After overnight sirens were activated in Tiberias, Kfar Hittim and Mitzpe in the Lower Galilee, fire from Lebanon resumed toward northern communities shortly after 6 a.m. Alerts sounded in Kfar Yuval, Ma’ayan Baruch, Kfar Giladi, Manara and Margaliot in the Upper Galilee over a suspected drone infiltration.
IDF destroys a Hezbollah rocket launcher
(Video: IDF)
Rocket alerts later sounded in Margaliot and Manara, followed by additional drone infiltration alerts in several Upper Galilee communities, including Kiryat Shmona. Shortly before 7 a.m., rocket alerts were activated in Ma’alot-Tarshiha and surrounding areas.
The IDF said an interceptor was launched at a suspicious aerial target fired toward Israeli territory. The Air Force also intercepted one launch fired from Lebanon. No injuries or damage were reported.
Sunday saw a significant escalation in fire from Lebanon toward northern communities, with Hezbollah terrorists expanding the range of their launches and making heavy use of explosive drones and UAVs. In the evening, four people were lightly to moderately wounded when an explosive drone hit near Moshav Beit Hillel in the Galilee Panhandle.
Other launches exploded in open areas, sparking a fire near Kibbutz Dan. Heavy property damage was also reported in several Galilee communities.
As Hezbollah expanded the range of its fire, several rockets were launched toward the Nahariya area. Some were intercepted by the Air Force, while others landed in open areas. At the same time, numerous alerts over suspected drone infiltrations were activated in several communities. In the Galilee Panhandle and Golan Heights, many launches were identified crossing the border. Some were successfully intercepted, while others exploded in open areas.
Alongside alerts in cities, sirens sounded throughout Sunday in smaller communities along the confrontation line, where schools will also remain closed Monday under stricter Home Front Command instructions that took effect over the weekend.
The IDF said Sunday night that 900 Hezbollah terrorists have been killed since the ceasefire went into effect about a month and a half ago.
“Since the morning, the IDF has struck Hezbollah terror organization infrastructure in Tyre and additional areas in southern Lebanon,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said Sunday.
“At the same time as our forces deepen operations on the Beaufort ridge, the IDF has struck weapons depots, staffed command centers and additional Hezbollah terror infrastructure in the Tyre area and other areas of southern Lebanon,” the army said. “The depots that were struck were used by the organization’s terrorists to advance and carry out terror plans against IDF forces.”
The IDF announced Sunday that Staff Sgt. Michael Tyukin, 21, a Givati reconnaissance soldier from Ashkelon, was killed Saturday by an explosive drone in southern Lebanon. Four other soldiers were lightly wounded in the same incident. Tyukin, the 13th soldier killed since the Lebanon “ceasefire” went into effect, will be laid to rest Monday at 5 p.m. at the military cemetery in Ashkelon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that security would return to residents of the north, but that “it will take more time.” Netanyahu made the remarks after the IDF announced the capture of Beaufort, a move he described as “a dramatic stage and a dramatic change in policy.”