Dim Amor

On 6/18, sirens sounded in the Gaza Strip and Kiryat Shmona in the north, following six rockets that fell in the Manara area with no casualties. In response, the IDF Northern Command chief approved plans for a possible military attack in Lebanon.

In a separate incident, IDF troops thwarted a stabbing attack attempt by a Palestinian terrorist in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank. The terrorist was neutralized during the attempt to attack the troops. The fragile security situation led the American envoy to Israel and Lebanon, Amos Hochstein, to describe during his visit to Lebanon that "we are going through difficult times."

Concerns about an escalation against Hezbollah increased after the organization released a video showing a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) that filmed strategic military sites in the Haifa Bay area. The IDF confirmed it identified four Hezbollah UAVs this week, intercepted two of them, and identified the fourth but decided not to intercept it to avoid setting off sirens in the north.

In the coming days, the state leadership and military will convene to discuss the military response to recent events against the backdrop of escalation in the south and north, and assess the risk of a broad outbreak of fighting.

21:34, IDF Spokesperson:

"Documentation: The IDF continues to strike Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon; in parallel, a suspicious aerial target was successfully intercepted over the maritime area near Jisr al-Zrqa.

Over the last hour, IAF fighter jets struck a number of Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon.
Among the targets struck were several infrastructure sites of the organization in the areas of Al-Taybeh, Al-Adaysseh and Al-Jbayn, and a military compound in the area of Aita al-Shaab.

Earlier in the evening, Air Defense troops successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target over the maritime area near Jisr al-Zrqa. No alert was activated in accordance with policy."

Lead photo: IDF Spokesperson (IDF)