21 wounded, 1 seriously, in Hezbollah missile, mortar attacks from Lebanon

21 wounded, 1 seriously, in Hezbollah missile, mortar attacks from Lebanon

Emanuel Fabian

At least 14 civilians were wounded, including one seriously, in an anti-tank guided missile attack by the Hezbollah terror group from Lebanon on Sunday, the military and medical officials said. In another attack, seven soldiers were wounded by a mortar near the northern community of Menara.

The Hezbollah missile struck a number of vehicles near the northern community of Dovev, close to the border. Some of the victims were Israel Electric Corporation employees who had arrived to repair power lines damaged by previous fire from Lebanon.

The IDF said it struck the Hezbollah cell behind the attack against the civilians and hit several Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, including a weapons depot.

Two more cells that launched mortars from Lebanon at areas near the communities of Menara and Yir’on were also struck, the IDF said. In the Menara incident, the army said seven soldiers were lightly wounded and taken to hospital.

The wounded were transported by the Israel Defense Forces from the scene of the attack to a safer area where they could be treated by paramedics and taken to hospitals.

Ziv Medical Center in Safed said it had received 14 of the injured from the Dovev attack, one in serious condition, and the rest were lightly hurt. Another four soldiers lightly hurt in the mortar attack were also taken to Ziv. Rambam Hospital in Haifa said it had received three of the victims — all soldiers — who were lightly wounded.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, falsely claiming in a statement that it hit soldiers installing surveillance equipment.

Later, rocket sirens sounded in a number of towns in northern Israel, including Acre on the coast and Kiryat Shmona in the Upper Galilee. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

The IDF said some 15 rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel, with four projectiles being intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system. The rest landed in open areas, causing no injuries or damage.

The Hamas terror group had claimed that its Lebanon branch launched a barrage of rockets at Haifa, Nahariya, and nearby towns on the Lebanon border.

Earlier in the day, the IDF said it had struck a cell in southern Lebanon that was preparing to launch rockets or missiles at Israel.

Overnight, an IDF drone hit an anti-tank missile squad in southern Lebanon preparing to carry out an attack near Metula, the military said.