Jerusalem/Beirut, Sep 25
Israel's army has said that Hezbollah had fired around 300 rockets and other projectiles into Israel amid the second day of Israel's heaviest attacks on Lebanon since 2006.
An explosive drone fell in Atlit, a coastal town south of Haifa, northern Israel, marking the first time Hezbollah's rocket fire has reached this region, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday night, adding that two additional drones were launched toward the area but were intercepted. The drones caused no casualties, according to Israel's rescue services.
Most of the rockets were intercepted by Israel's aerial defence systems, the army said.
Hezbollah confirmed the attack in a statement, saying its fighters launched "an aerial operation with a squadron of assault drones against the headquarters of Israel's special naval task unit Shayetet 13 in the Atlit base, targeting the positions of its officers and soldiers and striking the targets precisely", news agency reported.
In other cases, rockets or parts of interceptor missiles that fell to the ground sparked fires in the Mount Meron area of Upper Galilee. In Rosh Pina, a town in Upper Galilee, a residential home was hit and extensively damaged.
Hospitals in the affected areas reported treating about 23 people, but later statements from Israel's Magen David Adom emergency health service indicated that those treated were suffering from panic, not physical injuries.
At nightfall, Israel launched a new wave of attacks in Lebanon. The Air Force "conducted a number of extensive strikes on dozens of terrorist targets belonging to Hezbollah in the Beqaa region and several other areas in southern Lebanon," the military said.