Soldier Killed in Massive Hezbollah Barrage, Terror Group Warns of More to Come

July 5, 2024

by: Joshua Spurlock ~ Middle East Update

Friday, 5 July 2024 | An Israel Defense Forces [IDF] soldier was killed as Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets at Israel on Thursday after Israel eliminated a top Hezbollah commander the day before. A Hezbollah leader later warned the terror group’s violent response wasn’t over yet

Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s executive council, was quoted by L’Orient Today as saying on Thursday that Hezbollah’s response to the assassination of commander Mohammed Nasser would “continue” and target “unexpected locations” in Israel.

That ominous warning comes as the threat of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah looms, with the sides continuing to shoot across the border in a conflict started by Hezbollah after Hamas’s terror rampage on October 7.

On Thursday, the IDF confirmed in their official feed on X (formerly Twitter) that Hezbollah had launched approximately 200 projectiles and more than 20 “suspicious aerial targets” at Israel, with some intercepted by Israel’s air defense systems and airforce.

Following the barrage, the IDF Hebrew X feed reported Israeli air strikes and artillery fire against multiple Hezbollah “military structures” and other threats. In his X feed, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari also reported that the Hezbollah attacks started fires in Israel’s north.

According to the IDF Hebrew website, Major Itai Galah was killed in Israel’s north on Thursday. Ynetnews confirmed Galah’s death in the rocket attack.

Hillel Neuer, the Executive Director of UN Watch, took to X to criticize the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for failing to address Hezbollah’s indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israel. Wrote Neuer: “I’m in Israel which has just been hit with the heaviest Hezbollah barrage since start of the war: 160 rockets & 15 UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicle] launched from Lebanon in 1 hour. Two women slightly injured, fires breaking out across Galilee and Golan. In Geneva, the UNHRC is in session. They are silent.”

A separate Ynetnews report cited claims in the German Bild tabloid that Israel is prepared to launch a war against Hezbollah in the second half of July if Hezbollah doesn’t end the fighting. When asked by a reporter about the Bild report on Tuesday and whether Israel would warn the US ahead of such an attack, US spokesperson Vedant Patel was quoted by the State Department as saying the US has “a close working relationship with our partners in Israel and we continue to be in touch with them about our expectation for calm along the Blue Line [border between Israel and Lebanon] as well.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his country’s determination to bring peace to Israel’s north. In his X Hebrew feed, the Israeli leader said, “In the midst of the difficult campaign against Lebanon, we established a principle—whoever harms us will have blood on his head. We put it into practice. We know that the road is still long, but we are determined to restore security to the north and return the residents safely to their homes.”

Posted on July 5, 2024

Source: (Excerpt from an article originally published by the Middles East Update on July 4, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today.)

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