Air-raid sirens blared across the Western Galilee on Monday morning, sending thousands of civilians scrambling for bomb shelters as Iranian-backed Hezbollah launched a drone attack from Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that it fired an interceptor missile toward a “target that was launched from Lebanon,” but said it subsequently lost contact with the UAV. “No injuries were reported,” the military stated, adding that additional missile alerts in the north were activated “due to concerns of falling interception debris.”
On Sunday, an IDF soldier was killed and six others were wounded by a Hezbollah drone strike in Southern Lebanon. The fallen soldier was identified as Sgt. Idan Fooks, 19, of the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion, from Petach Tikvah. Fooks was the third Israeli soldier to be killed in Southern Lebanon since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire came into effect on April 17, and the first to be killed in a direct Hezbollah attack during the truce, according to the IDF.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday accused Hezbollah of “essentially disintegrating the ceasefire” through its incessant attacks. “Therefore, as far as we are concerned, what obligates us is the security of Israel, the security of our soldiers, and the security of our communities,” the premier said. “We are acting vigorously according to the rules we agreed upon with the United States, and incidentally, with Lebanon as well.” The IDF will maintain its freedom “not only to respond to attacks, which is obvious, but to thwart immediate threats and also to neutralize emerging threats,” he added. The prime minister, in an overnight letter to his Cabinet on Sunday, ordered the cancellation of traditional Lag B’Omer celebrations on Mount Meron in the Upper Galilee, scheduled for May 4–5, due to the Hezbollah threat.
Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs noted in the missive that “following several security assessments on the matter, and in light of the [IDF] Home Front Command’s updated defensive policy, limiting gatherings to up to 1,500 people, the celebrations of the hilula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai at Meron will not take place this year with large participation, but rather in a symbolic format only, in accordance with the defensive policy, which is not expected to change by the time of the hilula.” The letter cited fears of a mass-casualty event “due to the fragility of the ceasefire with Lebanon, the site’s proximity to the Lebanese border, rocket fire toward the area and the difficulty of conducting large-scale evacuations of participants.” (Ed note: The people of central and northern Israel are sick of Hezbollah firing rockets, missiles and drones into their homes and cities, and demand that PM Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF stop it.) (Read More)
