Israel yesterday warned residents of south Lebanon “not to return” to their homes as Hezbollah said it launched missiles across the border on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
In cities around Israel, markets were closed and public transportation halted as observant Jews fasted and prayed.
However, with the country at war, soldiers remained engaged in combat in Hamas-run Gaza and in southern Lebanon, a traditional Hezbollah stronghold, amid a firestorm of criticism over the wounding of four UN peacekeepers.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“For your own protection, do not return to your homes until further notice... Do not go south; anyone who goes south may put his life at risk,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X in a message addressed to south Lebanese.
The war between Israel and Hezbollah has since Sept. 23 killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, according to a tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, and forced more than 1 million to flee their homes.
Hezbollah yesterday said it had launched missiles at an Israeli army base near the northern city of Haifa.
In a statement the group said its fighters were “targeting the explosives factory there with a salvo of ... missiles.”
Air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel, with the Israeli military saying it had intercepted a projectile launched from Lebanon.
Israel began pounding Gaza shortly after its worst attacks from Hamas militants on Oct. 7 last year, and it launched a ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Sept. 30.
After the Yom Kippur holiday, attention is likely to turn again to Israel’s expected retaliation against Iran, which launched around 200 missiles at Israel on Tuesday last week.
On Friday, Israel faced a severe diplomatic backlash over what it said was a “hit” on a UN peacekeeping position in Lebanon.
Two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were hurt in the second such incident in two days, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon said on Friday.
The Israeli military said its soldiers had responded with fire to “an immediate threat” about 50m from the UN mission’s base in Naqura.
However, Irish Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sean Clancy said it was “not an accidental act,” while French President Emmanuel Macron said he believed the UN peacekeepers had been “deliberately targeted.”
Ireland and France are major contributors to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon.
As Israel faced a chorus of condemnation from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Western allies and others, its military pledged to carry out a “thorough review.”
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