Air raid sirens sounded Sunday afternoon in Acre and its industrial zone, seconds after an early warning was issued for possible Hezbollah fire toward the area.
Earlier, several launches were identified from Lebanon toward the Nahariya area. The Air Force intercepted some of them, while others exploded in open areas. No injuries were reported.
After the IDF said it would provide advance warnings of missile fire from Lebanon when operational conditions allow, frightened residents in the Krayot also received the alert on their mobile phones.
Meanwhile, the sirens have not stopped along the confrontation line. Since the morning, alerts have been activated, whether because of rocket and missile fire or suspected hostile aircraft infiltrations, in Rosh Hanikra, Betzet, Shlomi, the Miluot North industrial zone, Achziv Beach, Liman, Hanita, Ya’ara, Adamit, Arab al-Aramshe, Shomera, Even Menachem, Zar’it, Gesher HaZiv, Sa’ar, Metula, Kfar Giladi, Tel Hai, Kiryat Shmona and Beit Hillel.
The IDF spokesperson said that at 12:09 p.m., two launches were identified crossing from Lebanon toward Metula and Kfar Giladi. The Air Force intercepted one launch, while another exploded in an open area. At 12:29 p.m., several launches were identified toward Acre and additional areas. The Air Force intercepted one launch and the rest exploded in open areas.
At 12:37 p.m., a suspicious aerial target was identified in the Kiryat Shmona area. The IDF said “the incident has ended,” but did not say what happened to the suspicious target.
At the same time, Defense Minister Israel Katz boasted of achievements in Lebanon during a memorial ceremony for those killed in the First Lebanon War.
“Twenty-six years after the withdrawal from the security zone in Lebanon, the Israeli flag is once again flying over the peaks overlooking the communities of the Galilee. Our heroic soldiers captured Beaufort once again, and they will remain there as part of the security zone in Lebanon,” he said.
He addressed residents of the north, to whom he has repeatedly promised that Hezbollah would be disarmed: “We are well aware of the magnitude of the moment and the responsibility placed on our shoulders. The prime minister, I, the chief of staff and many others are working day and night for one goal only, to do whatever is necessary to achieve security for the north. We pledged, and we will fulfill it.”
The achievement that will not change the picture
Senior Israeli defense officials are looking these days at the Beaufort ridge in southern Lebanon and seeing a tactical victory image, but the strategic question remains open: the capture of the fortress and its surroundings in recent days is indeed a significant stage in the war to push Hezbollah far from the border with Israel, but it will not dramatically change the face of the entire campaign, and it is unclear how it will affect, if at all, the organization’s future existence.
The overarching goal of the operation deep inside Lebanon is to move the immediate threats away from northern communities: from Hezbollah’s raid plans, through indirect fire and direct anti-tank fire, to the growing drone threat. The IDF believes the raid and anti-tank threats have been significantly curbed, but other threats have been addressed only to a limited extent.
“It is clear that if residents return here, it will be harder to defend,” a senior IDF official acknowledged. “The more we defend from depth, the enemy will meet our soldiers and not our civilians. If we leave here, the threat will simply move back closer to the border. It is simple mathematics.”
First published: 12:38, 05.31.26