The Israeli army in the border area with Lebanon (archive)
Lebanon
Al Arabiya correspondent: Most of the rockets fired at Israel are Katyusha and Grad models
Today, Thursday, the Israeli army spokesman announced that its air defenses had intercepted 25 of the 34 missiles launched from Lebanon towards Israel.
Avichai Adraee said in a tweet on his Twitter account: “34 rockets were launched from Lebanese territory towards Israeli territory, 25 of which were intercepted by air defenses, while 5 shells landed within Israeli sovereignty, while the other four rockets are still being located.” There are no exceptional directives for the home front.”
The Lebanese authorities opened an investigation, in cooperation with UNIFIL, to find out who was responsible for firing the rockets.
The international emergency forces operating in Lebanon conducted motorized patrols in the border areas, and an intense flight of Israeli reconnaissance planes was monitored over southern Lebanon.
Al-Arabiya correspondent reported that most of the rockets fired at Israel were Katyusha and Grad models, while a source told Al-Arabiya that the Lebanese army denied Israeli reports of finding missile launchers.
The Israeli Foreign Minister said that his country would take all measures to protect its security, at a time when Israeli reconnaissance planes flew over southern Lebanon.
And Israeli media confirmed that dozens of missiles were launched from southern Lebanon towards Israel. According to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, two settlers were injured in the missile attack from southern Lebanon.
Separately, the army announced that warning sirens sounded in several locations in the north, and according to Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath correspondents, Israel activated the alert in additional settlements in Western Galilee.
Israel bombed the outskirts of two towns in southern Lebanon with heavy artillery, according to the official National News Agency, in response to targeting them with shells fired by unknown persons from the same area. The agency stated that “the Israeli occupation artillery bombed a number of heavy shells (…) the outskirts of the towns of Qulailah and Al-Maaliyah in the Tire district,” after the area witnessed “a number of Katyusha rockets” fired towards Israel.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will hold consultations with the army and security chiefs due to the developments.
In a related context, the Lebanese army began to deploy on the border with Israel to locate the rocket launch.
A source close to Hezbollah said, “We have nothing to do with the rocket fire,” while sources suggest that Palestinian factions were behind the rocket fire.
These reports come at a time of heightened tension after the Israeli forces stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem this week.
