Attack on central Israel injures 11 as Khamenei promises retribution

An attack on a central Israeli town early Saturday injured 11 people as Iran’s Supreme Leader vowed a punishing response to Israel’s attack last week.

Navy captures hezbollah leader

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Israeli naval forces captured a senior Hezbollah official, Imad Amhaz, in an operation in northern Lebanon on Friday, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X, citing an Israeli official.

Buffer zone

• Israel says it aims to push Hezbollah far enough back that its citizens can return safely to homes in the north, but Israeli officials acknowledge they don’t have a concrete plan for ensuring Hezbollah stays away from the border long term.
• Orna Mizrahi, a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Israel’s immediate aim is not to create a buffer zone — but that might change in the coming days.

The predawn strike on Tira, which followed air raid sirens across central Israel, was one of several barrages fired from Lebanon early in the day. Many of the projectiles were intercepted by Israeli air defences, while others landed in unpopulated areas.

The Magen David Adom emergency service said 11 people were hurt by shrapnel and glass shards in a direct strike on a building in Tira, a predominantly Israeli Arab town. Three were in moderate condition, while the others suffered milder injuries.

Footage showed significant damage to the roof and top floor of the three-storey building and cars below.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group said on Saturday that it had used missiles and explosive drones to target military and intelligence facilities in northern and central Israel. It claimed responsibility for firing missiles toward the Israeli military’s Unit 8200 base in Glilot on the edge of Tel Aviv and for firing rockets toward military facilities in Zvulun. Hezbollah also said it had targeted central Israel’s Palmachim Air Base with explosive drones, saying they “scored precise hits on targets.”

Israel’s military did not confirm whether any of the three Hezbollah targets had been hit and said it had no comment on the group’s claims.

Iran threatens more attacks

The early Saturday attacks may be only a precursor to a more severe strike against Israel. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, on Saturday threatened Israel and the US with a punishing response over attacks on Iran and its allies following Israel’s Oct. 26 airstrikes that targeted Iran’s military bases and other locations.

“The enemies, whether the Zionist regime or the United States of America, will definitely receive a crushing response to what they are doing to Iran and the Iranian nation and to the resistance front,” Khamenei said in video released by Iranian state media.