One Israeli killed, several wounded in heavy Hezbollah rocket barrage as IDF strikes deep inside Lebanon

An Israeli citizen was killed and several more wounded when the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah fired some 40 rockets toward the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday morning in the latest escalation on Israel’s northern border.

The killed civilian was identified as Zaher Bishara (25), a Druze Israeli man from the town of Ain Kiniyyeh in the Golan Heights. Bishara was killed when one of the around 40 rockets fired by Hezbollah struck a paper factory, which then caught on fire.

Bishara was rescued from the fire but pronounced dead at the scene, while another worker was lightly injured in the blaze.

About 30 rockets were intercepted by the IDF, however, an additional 10 rockets fell in the city, causing several smaller fires and lightly injuring a man on his hand, Israeli media reported.

Surveillance camera footage shows one of the rocket impacts in Kiryat Shmona this morning, following a barrage launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon. https://t.co/XUi4Bb7taH pic.twitter.com/xo1pBXG2Mc

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 27, 2024

Bishara's death brings the total number of Israelis who have died along the northern border since the onset of the war to 18, comprising 11 soldiers and 7 civilians.

The latest round of escalation began on Tuesday when the IDF responded to Hezbollah targeting a strategically important Israeli military base on Mount Meron.

Israeli aircraft struck a terror compound and airstrip of Hezbollah’s aerial unit in Zaboud, about 110 km (68 miles) from the Israeli border, marking the northernmost attack the IDF carried out in Lebanon so far. Several other targets across southern Lebanon were also attacked.

In response to the attack on the Meron base, the IDF attacked with a deep strike in the north of the Bekaa, a compound of the Hezbollah aireal unit that included buildings (probably including a command and control structure) and a UAV launch pad. The complex is located between… pic.twitter.com/soRK8gChQR

— Israel-Alma (@IsraelAlmaorg) March 26, 2024

When Hezbollah retaliated by launching a barrage of about 50 rockets toward Israeli communities in the Upper Galilee and Golan Heights, the Israeli military carried out another wave of strikes.

Israel Air Force fighter jets struck another compound and airstrip in the Baalbek area, 85 km (53 miles) inside Lebanon. The infrastructure belonged to Hezbollah’s aerial unit, which mainly operates drones and anti-aircraft weapons.

Second attack today on a compound belonging to the Hezbollah aerial unit in the Bekaa. This time, west of Baalbek, near the town of Bodai. In the Bekaa, other strategic Hezbollah arrays are also deployed, such as the long-range ballistic missile array, weapons development,… pic.twitter.com/Hw8c1uOoh1

— Israel-Alma (@IsraelAlmaorg) March 26, 2024

Later on Tuesday night, an IAF airstrike eliminated seven people in the “emergency and relief center” of the terror group Jama’a al-Islamiya in the village of al-Habbariyeh, Reuters reported. Hezbollah initially claimed they were civilians and vowed revenge.

Israel stated the strike targeted a “central terrorist” in the group who had been advancing plans to attack Israeli targets, as well as other terrorists in the building. According to the IDF, no civilians were harmed in the strike.

Jama’a al-Islamiya is a small, radical Islamic terrorist group that is primarily active in the eastern part of southern Lebanon. Its leader, Sheikh Mohammed Takkoush, told the Associated Press his group was closely coordinating with Hezbollah and Hamas along the Israeli border, where it has claimed responsibility for several attacks over recent months.