Hezbollah Launches 320 Projectiles Toward Israel During Yom Kippur As Fighting Intensifies In Lebanon

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP)

Israel intensifies aerial bombardment in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, with strikes causing civilian casualties and escalating tensions amid regional conflict warnings

The Israeli military announced on Sunday that it intercepted five more projectiles fired from Lebanon as air raid sirens sounded in Haifa, amid intensified fighting between Hezbollah and Israel along the border areas.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the Iran-backed group launched about 320 projectiles into Israel over the weekend of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. The IDF also said roughly 280 “terror targets” were attacked in Lebanon and Gaza over the same period. Israel on Saturday told residents of south Lebanon not to return home and issued new evacuation warnings for several villages.

Israel-Hezbollah conflict

“As tired as you might be of seeing us post about sirens sounding, our civilians are more fed up with running to shelter every time those sirens sound,” the military said in a post on X. This comes as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted one year ago when the Iranian-backed group began launching rockets at northern Israel in support of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, at the start of the Gaza war.

It has intensified in recent weeks, with Israel bombing southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, killing many of Hezbollah’s top leaders, and sending ground troops across the border. Hezbollah for its part has fired rockets deeper into Israel.

An Israeli strike overnight in the heart of Beirut killed 22 people and wounded 139, caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said. Lebanon’s army said two soldiers were killed and three wounded when Israeli forces attacked a military post in Kafra in the south.

Middle East on high alert

The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation, awaiting Israel’s response to an Iranian missile barrage on Oct. 1. Israel says its campaign in Lebanon aims to make northern Israel safe for tens of thousands of people forced to leave over the last year by Hezbollah rocket fire.

Its expanded operation has displaced more than 1.2 million people, according Lebanon’s government, which says more than 2,100 people have been killed and 10,000 wounded in over a year of fighting. Hezbollah rockets have killed at least 54 people in Israel, more than half civilians, according to Israeli authorities.

(With agency inputs)