Jerusalem, Sep 15 (EFE).- The Israeli army detected on Sunday morning the launching of some 40 projectiles from Lebanon towards the areas of Upper Galilee and the occupied Golan Heights, most of which were intercepted or fell in open areas, without causing casualties.
“Israel’s fire and rescue services are currently operating to extinguish fires caused by fallen projectiles in open areas,” Israeli forces said in a statement.
Also among today’s attacks, the Army identified a drone that fell in the area of Metula, an evacuated Israeli town that is almost next to the border with Lebanon.
“There was no damage in the community area and no injuries were reported,” the forces said. The Shiite group Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, claimed responsibility for the attack on Metula, which the pro-Iranian militia said was aimed at a group of soldiers.
Hours later, Israeli aircraft confirmed that they had bombed around 20 rocket launchers and other Hezbollah infrastructure in Kharmaq, southern Lebanon, according to a military statement, which the army described as “an immediate threat to Israeli civilians.”
Two other drones launched from Lebanon also struck the Israeli-occupied northern Golan Heights, causing no damage to any nearby towns.
Israel has been engaged in a fierce exchange of fire with Hezbollah since the start of the war in Gaza, when the Lebanese group began firing rockets in solidarity, it said, with Palestinian militants in the strip.
On Saturday, another 55 projectiles were fired from Lebanon towards Israeli territory, causing no casualties, but there have been days with more than a hundred projectiles.
More than 650 people have been killed on both sides of the border since the start of the fighting, most of them on the Lebanese side and among the ranks of Hezbollah, which has confirmed some 400 casualties, some on Syrian soil. At least 128 civilians have also been killed in Lebanon, including 20 children, three journalists and several medical workers; in addition to some 77 members of other militias and two soldiers.
In Israel, 50 people have been killed in the north: 24 soldiers and 26 civilians, including 12 minors, in an attack in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
The Israeli government said last week that with its “missions” in Gaza almost complete, its focus is shifting to the north of the country, where the constant exchange of fire has forced some 57,000 people to live in evacuations, nearly 16,000 of them still in hotels some eleven months later. EFE
