A Hezbollah rocket falling in a open space in the Jezreel Valley, northern Israel, Sept. 28, 2024. (Photo: Screenshot)
Large parts of the nation were targeted by Hezbollah rocket fire on Saturday, causing the broadest rocket alerts Israel has seen during the war so far, following the Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon on Friday evening.
Starting hours after the strike on Nasrallah Hezbollah began firing small rocket barrages at northern Israel. On Saturday morning, they sharply intensified their attacks by launching two ballistic missiles and multiple rocket salvos.
In the evening, the IDF said about 90 rockets were fired at Israel throughout Saturday. At the time of publication, no casualties or major damage had been reported as a result of the attacks.
The IDF struck the underground headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district around 6 p.m. on Friday, before striking several weapon depots in the same district, in addition to widespread airstrikes throughout Lebanon.
On Friday evening, two homes in Safed were damaged after 60 rockets were fired at the Upper Galilee in two bursts. Another five rockets were launched at the Western Galilee.
After several hours of quiet, the rocket fire resumed on Saturday morning, with a relatively small number of launches causing the widest rocket alerts in the conflict so far.
🔴 Rocket Alert [07:59:04] (159):
• בית העלמין החדש עכו, הר חלוץ, חוות אירוח גורן, טל – אל, ינוח ג’ת, פקיעין החדשה, אזור תעשייה טמרה, ערב אל נעים, כסרא סמיע
• HaAmakim — Hoshaya, Merkaz Hever, Kfar Kana, Tziporit Industrial Zone, Omen Settlements, Ram On, HaYogev pic.twitter.com/xH0I8h25IO— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) September 28, 2024
Siren alerts blared from the northern border to the northern foothills of Samaria, including the Krayot on the outskirts of Haifa, as well as Acre, Nazareth and several other cities.
The IDF said that only five launches were detected, most of which were intercepted. Israeli media reported that the launch targets were spread across a wide area, resulting in a large number of alerts.
The IDF later reported that a missile was fired toward Nazareth and the Jezreel Valley, which was intercepted.
Another ballistic missile was fired at Tel Aviv but fell into the sea and didn’t activate alarm sirens. Early on Friday morning, Hezbollah launched its first ballistic surface-to-surface missile, which was intercepted by the IDF’s aerial defenses.
Two other barrages of five and 10 rockets caused widespread alerts across the surroundings of Haifa, the Upper and Lower Galilee and the Jezreel Valley.
A rocket launch that apparently targeted Jerusalem activated sirens in the area north of the Palestinian Authority (PA) capital Ramallah for the first time, including the Israeli towns of Beit El and Ofarim.
Several more rocket barrages were fired at northern Israel throughout the day, including at Safed and the Western Galilee.
The IDF estimates that Hezbollah so far managed to launch only around 10% of the rockets it planned to fire in the event of a war, Army Radio reported.
The relatively low numbers of rockets per volley in recent days were caused by the severe damage the IDF caused Hezbollah’s launch capabilities, the harm to its command structure and the confusion gripping the terror group amid the crippling blows of the last 10 days.
