Hezbollah on Wednesday unleashed multiple rounds of rocket attacks and multiple drone strikes reaching approximately three dozen total attacks on Israel, reportedly the most the group has launched in one day since October 7.
While the attacks did not cause injuries, they caused significant damage in Kiryat Shmona and were also directed at Rosh Hanikra and Mount Dov.
The spike in attacks came after IDF strikes allegedly killed a Lebanese-Australian man, the man’s wife, the man’s brother who is a member of Hezbollah all in Lebanon, killed Sayyed Reza Mousavi, a senior commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and as the IDF’s increased attacks have pushed back around half of Hezbollah’s forces from the border.
The IDF did not confirm the number of attacks by Hezbollah, but confirmed multiple rounds of rocket launches.
The IDF had been attacking Hezbollah overnight and continued to attack the terror group Wednesday morning and afternoon, both in response to the sources of the fire, but also in what appears to be a gradual effort to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure south of Lebanon’s Litani River.
New operational plans
The rounds of exchanges of fire also came as IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi visited IDF Northern Commander Maj Gen, Uri Gordon and approved additional new unspecified operational plans.
Halevi also reiterated various messages about the IDF’s commitment to return security to the 80,000 or so Israeli northern residents who were evacuated from their homes in October.
The strike late on Tuesday on the Lebanese-Australian man hit a home in the town of Bint Jbeil, where the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah enjoys widespread support.
The Lebanese-Australian civilian man was identified by one of his relatives as Ibrahim Bazzi. His wife, a Lebanese national, also died. Hezbollah then announced the killing of Ali Bazzi, his brother and one of the Shi'ite Muslim group's fighters.
Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said one of its jets had struck a Hezbollah military site overnight in Lebanon. Australian media quoted a spokesperson for Australia's foreign ministry as saying it was aware of the report and was seeking confirmation.
Hezbollah launched the most rockets and weaponized drones against Israel on Wednesday that it has in a single day since the spate of daily clashes began, security sources said.
Israeli air strikes and shelling have killed more than 125 Hezbollah fighters, another 25 or so Palestinian terrorists in Lebanon, and according to Reuters nearly two dozen civilians, including children, elderly and several journalists.