BEIRUT: A Hezbollah drone attack killed four Israeli soldiers at a military base in northern Israel, while the Israeli military intensified its bombardments on Lebanon, and ground forces continued their battles with militants across the border.
The drone targeted a military training facility in Binyamina, a town located about 30 kilometers south of Haifa. This was the deadliest assault on an Israeli base since September 23, a period marked by escalated hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Emergency services on the scene reported more than 60 people were injured, with the wounded suffering injuries that ranged from mild to critical.
Meanwhile, Gaza officials reported that the death toll from an Israeli airstrike on Sunday at a school being used as a shelter for displaced families had risen to 15. Whole families were reported among the victims. In a separate strike overnight, an attack on a hospital claimed the lives of four more individuals.
In southern Lebanon, heavy clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah continued. United Nations peacekeepers reported that they had once again come under fire. According to the UN, Israeli tanks “forcibly” breached a UN peacekeeping post, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the peacekeepers to withdraw from the area. Israel’s military, however, said that one of its tanks had accidentally backed into the UN position while under fire.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the drone strike, announcing late Sunday that it had launched “a squadron of attack drones” aimed at the Binyamina camp in retaliation for recent Israeli airstrikes. The Lebanese Health Ministry stated that Israeli air raids on Thursday in central Beirut had left at least 22 dead.
In a statement issued after the attack, Hezbollah warned Israel that what transpired in southern Haifa was only the beginning. “What it witnessed today is nothing compared to what awaits if it continues its aggression against our noble and dear people,” the group declared.
United Hatzalah, an Israeli volunteer rescue service, confirmed that its teams responded to the attack in Binyamina, treating over 60 individuals with varying degrees of injuries.
