In the overnight and early Sunday morning hours Hezbollah has apparently retaliated against Israel for this week's series of Beirut attacks which have left scores of Hezbollah operatives (long with many civilians) dead and injured.
Hezbollah has launched an attack on targets deep inside Israel in what is likely the longest range strike since the conflict began. Israel's Haifa has been devastated waves of rockets, and significant damage on the ground has been revealed Sunday, including on Israeli residential neighborhoods.
The distance from Haifa to the Lebanese border is about 30km, or some 18 miles. Thus far through the conflict which began after Oct.7 last year, Hezbollah's rockets have been concentrated to within a few miles deep inside Israel.
The early Sunday morning hours witnessed Hezbollah launch approximately 150 rockets into northern Israel. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that most were intercepted.
But videos from Haifa confirm that some rockets made it through anti-air defenses, causing devastation on the ground:
Hezbollah issued an official statement as follows: "In an initial response to the brutal massacre committed by the Israeli enemy in various Lebanese regions on Tuesday and Wednesday (the Pager and wireless devices massacre)."
"We bombed the military industries complexes of the Rafael Company, which specializes in electronic means and equipment, located in the Zevulun area north of Haifa, with dozens of Fadi 1, Fadi 2, and Katyusha missiles, at 6:30 am on this Sunday morning, September 22, 2024," Hezbollah continued.
Another location, the Ramat David Military Airport, which lies south east of Haifa, was also hit. The base, which is one of the country's largest, houses Israeli Air Force fighter jets. This retaliation marks significant escalation in terms of the Shia paramilitary group's targeting and range.
The attacks sowed chaos in Haifa and surrounding towns, resulting in at least one death:
Some 85 rockets were launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon at the Haifa area in northern Israel on Sunday morning, following overnight launches at the Jezreel Valley, the terror group’s deepest rocket fire into Israel since the beginning of the war in October.
A teenager was killed when he crashed his vehicle as sirens sounded in the early hours of the morning, and at least three people were injured as a result of the rocket fire.
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No UN comments forthcoming on Hezbollah attack but its chief still looks for a diplomatic solution as in a two state solution.
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