Nearly all of the hundreds of rockets and drones Hezbollah fired at Israel early Sunday were positioned in civilian areas of Lebanon near mosques, schools, gas stations and United Nations sites, the Israel Defense Forces said on Monday night.
Out of the 230 rockets and 20 UAVs that crossed into Israeli territory, 90% of the launches “were from the heart of a civilian area,” according to the army, which provided an infographic showing sites of rocket launchers in southern Lebanon located just 150 meters (492 feet) from a school and 160 meters (525 feet) from a mosque in the village of Tallouseh, and one placed 525 feet from a U.N. building in the Hanniyeh area, with dozens of others nearby.
“The Hezbollah terrorist organization places its terrorist infrastructure in the middle of the civilian population while using Lebanese civilians as human shields,” the IDF said.
The Israeli Air Force destroyed thousands of launchers and more than 6,000 missiles and drones in a preemptive strike that prevented a much bigger attack from Iran’s Lebanese terror proxy.
On Monday night, Hezbollah launched what it said was a “swarm of UAVs” on the Western Galilee and Hula Valley.
The IDF confirmed that several “suspicious aerial targets” were detected crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory after sirens sounded in the Upper Galilee and a little over 20 minutes later in the Western Galilee. The IDF aerial defense array intercepted most of them, with falls identified. No injuries were reported in either attack.
Hezbollah’s drone attack came early on Monday, after Israel conducted a series of strikes in southern Lebanon, including one that targeted a Hamas commander in the Sidon area. Lebanese media outlets reported that the intended target was Nidal Hleihel and that he was seriously injured when two missiles struck his car as he left his house and headed to his vehicle.
“Earlier today, the IAF struck a Hezbollah military structure and terrorist infrastructure sites in the areas of Meiss El Jabal, Khiam, Hajir and Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon,” the IDF said on Monday night.
