The Hezbollah terrorist army in Lebanon is slowly creating a new “normal” in northern Israel: multiple volleys of rockets, missiles and combat drones that don’t always cause physical injuries but nearly always damage or destroy homes, vehicles and infrastructure.
Over the past two weeks, Iran’s Lebanese proxy has been firing an average of around 100 projectiles and drones daily at communities along the border and elsewhere across the north.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah fired around 60 rockets at the Jewish State before the afternoon was out. Rockets landed in an around Abiri, Kfar Szold, Kibbutz Dan and even one near Afula, deeper south than prior attacks. An IDF reservist who is a community security team member was severely wounded in the anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) attack on Kibbutz Dan; he was evacuated by helicopter to Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center.
Red Alert incoming rocket warning sirens preceded an additional barrage of 30 rockets aimed at Arab al-Aramshe at around 5:11 pm, and another barrage of 10 rockets aimed at Mattat less than an hour later. Several of the rockets landed in Mattat; others exploded in open areas outside the community.
Israel Air Force Continues Sorties
In response, the Israeli Air Force struck Hezbollah military sites in Kharayeb, and a rocket launcher in Ayta ash Shab.
The IAF also attacked Hezbollah military installations in Houla, Ayta ash Shab and Marwahin. All the sites struck by the IAF were in southern Lebanon.
Gallant Warns Forces ‘You Need to be Ready’
Earlier this week (Sept. 10) Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned IDF soldiers on Israel’s northern border that theirs is “not like other missions” and that the IDF is preparing for action in Lebanon.
Israel has repeatedly warned that unless diplomatic efforts convince Hezbollah to move its forces back across the Litani River to the north and remove the threat to northern Israeli residents as agreed upon in Resolution 1701, (the ceasefire deal that ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War) the IDF will have no choice but to force them to do so.
Gallant told the forces, “The center of gravity is moving north. We are about to complete our tasks in the south, but we have here a mission that has not been carried out, and that mission is the change the security situation and bring the residents back to their homes.”
The defense minister cautioned that although it has taken 11 months to complete preparations for action across the border, that time is now approaching.
“These instructions that you are waiting for here today I gave in the south and I saw the forces operating,” he said. “After three weeks from the ‘go ahead’ signal, they went ahead and carried out their mission. This will also happen here, and you need to be ready and prepared to carry out this mission.
“We are finishing training all the units for a ground operation in all its aspects, from the platoon level to the command level. We are ready for action; we will know when to deploy. You will do everything you need to do. I have had soldiers who told me, ‘You’re just talking.’ A week later I met them in the field,” Gallant emphasized.
“Be prepared; this is not like other missions. You have the full capacity to carry out the missions according to what you are training for. Thank you, thank you to the families who support you, and thank you to the commanders.”
