12-10-2024 (HMC) – Hezbollah said it launched a salvo of missiles at an Israeli military base on Saturday, as Israeli troops battled militants in Lebanon and Gaza on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Cities around Israel were quiet with markets closed, flights stopped and public transport halted as observant Jews fasted and prayed on the Day of Atonement.
But with the country at war against Hezbollah and Hamas, troops remained engaged in combat on the northern and southern frontiers amid a firestorm of criticism over the wounding of four U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon.
Hezbollah, which has lost its leader and a long list of key commanders to Israeli strikes since the start of the war in Lebanon, on Saturday said it struck an army base with missiles to the south of the city of Haifa.
Hezbollah fighters were “targeting the explosives factory there with a salvo of … missiles,” the group said in a statement.
Air raid sirens sounded Saturday in northern Israel, with the Israeli military saying it had intercepted a projectile launched from Lebanon.
In the hours ahead of Yom Kippur, Israel faced severe diplomatic backlash over what it said was a “hit” on a United Nations peacekeeping position in Lebanon.
Two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were hurt in the second such incident in two days, the UNIFIL mission said Friday.
The military said Israeli soldiers had responded with fire to “an immediate threat” around 50 meters from the UNIFIL post.
As Israel faced a chorus of condemnation by U.N. chief Antonio Guterres, Western allies and others, the military pledged to carry out a “thorough review.”
‘Deliberately targeted’
UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon have found themselves on the frontline of the Israel-Hezbollah war, which has killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures.
Four peacekeepers have been injured including two Indonesians who were hurt on Thursday when an Israeli tank shot at their watchtower, according to UNIFIL.
Sean Clancy, the Irish military’s chief of staff, said he did not believe Israel’s explanation of Friday’s incident.
Source VOA
