Sirens sounded again and again across northern Israel on Saturday, from Metula in the Galilee Panhandle to Rosh Hanikra near the coast, as the ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon remained in force only formally.
In the Western Galilee, alerts continued repeatedly over the past hour, sending residents back into protected spaces several times. The IDF later said that after alerts were activated over a suspected hostile aircraft infiltration in several areas of northern Israel, two suspicious aerial targets had been identified.
The military did not say whether the targets were intercepted. In practice, it appeared contact with them had been lost.
Earlier, the IDF said that a suspicious aerial target had fallen near Kibbutz Adamit in the Western Galilee. No injuries were reported.
An explosive drone also detonated at the Rosh Hanikra tourist site without triggering a siren, the second such incident there in 10 days. Despite that, the IDF said some of Saturday’s alerts were caused by false identification of suspicious aerial targets.
The daily reality for northern residents continued through the holiday. On Friday night, a siren warning of a possible drone infiltration sounded in Misgav Am. Three minutes later, another sounded in Margaliot, and 10 minutes after that, Misgav Am was alerted again.
After those alerts, explosive drones were found to have detonated near the border, inside Israeli territory.
In its official statement, the IDF referred to them as “suspicious aerial targets,” saying: “The Air Force intercepted two suspicious aerial targets that were launched from Lebanese territory toward Israeli territory. In addition, several impacts of suspicious aerial targets were identified in the area of the border with Lebanon. The details are under review.”
Despite the declared ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, and against the backdrop of U.S.-Iran negotiations and direct talks with the Lebanese government, fighting between the IDF and terrorist organizations in southern Lebanon has continued.
IDF strikes in Lebanon
IDF Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings earlier Saturday for the villages of al-Mahmoudiya, Mlekh, Sabil, al-Qatrani and Houmine al-Fawqa in southern Lebanon.
Several evacuation warnings were also issued Friday, followed by Israeli strikes on Hezbollah buildings.
Early Friday morning, IDF observation forces identified two armed terrorists several hundred meters from the Israeli border in southern Lebanon. The military said that immediately after they were identified, and while forces maintained continuous surveillance, the gunmen were attacked and killed in an airstrike.
The IDF said subsequent searches found no evidence of any additional suspicious presence in the area. “The IDF maintains continuous contact with the communities and will update on any development,” the military said.
Separately, the IDF operated Saturday to return five Israelis who had crossed the border into Lebanese territory.
“The force operating at the point returned all the civilians to Israeli territory and detained them,” the IDF said. “The IDF strongly condemns their crossing and emphasizes that this is a serious incident, a criminal offense that endangers IDF forces.”
The civilians were transferred to police for further handling.