Air defenses intercept Hezbollah rockets over Haifa Bay
Rockets launched from Lebanon Monday evening triggered sirens in Haifa and the Carmel Ridge. Footage in Israeli media showed around 10 interceptions. This is the first major rocket volley fired from Lebanon toward Israel's third-largest city since the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
Earlier, rockets from Lebanon also set off sirens across the northern West Bank for the first time, reaching as far as 60 miles south of the border, similar to the distance to the Tel Aviv area.
Additionally, in over an hour starting around 4:15 p.m., approximately 130 rockets were fired from Lebanon on various regions of northern Israel in several salvos, setting off alarms in the Carmel Ridge and Haifa Bay areas — one of Israel's most densely populated urban sprawls, as well as Acre, the Lower Galilee, the Jezreel Valley, Safed, the Golan Heights and other regions.
The IDF confirmed that around 10 rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel in the first barrage, prompting alerts in the Carmel region, Upper Galilee and Jezreel Valley. Israeli air defense systems intercepted several rockets, while others landed in unpopulated areas.
Additional sirens sounded in central and lower Galilee at 4:24 p.m., as another 25 rockets were launched from Lebanon. Some were intercepted, while others also landed in open fields.
An interceptor struck a location in the town of Basmat Tab'un, near Shefa-‘Amr, causing no injuries. A fire, likely caused by debris from an interceptor, broke out in a field near Tishbi Junction in the Jezreel Valley, where two firefighting teams are working to control the blaze. Later, approximately 25 more rockets were launched into the Golan Heights, with some landing in unpopulated areas.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Meanwhile, the IDF said that it conducted a large-scale aerial assault targeting over 800 Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. The strikes, based on precise intelligence, targeted buildings where Hezbollah stored rockets, missiles, launchers, drones, and other munitions. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar are overseeing the operation from the command center in Tel Aviv.
Earlier, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported that the death toll from Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon has risen to 182. An additional 727 people have been reported injured as hostilities intensify in the region.
Later, Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese network Al Mayadeen reported that fatalities in Israeli airstrikes since Monday morning have risen to 274 and injuries to 1,024.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, along with Prime Minister Netanyahu, received a briefing on the expanded strikes against Hezbollah targets at the Air Force command center. The airspace closure from Hadera northward has been extended until the end of September due to the escalating conflict. As of now, there are no updates regarding operations at Ben Gurion Airport.
Earlier, Netanyahu warned the public on Monday that Israel was "facing complex days ahead" as fighting with Hezbollah in the north reaches a fever pitch.
“Whoever tries to harm us, we will strike them back even harder," Netanyahu said at a security assessment at the Israeli Air Force command center in the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv alongside Gallant, Halevi and Air Force Commander Bar.
"I promised we would change the security balance in the north, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We are facing complex days ahead.”