Dozens injured in Hezbollah attack on Israel

Dozens of people were injured after a Hezbollah attack on Israel on Sunday evening, according to Associated Press reports.

The AP shared reports from Israeli emergency services that at least 40 people were injured after the Lebanese militant group said it fired a “swarm of drones” at the Golani Brigade camp in the northern Israeli town of Binyamina, about 30 miles south of Haifa .

At least three people were “seriously” injured, according to the AP, which shared footage of the injured from a helicopter arriving at Sheba Medical Center.

The drones reportedly did not trigger Israel’s alarm system.

Hezbollah said in a statement that the brigade was attacked in retaliation for two Israeli strikes in central Beirut earlier this week that killed at least 22 people and wounded dozens. The Golani Brigade, one of five infantry brigades in the Israeli army, is described as “elite fighters,” according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) website.

Newsweek the IDF asked for comment via email on Sunday.

The attack comes on the same day that the United States announced it would send a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and military personnel to Israel to improve the country’s air defense capabilities following the Iranian missile attack earlier this month .

Since October 7, 2023, after Hamas’ attack on Israel, the country has been at war with the Palestinian militant group in Gaza. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel launched several ground and air operations in Gaza last year, killing over 42,000 people. On Saturday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 22 people in northern Gaza, and on Thursday Israeli forces attacked a school used as a shelter for displaced people, killing 27 people.

Large parts of the Gaza Strip were destroyed and around 90 percent of the 2.3 million inhabitants were displaced.

In recent weeks, Israel has advanced north into Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based, in a ground operation. Israeli forces eliminated longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in late September, sparking fears of an all-out war with escalating military actions across the region, including an Iranian missile strike against Israel in retaliation earlier this month.

In a statement released on Sunday, the IDF said it had carried out about 200 attacks in Lebanon over the past day. Earlier today, ahead of Hezbollah’s attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the United Nations (UN) to evacuate all peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu’s comments come amid condemnation by world leaders of the IDF’s attacks on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) base in Naqoura in recent days. As of Sunday, at least four peacekeepers were injured by IDF fire and hospitalized, according to UNIFIL.

“Peacekeepers were accidentally injured during the IDF battle against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon,” IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

UNIFIL reported early Sunday morning that “two IDF Merkava tanks destroyed the main gate of the position and forcibly entered the position.”

This is a developing story and will be updated with additional information.

Update 10/13/24, 4:01 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional context and information.