At least 67 people have been wounded in a drone attack in northern Israel, according to Israeli emergency services and local media, as the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it had targeted an Israeli military camp with a “swarm” of drones.
Israeli Army Radio reported that at least four people were critically wounded in the attack on Sunday in the town of Binyamina, south of Haifa
According to Israel’s Channel 12, no warning sirens were heard before the attack.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the strike. In a statement, the Iran-aligned group said it launched a “swarm of drones” at a Golani Brigade camp.
The Golani Brigade is one of the five infantry brigades of the regular Israeli army and regarded as an elite unit
In a separate statement, Hezbollah said it also targeted the Israeli Tsnobar logistics base in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights with a missile
The Hezbollah drone strike comes on the same day that the United States announced it would send a new air-defence system to Israel to help bolster its protection against missile attacks
At the direction of US President Joe Biden, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “authorised the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and associated crew of US military personnel to Israel to help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s unprecedented attacks against Israel on April 13 and again on October 1”, Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said in a statement
Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said that though the Israeli air defence system is very sophisticated and multi-layered, drones are hard to detect.
“Usually, the sirens go off when something is heading towards a location so civilians and residents of that area are told to seek shelter. That’s why there have been a very small number of injuries throughout the past year from those attacks,” she said.
But the drones are harder to detect, and because they fly at lower altitudes, they are much more difficult to intercept. Effectively intercepting them would put a lot of people in danger,” Odeh said
Sunday’s attack comes as Israel intensifies its offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated a year ago when the Lebanese group began firing rockets at northern Israel the day after Israel launched its assault on Gaza. Israel has sharply escalated the fighting in recent weeks, carrying out air raids across Lebanon and sending ground troops into the south of the country
More than 2,100 people in Lebanon have been killed since last October, the majority in the last few weeks since Israel intensified its attacks, and more than 1.2 million people have been displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.
The Hezbollah attack in Binyamina shows that attacking Lebanon carries a heavy price for Israelis too, according to Gideon Levy, Israeli political analyst
“Nothing less was expected. We are at the beginning of the war in Lebanon, not at the end of it. And everyone so enthusiastic about this war should know that it will carry a very heavy price,” he told Al Jazeera.
Hezbollah has said it will continue attacking Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their “valiant and honorable resistance”, and in “defence of Lebanon and its people
Israel ‘pursuing an occupation policy towards Lebanon’
Turkey says Israel’s repeated attacks on the UN peacekeepers in Lebanon show that the Israeli government intends to extend its occupation to Lebanon.
“The Israeli Government’s repeated attacks on UNIFIL are a clear indication of its policy of occupying Lebanon and its willingness to use military power without hesitation,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that UNIFIL’s mission to maintain regional security is of critical importance.
“It is incumbent on each member of the UN Security Council to prevent attacks by Israel against the UN forces that they themselves have mandated,” the ministry said.
It called on all states to take a common position against Israel and the countries that arm it.
Italy says Israeli attack on UN peacekeepers ‘unacceptable’
Israel’s attack on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon was “unacceptable”, Italy’s PM Giorgia Meloni told Netanyahu in a phone call.
“Prime Minister Meloni reiterated that it is unacceptable for UNIFIL to have been attacked by the Israeli armed forces,” the Italian premier’s office said in a statement on Sunday.
Meloni emphasised that “the mission operates under the authority of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to contribute to regional stability”, and “stressed the absolute necessity of ensuring the safety of UNIFIL personnel at all times”.
On Sunday, UNIFIL said two Israeli tanks destroyed the gate of the UN peacekeeping site in Ramyah, southern Lebanon. The Israeli army released a statement later saying a tank entered a UNIFIL post during soldier evacuation
US deploying THAAD missile defence system, troops to Israel
The United States is sending an advanced anti-missile system to Israel, the Pentagon has announced, as President Joe Biden’s administration continues to provide “ironclad” support for one of its top allies amid mounting tensions with Iran.
The US Department of Defense said on Sunday that Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin had authorised the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) “battery and associated crew of US military personnel to Israel” to help boost the country’s air defences
“The THAAD Battery will augment Israel’s integrated air defense system. This action underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel on October 1 in retaliation for the assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and an Iranian general