This statement came as sirens sounded in Metulla, Beit Hillel in Upper Galilee, and the Hula Valley near the Lebanese border on Saturday evening.
The head of the Metulla Council in northern Israel told Israeli Army Radio that 40 percent of homes in the area were damaged, and 200 homes had burned over the past eight months due to missile attacks and incursions from Lebanon, according to Al-Jazeera.
The local official reportedly expressed frustration, saying that “the government has disappeared for us, and it seems that (Israeli) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is busy with other things.”
This statement came as sirens sounded in Metulla, Beit Hillel in Upper Galilee, and the Hula Valley near the Lebanese border on Saturday evening, warning of missile launches and suspected drone infiltrations.
These developments coincide with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s three-day visit to the United States, which began on Sunday.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that sirens sounded in Metulla, where the army was investigating the possibility of rocket or drone attacks in the area.
AL-JAZEERA: Sirens sounded again in towns in the Upper Galilee after missile launches were detected from Lebanon.
ISRAELI ARMY RADIO: A drone from Lebanon was intercepted as it was targeting a sensitive military security facility belonging to the Rafael Security Industries… pic.twitter.com/iS0jJJqqes
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 23, 2024
Earlier on Saturday, two houses in the area were directly hit by anti-tank missiles fired by the Lebanese movement Hezbollah from southern Lebanon.
Israeli Army Radio confirmed that fires broke out due to the missile strikes, but no casualties were reported.
Hezbollah announced that it had targeted buildings used by Israeli soldiers in Metulla, hitting them “directly.”
In a statement, the group announced that its fighters “targeted buildings used by enemy soldiers in the Metulla colony with appropriate weapons, hitting them directly and causing them to catch fire.”
New Video
Hezbollah released yet a new video on Saturday. Unlike their previous video, released on June 18, the latest one is more coded as it merely provides precise coordinates to an area inside Israel.
The video ends with the line: “Whoever thinks of war against us will regret it.”
Media reports from Israel indicate that the building in question is a highly sensitive security structure.
The Lebanese group Hezbollah released yet a new video on Saturday, June 22. Unlike their previous video, released on June 18, the latest one is more coded as it merely provides precise coordinates to an area inside Israel.
The video ends with the line: Whoever thinks of war… pic.twitter.com/avIE9w8mXh
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 22, 2024
The video also includes a statement from a previous speech from Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, where he said that “in case an inclusive war is imposed on Lebanon, the Resistance will fight without restraints, without rules, without limits.”
On Sunday morning, Al-Jazeera cited the Israeli army radio as saying that the Israeli military had intercepted a drone from Lebanon before it targeted a military security facility belonging to the Rafael Security Industries Complex.
Heightened Tensions
Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, on October 7, the Lebanese movement Hezbollah has engaged directly, but relatively in a limited way in the war against the Israeli occupation.
Israel has occupied parts of Lebanon for decades and has only left the country in 2000, following stiff Lebanese resistance under Hezbollah’s leadership.
It attempted to re-occupy Lebanon in 2006 but failed in what Lebanon considers a major victory against Israel.
Israel, however, continues to occupy parts of Lebanon, namely the Sheeba Farms region.
Hezbollah has vowed to recover every inch of Lebanon that has been occupied by Israel contrary to international law.
(PC, AJA)
