Hezbollah Rockets Claim Civilian Life in Kiryat Shmona

On Wednesday, Hezbollah launched numerous rockets towards northern Israel, resulting in the death of one civilian, following an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon that led to significant casualties.

Emergency responders in the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona discovered a 25-year-old man deceased within a building struck by the attack, as reported by Magen David Adom, the emergency service. The victim succumbed to injuries after a rocket hit caused a fire in a local industrial area, with footage capturing dense smoke emerging from the affected structure.

In addition to the fatality, another individual sustained minor injuries. The Israeli military noted that approximately 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel during this assault.

Hezbollah declared it was retaliating with this rocket barrage, targeting Kiryat Shmona and a nearby military base, in response to an Israeli airstrike that killed seven individuals at an emergency center in southern Lebanon. They described the strike as an act of retaliation for “the massacre” in Habariyeh, where the Israeli action resulted in the deaths of seven paramedics affiliated with Lebanon’s Sunni group al-Jamaa al-Islamiya.

The individuals were recovered from the debris early Wednesday, marking one of the conflict’s most lethal incidents. The paramedics’ association condemned the airstrike as a blatant disregard for humanitarian efforts. Meanwhile, Israel defended the strike, arguing it targeted a military site and eliminated militants planning attacks against Israel, including a member of Jamaa Islamiya.

Contrary to Israel’s claim, the mayor of Habariyeh, Ayman Shoukeir, asserted that the facility was a non-military site, emphasizing that the victims were rescue workers, not combatants in the ongoing border skirmishes.

Later that day, Hezbollah announced it had also targeted Israeli soldiers in the Shtula settlement and other military sites in the region, including Kfarshouba Hills and Ramim, along with surveillance equipment in Misgav Am.

The conflict, ignited by the Gaza war, has led to continual exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces along the southern Lebanese border. The violence has claimed the lives of at least 331 individuals in Lebanon, predominantly Hezbollah militants and at least 57 civilians. On the Israeli side, the military reported the deaths of at least 10 soldiers and seven civilians in northern Israel.