Two soldiers and a civilian were wounded on Tuesday morning in a cross-border anti-tank missile attack on the northern Israeli town of Metula.
Hezbollah took credit for the attack.
The IDF responded by shelling the source of the attack in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli victims, two lightly and one moderately wounded, were evacuated to Ziv Medical Center in Safed.
A total of three cross-border anti-tank missile launches were reported throughout the day, which were followed by IDF artillery fire at the sources of the attacks. In the late afternoon, the IDF reported the third round of anti-tank missile fire, which this time targeted the Israeli community of Zar’it near the security fence.
The second reported missile attack came a few hours after the IDF reported the first attack, with the army saying that it responded with artillery fire at the source of anti-tank missile fire towards a military post adjacent to the Israeli community of Margaliot on the Lebanese border.
Around 4:30 p.m., more air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel, with the IDF confirming it detected two rockets launched from Lebanon. One projectile was intercepted while the other rocket struck an open area, the military said.
The IDF also reported light-arms fire at a number of locations on the security fence between Israel and Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon and that the army was responding to the source of the attack with artillery fire.
There were no initial reports of casualties from the afternoon attacks and no initial claims of responsibility.
The Red Cross reported that four people were killed by Israeli retaliatory strikes in Lebanon.
Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces killed four terrorists attempting to infiltrate Israel from Lebanon and plant an explosive device. IDF spotters detected the squad trying to cross the security fence close to Kibbutz Hanita.
The IDF released footage of the drone strike on the terror cell.
Hezbollah has been probing Israel’s northern border in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault on the Jewish state, initiating a series of exchanges of fire as the IDF engages Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
On Monday afternoon, the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist organization took responsibility for a cross-border anti-tank missile attack earlier in the day, saying it had targeted five locations in northern Israel.
Five Israelis—four soldiers and a civilian—have been killed on the northern front since the Hamas terrorist rampage in the south that left more than 1,400 people dead and 4,100 wounded, and at least 199 held hostage in Gaza.
An Israeli soldier was killed on Sunday by a Hezbollah anti-tank missile fired at the IDF’s Nurit border post. Earlier on Sunday, a civilian was killed and three others wounded in another Hezbollah anti-tank missile attack.
The IDF soldier killed was later identified as Lt. Amitayi Zvi Granot, 24. The civilian casualty was identified as Mofid al-Zir, an Arab Israeli construction worker from Abu Snan, near Acre.
The IDF hit the source of Sunday’s missile fire with artillery.
About an hour after the initial incident on Sunday, the IDF reported more anti-tank guided missile fire from Lebanon, directed at soldiers operating along the border. In response, the army struck Hezbollah military targets.
Later in the afternoon, the IDF reported that nine rockets were fired from Lebanon into the Western Galilee, setting off alarms in Nahariya, Rosh Hanikra and nearby towns. Israel’s Iron Dome defense system intercepted five of the projectiles; the remainder were not headed towards populated areas. The IDF struck the source of the attacks.
In addition, the IDF said ground troops exchanged fire with terrorists on the border.
The IDF on Sunday declared the area within four km. (2.5 miles) of the Lebanese border a closed military zone and ordered citizens residing within two km. (1.2 miles) of the border to remain close to bomb shelters.
The other Israeli deaths since the Oct. 7 massacre occurred on Oct. 10 during a firefight with terrorist infiltrators from Lebanon. A senior IDF officer and two other Israeli soldiers were killed and five wounded in the clash, which was claimed by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The senior officer killed was identified as 300th Brigade Deputy Commander Lt. Col. Alim Abdullah, 40, from the Druze village of Yanuh-Jat in the Western Galilee.
