On Tuesday, residents of Acre, a city just 12 miles from the Lebanese border, experienced a terrifying moment when Hezbollah, a Shia militant group backed by Iran, launched a series of drone attacks. Video footage from the scene captured beachgoers abandoning their leisure activities as loud sirens warning of an impending attack blared through the area. Families frantically gathered their belongings and hastily retreated from the shoreline, seeking refuge amidst the escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which have been exchanging fire almost daily since the commencement of the Israel-Hamas War in October 2023.
Hezbollah asserted that the drone attacks were directed at military targets situated just north of Acre. However, the Israeli military refuted these claims, stating that none of their facilities were struck. Despite this, Hezbollah persisted in its offensive and later that day targeted the northern Israeli community of Margaliot with rockets.
The tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have been escalating in recent days, particularly after Hezbollah collaborated with Iran to conduct 300 air strikes against Israel on April 13th. Reuters reported that the Israeli military successfully intercepted two “aerial targets” approaching the country’s northern coast, indicating that Hezbollah’s attacks were thwarted.
Israel’s retaliatory strikes in Lebanon have reportedly resulted in the deaths of at least 240 Hezbollah fighters and 68 civilians, far exceeding the number of Israeli casualties, which stands at 18. On the same day as the Hezbollah drone attacks, the Lebanese government news agency NNA reported that an Israeli air raid on the residential area of Hanin resulted in the tragic deaths of a woman and her niece, while six others were injured.
In response to the Israeli airstrike, Hezbollah renewed its offensive, launching additional rockets at a different northern Israeli community later in the day. The Israel Defense Forces detected ten rockets crossing the border from Lebanon into Margaliot, a cooperative agricultural community. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
Hezbollah has acknowledged responsibility for the rocket attack, declaring via Telegram that it was carried out “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their brave and honorable resistance, and as part of the response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks on the steadfast southern villages and civilian homes, specifically the horrific massacre in Hanin and the fall of martyrs and wounded civilians.”
