The IDF said it failed to intercept projectile fired from Lebanon, investigating why the sirens did not warn of the drone’s approach; Hezbollah did not immidiately take responsibility.
A drone launched from Lebanon, likely by the Hezbollah, impacted in Jezreel Valley, near Nazareth, in northern Israel on Friday afternoon, the Israeli military said.
It took the Israel Defense Forces eight hours to provide an update on the incident, during which an interceptor missile was launched and sirens had sounded in towns adjacent to Nazareth.
According to the IDF, it carried out a failed attempt to intercept the drone before the aircraft impacted in the area, causing major damage. Residents of the area reported seeing an Iron Dome missile launch.
Sirens warning of incoming rockets had sounded in Reineh, Kafr Kanna, Mashhad, and Nof HaGalil during the incident, amid fears of falling shrapnel following the interception.
There were no sirens warning of an incoming drone amid the incident.
The incident potentially marked the deepest Hezbollah attack in Israel amid the war, with the projectile hitting an area some 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the border. The previous deepest attack occurred last month, when a Hezbollah drone struck a military facility some 35 kilometers (21 miles) from the Lebanon border.
Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for Friday’s drone.
At the same time as the incident near Nazareth, a second drone struck an area near the border community of Shomera, the military added.
As usual Israel claims no injuries caused by either drone.
On Friday evening, the military said two rockets launched from Lebanon struck open areas near Matat, setting off sirens in the border community. Sirens a short while earlier in the Western Galilee warning of a suspected drone infiltration were a false alarm, the IDF said.
Earlier Friday, the IDF said Israeli fighter jets struck buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Jabal Rezlane, and in the towns of Ramyeh and Kafr Kila overnight.
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Hezbollah began carrying out near-daily attacks on Israeli communities and military posts on October 8, saying it was doing so to support Gaza as Israel launched an offensive to eliminate Hamas following it’s October 7 retaliatory attack.
The resistance group in recent months has increasingly been using explosive-laden drones, alongside anti-tank guided missiles and barrages of rockets.
The skirmishes on the border have resulted in the deaths of 15 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria with huge damages.
Hezbollah has named 331 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 62 operatives from other resistance groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed by Israeli attacks.
Israel has expressed openness to a diplomatic solution to the conflict, but has threatened to go to war against Hezbollah to restore security to the north of Israel, where tens of thousands of civilians are currently displaced.
