends 200 Rockets, Drone Swarms

Large wildfires are once again raging in northern Israel’s Galilee region after on Thursday Hezbollah launched a particularly intense barrage of 200 rockets as well as drone swarms.

Some of the fires are believed the result of burning fragments from interceptor shrapnel which fell as anti-air defenses are heavily at work. Soon after, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sent a stern warning and message to all of Lebanon, sending jets over Beirut which broke the sound barrier. This happened in other parts of the country as well.

Emergency crews work to extinguish fires in Israel, Flash90/TOI

The IDF further said the Air Force “struck Hezbollah military structures” in south Lebanon’s Ramyeh and Houla areas. Casualties – whether among militants or civilians – were not immediately known.

Throughout Thursday fires have raged in at least ten locations in the Galilee and Golan Heights areas due to the ramped up Hezbollah attacks.

Israeli emergency and civic services have reported that at least one highway in the area has been blocked as a result of the fast encroaching fires.

Just the day prior, on Wednesday, Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon, Muhammad Nimah Nasser, and Thursday’s huge rocket barrage is seen as retaliation for that.

Via Reuters

Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine warned while speaking at Nasser’s funeral, “The series of responses continues in succession, and this series will continue to target new sites that the enemy did not imagine would be hit.”

These ‘new sites’ could include strikes as deep into Israel as Haifa, which would mark a much bigger escalation in attacks. Last month Hezbollah published drone surveillance footage taken over Israel’s port city of Haifa in an effort to spook Tel Aviv leaders.