Hezbollah launched rocket ‘20 meters’ from UN compound

Hezbollah fired a rocket just 20 meters from a United Nations compound in Southern Lebanon on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday.

In doing so, Hezbollah endangered the lives of UNIFIL soldiers and continued to systematically violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which bans Hezbollah from operating in Southern Lebanon.

Since hostilities began on the northern border in parallel with Hamas’s mass murder attack on Oct. 7, Hezbollah has repeatedly used UNIFIL positions as human shields, firing on Israel from nearby. The UNIFIL head of mission and force commander “was notified” of the latest incident, the IDF stated.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzl Halevi visited the Lebanon border on Sunday, reviewing the 91^st Territorial Division and stating that “it is clear to us that this must end with a very clear change of the situation.”

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the chief of staff met forces in the area, adding that northern residents would return when security is restored.

Meanwhile, in the south, IDF ground, air and naval troops are continuing to carry out joint operations to kill terrorists and destroy their weapons and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

IDF troops are operating against several terrorist strongholds in the Gaza Strip, including Jabalia, Shejaiya in Gaza City, Beit Hanun and Khan Yunis. The troops attack the strongholds, eliminate terrorists and locate and destroy terrorist infrastructure. In addition, Israel Navy sailors operate off the coast of the Gaza Strip, supporting IDF ground troops and striking terrorist targets from the sea.

Following precise IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) intelligence, the Israel Air Force killed the new commander of Hamas’s Shejaiya Battalion, Emad Krikae, the military stated. The previous commander of the Shejaiya Battalion was killed by the IDF earlier in the war.

“Krikae had been deputy commander of Shejaiya. Earlier he had been responsible for anti-tank missile training in the Gaza City Brigade,” said the military. He also participated in anti-tank missile fire and terrorist raids carried out inside Israeli territory.

Since Hamas violated the ceasefire in late November and the IDF resumed combat shortly thereafter, the IAF has struck more than 3,500 terror targets in the Gaza Strip, said the military. Among those were targets identified in real-time by IDF troops on the ground. Since the beginning of the war, more than 22,000 terror targets have been struck in the Gaza Strip.

Doctors, and paramedics of the IAF’s tactical search and rescue squadron, Unit 669, continue their rescue operations from in Gaza. Over the past week, 669’s helicopter crews and medical teams carried out approximately 60 evacuations of wounded soldiers from combat zones, providing advanced, life-saving treatment.

In recent days, soldiers from the 282nd Brigade have been operating in the Gaza Strip, in cooperation with the 188th Brigade in the Shejaiya area.

The Artillery Corps struck more than 20 terrorist targets, including weapons storage facilities, booby-trapped houses and Hamas infrastructure.

Earlier on Sunday, two suspicious aerial targets, which infiltrated from Lebanon, were identified in the Western Galilee and were intercepted by the IAF Aerial Defense Array.

Two IDF soldiers were moderately injured, and additional soldiers were lightly injured from shrapnel and smoke inhalation.

In response, IAF fighter jets carried out extensive strikes on Hezbollah terrorist organization targets in Lebanese territory.