Tensions high on all fronts as ninth day of war draws to a close

Tensions high on all fronts as ninth day of war draws to a close

JERUSALEM POST STAFF

More than 3,600 wounded, 1,300 murdered • IDF: 155 families of Israeli captives in Gaza have been contacted

Lebanon border heats up as Hamas continues firing rockets into Israel.

The IDF and Hezbollah on Sunday had one of the most tense days in the North of the nine-day-old war which to date has still mostly been focused on Gaza.

At the same time, the IDF continued to move closer to the point at which it will invade Gaza, though there were bouts of rain during the day and ongoing negotiations internally within Israel about the war's aims as well as external negotiations about evacuating Palestinian civilians and humanitarian issues.

Sirens were heard in western Galilee on Sunday afternoon close to the Lebanon border in the towns of Nahariya, Rosh Hanikra, Hanita, Gesher HaZiv, Betzet, and Shlomi

Confusingly, Hamas in Lebanon took responsibility for the rocket fire.

A spokesperson for the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya announced they received eight people who had been wounded by the rocket fire.

Two were taken to the trauma center, they are in a serious but stable condition, both suffering from shrapnel wounds to their limbs, with one more suffering similar injuries but being in a moderate condition.

The remaining five wounded people were in a light condition and were undergoing tests in the emergency room mainly for smoke inhalation and head injuries at press time.

IDF takes action in Lebanon

The IDF responded by attacking military infrastructure in southern Lebanon with helicopters.

Besides Hamas in Lebanon, there were also reports of Hezbollah firing systematically to destroy IDF border surveillance equipment to blind its early warning invasion capabilities, much as Hamas made sure to eliminate many IDF border surveillance capabilities on October 7 as it was invading Israel's Gaza corridor. The IDF returned fire, but Hezbollah has been claiming publicly that it is hitting Israel harder than the hits it is receiving in return.

Hezbollah claims attack on IDF

Further, Hezbollah took responsibility for the firing of anti-tank missiles at IDFoutposts near the Lebanon border, killing one man and wounding four others.

On Sunday night, it was released for publication that Lt. Amitai Granot, the son of Rabbi Tamir Granot, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Orot Shaul in Tel Aviv, was killed by an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah earlier in the day.

As a result, the IDF announced on Sunday the creation of a four-kilometer "security zone" on the border to prevent any non-residents from entering the area.

Later on Sunday night, the IDF said it had struck additional Hezbollah infrastructure near the border in response to the earlier incidents.