Hezbollah rocket kills one in Ma’alot-Tarshiha

The rocket was one of 50 launched from Lebanon, triggering sirens in the Upper and Western Galilee.

By Joshua Marks, JNS

One person was killed in the northern Israeli town of Ma’alot Tarshiha on Tuesday by a Hezbollah rocket fired from Lebanon.

Israeli media identified the fatality as local resident Mohammad Naim, 24.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service reported the fatality, adding that several people had also been treated for mild anxiety.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the rocket was one of 50 launched from Lebanon, triggering sirens in the Upper and Western Galilee. Some of the projectiles were intercepted, according to the IDF.

Tunnel shafts uncovered in Southern Lebanon

The IDF said on Tuesday morning that troops operating in Southern Lebanon were continuing to eliminate Hezbollah terrorists, dismantle terrorist infrastructure and locate weapons stockpiles both above and below ground.

During joint aerial and ground operations, Israeli forces struck Hezbollah infrastructure intended to facilitate long-term stays and the planning and execution of attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers, according to the IDF.

Furthermore, over the past 24 hours the IAF eliminated dozens of terrorists and struck 110 Hezbollah targets, including launchers aimed at Israeli civilian communities, weapons storage facilities and terror infrastructure sites.

IDF uproots Kfar Kila terror base

The IDF on Monday revealed a year-long operation in the majority Shi’ite Muslim village of Kfar Kila in Southern Lebanon to disrupt a major center of Hezbollah terror activities against Israel.

In recent weeks, forces of the 769th Brigade under the command of the 91st Division expanded activities in Kfar Kila, damaging Hezbollah’s ability to carry out its plan to invade the Galilee.

“So far, dozens of underground [sites], hundreds of Hezbollah military buildings, thousands of weapons, enemy intelligence documents, launchers and tactical equipment belonging to the terrorists of the Radwan Force unit have been located and destroyed in the operation,” according to the IDF.

IDF chief: Hezbollah terror sites can’t return

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi delivered a video message from an underground Hezbollah base in Southern Lebanon, emphasizing that this sort of terrorist infrastructure can not be allowed to return.

“We have been saying for years that Hezbollah is preparing the area of the border for war. To the countries that doubted it, to the United Nations, to the UNIFIL [United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon] force that was [stationed] up here …We caught this in time, before it was too late, and this infrastructure must not return here in future generations,” said Halevi. The bunker complex was destroyed shortly afterwards.

Speaking to soldiers in one of the tunnels, Halevi stressed that “our task over the years to come will be to make sure that no new [infrastructure] is built.”

The IDF’s work in Lebanon now means that in future years “you will walk around here, drive around with your grandchildren in the Hula Valley and you will know that you freed the Ramim Ridge from a great threat, a substantial threat,” he said.