The Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon fired mortar shells at Israeli military positions in the Mount Dov area on Saturday afternoon, reportedly wounding several Israel Defense Forces soldiers.
“Following the initial report of launches towards Mount Dov, about 30 mortar shells were identified that were launched towards Israeli territory, some of which crossed into our territory,” the military confirmed in a statement.
The IDF returned fire against the source of the attack in Lebanon. During the exchange, troops spotted a terrorist squad preparing to shoot an anti-tank missile across the border. An Israeli drone attacked the terrorists, the IDF said.
The army did not offer comment on reported casualties among IDF troops.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, confirming it had fired guided missiles and mortars. In a communiqué, the Iran-backed terrorist group said it attacked a “surveillance and monitoring center” and destroyed IDF equipment.
The incident came hours after the IDF killed three terrorists attempting to cross the northern border. The army shared a video of the incident on X (formerly Twitter), saying a drone eliminated a “terrorist cell that tried to enter Israel from Lebanon.”
Overnight on Friday, three suspected drones from Lebanon were intercepted near Haifa and Shfar’am in northern Israel, while terrorists also targeted an IDF drone. Israel targeted a Hezbollah site in Lebanon in response.
The Lebanese terrorist organization has been testing the waters, initiating a series of fire exchanges as the Jewish state fights Hamas terrorists to the south.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned on Friday that Tehran’s other terrorist proxies would join the war if Israel continues to attack Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“Some Western officials have questioned if there is an intention to open a new front against the Zionist entity. Of course, in light of the continuation of these circumstances that are war crimes,” Amir-Abdollahian told journalists in Beirut.
“The continuation of war crimes against Palestine and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the Axis. And naturally, the Zionist entity and its supporters will be responsible for the consequences of that,” he added.
The “Axis of Resistance” refers to Hezbollah, Hamas and other Iranian-backed terror groups along Israel’s borders.
The Islamic Republic’s top diplomat met with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Friday. The terrorist group subsequently announced it was ready to join Hamas in the war against Israel.
On Saturday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Hamas’s assault on Israel, in which more than 1,300 Israelis were murdered and 3,000 wounded, would lead to victory for the Palestinians and called the ongoing war “one of the symbols of the power of Islam,” the semi-official IRNA news agency reported.
“Part of the current [events] is an indication of the incredible power of Islam in Palestine and God willing, the move that began in Palestine will move forward and will lead to the full victory of Palestinians,” said Khamenei, urging Islamic countries to help the Palestinians.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held an assessment at the IDF Northern Command base in Tzfat on Saturday.
The minister “emphasized the defense efforts carried out by the forces in the area to protect the citizens and was briefed on the operations carried out to thwart terror groups and other terrorist targets,” Gallant’s office said.
