Israeli Military Says Hezbollah Fired 55 Rockets Toward City Of Safed

Iran-backed Lebanese faction Hezbollah fired some 55 rockets toward the northern Israeli city of Safed and surrounding areas on Saturday morning, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The attack from Lebanon consisted of two barrages, with around 20 rockets launched in the first wave and about 35 in the second, The Times Of Israel newspaper reported. While many of the rockets were intercepted, some landed in open areas, sparking fires but causing no reported injuries.

The IDF confirmed that they responded shortly after the attacks by targeting the rocket launchers in southern Lebanon. Rocket sirens sounded in Safed and multiple nearby communities, alerting residents to the incoming fire. The area has experienced ongoing rocket fire throughout the morning.

Southern Gaza

On Friday, the Israeli army took reporters to tunnels uncovered by troops in southern Gaza, including the entrance to the underground chamber where the bodies of six Israeli hostages killed by Hamas were recovered on Sept. 1. The military did not allow reporters into the tunnel, in the Tel al-Sultan area of Rafah for security reasons.

But it has released footage showing a cramped and airless passage it said was some 20 metres below ground where it said the hostages had been held possibly for weeks. “There is a complete maze of tunnels here in Tel al-Sultan,” Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari told reporters, standing next to the shaft leading down to the tunnel, located in what appears to have been a child’s room in a destroyed house. “We need to do everything we can, by all means, to bring them back home,” he said, referring to the 101 hostages still being held in Gaza.

Six Hostages Killed

The Israeli military has said the six hostages were killed on the night of Aug. 29 and their bodies were recovered by troops around two days later. The Tel al-Sultan tunnel is part of what the military has said is a large network uncovered by Israeli forces operating around Rafah, near the border with Egypt. Troops have uncovered around 13 kilometres of underground tunnel routes over the past few months, the army said this week.

Apart from rare visits escorted by the military, foreign media outlets have not been allowed to enter Gaza since Israel invaded the enclave after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and saw more than 250 taken hostage. Much of Gaza has been destroyed in the Israeli campaign and most of the 2.3 million population have been driven from their homes. More than 41,000 people have been killed, according to Palestinian health ministry figures.

(With agency inputs)