Hezbollah rocket attack kills seven in northern Israel

Two Hezbollah rocket attacks have killed seven people in northern Israel, authorities said – the deadliest such strikes in months.

An Israeli farmer and four foreign workers were killed when rockets landed near Metula, a town on the border with Lebanon, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said.

Later, a woman in her 60s and a man in his 30s were killed near Kibbutz Afek, on the outskirts of the coastal city of Haifa, according to emergency services.

Hezbollah said it fired rockets at the Krayot area north of Haifa and at Israeli soldiers south of the Lebanese town of Khiam, which is across the border from Metula.

The Israeli military identified two projectiles that landed in Lebanon and landed in an open area near Metula on Thursday morning.

In the afternoon, it said about 55 projectiles were fired towards the Central Galilee, Upper Galilee and Western Galilee. Some of the projectiles were intercepted and others fell into open areas, it added.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that a farmer and foreign workers were killed in a farm near Metula.

Speaking to a member of the local emergency team, he said that the Israeli army allowed the farmer and the workers to enter the area even though it is inside a closed military zone.

The military established the area at the end of September, shortly before they invaded Lebanon with the aim of destroying Hezbollah’s weapons and infrastructure.

The deadly rocket attack happened when two US special envoys met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem to discuss a ceasefire agreement to end the war with Hezbollah.

Netanyahu told Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk that the biggest problem is what he called Israel’s ability to “prevent any threat to its security in Lebanon in a way that will return our citizens safely to their homes”, his office said in a statement.

Israel has continued to attack Hezbollah – which it describes as a terrorist organization – after nearly a year of cross-border fighting sparked by the war in Gaza.

Saying it wants to ensure the safe return of tens of thousands of residents of Israel’s northern border displaced by rocket attacks, Hezbollah launched its support for the Palestinians a day after a deadly attack by its ally Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023.

More than 2,800 people have been killed in Lebanon since then, including 2,200 in the past five weeks, and another 1.2 million have been displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.

Israeli authorities say more than 60 people have been killed by Hezbollah rockets, drones, and missiles in northern Israel and the Golan Heights.

Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli military said that its forces were continuing to operate inside southern Lebanon and that airstrikes had struck dozens of Hezbollah targets across the country.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health in Lebanon said that Israeli strikes killed six paramedics in three southern cities.

Four members of the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Society’s Civil Defense, which provides emergency services, were killed when Israeli forces targeted a meeting point at the Derdghaya junction.

IHS paramedics were killed in a car strike in Deir al-Zahrani, while a strike in Zefta killed paramedics from the Islamic Risala Scout Association, which is affiliated with the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement, according to the ministry.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. But dozens of paramedics and other emergency workers have been killed and wounded since it stepped up its air campaign against Hezbollah five weeks ago.

The military has previously accused Hezbollah of using ambulances to transport weapons and fighters. IHS has denied any ties to military operations.