The IDF said Sunday morning it intercepted two projectiles fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, the first such cross-border attack by Hezbollah since Wednesday and the latest strain on a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire meant to halt months of fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed terrorist group.
The military said sirens sounded in Yiftah and Ramot Naftali, two communities near the Lebanese border, before air defenses shot down the projectiles. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Children run for cover as air raid sirens blare during school trip
The incident came days after Israel and Lebanon agreed under U.S. mediation to renew a conditional truce and establish security zones in southern Lebanon where Hezbollah would be barred from operating, though Hezbollah has rejected parts of the deal and demanded a full Israeli withdrawal.
The decision-making Security Cabinet convened last Thursday to approve the plan, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said no vote would be held for now after Hezbollah refused to accept it. Several ministers voiced opposition to the plan, whose implementation terms were announced by the United States a day earlier after Israeli-Lebanese talks in Washington.
The political debate followed reports of a tense call in which U.S. President Donald Trump lambasted Netanyahu over the continued fighting in Lebanon.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had asked Netanyahu "not to go into a major raid of Beirut," and that "He turned his Troops around."
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Archival: Hezbollah projectiles intercepted over northern Israel
(Photo: Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
He said he had communicated with Hezbollah through intermediaries and that “they agreed to stop shooting at Israel, and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them.”
Netanyahu responded publicly shortly after. “I spoke with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop attacking our cities and civilians, Israel will strike terror targets in Beirut,” Netanyahu said, issuing an explicit threat against the Shiite terrorist group. “This remains our position. At the same time, the IDF will continue operating as planned in southern Lebanon.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week that he and Netanyahu were advancing a policy meant to establish a new equation: “The rule for Dahieh in Beirut is the same as the rule for communities in northern Israel.”
“If Israeli communities continue to be attacked, we will turn and strike the Dahieh district in Beirut,” Katz said, referring to the Hezbollah stronghold in the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs. “The test will be simple and will become clear in the coming days.”
The renewed fire again disrupted daily life in northern Israel. Students from the Lev HaEmek school in Kibbutz Neot Mordechai were on a trip Sunday morning when alerts warned of incoming rockets from Lebanon. The children were ordered off their bus and into a nearby roadside shelter.
“We are experienced. We don’t panic,” a teacher told the students inside the shelter. “We are in a protected place now. Everything is OK. Take a breath. I’m also a little worried, but it’s OK to be worried. We are here in a protected place.”
One student said from inside the shelter: “When I was in Tel Aviv, there was some protest to stop bombing the north.”
The teacher replied: “OK, we’re breathing. Everything is OK. I told you, I am committed to bringing you back to your parents safe and sound.”
David Azulay, head of the Metula local council, criticized the government’s handling of the situation. “They tell us about a ceasefire, but this morning, too, the children and parents of Metula went to school under nonstop fire,” Azulay said. “After a noisy night of explosions and planes overhead, we woke up this morning to a series of interceptions and sirens, along with a drone infiltration, just as children were supposed to leave for school.
“Someone in the Israeli government apparently thinks this is normal and logical, that this is what a ceasefire looks like, that this is what routine life in the north is supposed to look like. The Israeli government must give the children and families of the north quiet and safe lives. This cannot continue.”