Iron Dome in action, on May 13, 2021. (Avichai Socher/Israeli Defense Forces)
Early on November 25, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that its defenses intercepted a “surface-to-air guided missile” that was fired from southern Lebanon at one of its drones and responded to the attack by targeting Hezbollah sites.
The drone was not damaged and “carried on with its mission,” the IDF said in a statement. The missile did not cross into Israeli airspace, according to the statement.
The IDF noted there was also an aerial interception during the military response, without elaborating. Video footage posted to social media showed a large blast over the northern Israeli city of Haifa in the early morning.
Later in the morning, sirens warning of incoming projectiles were sounding in northern Israel, in the Upper Galilee area near the Lebanese border. The alerts are triggered in the settlements of Yiftah and Mevo’ot Hermon.
The IDF said that the siren was caused by an interceptor missile, fired at an aerial target suspected to be a possible drone launched from southern Lebanon.
The interceptions marked the first exchange of fire on the Lebanese front since the temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip entered into effect on November 24. Hezbollah, which has been launching attacks against the IDF since the war first broke out in the Palestinian enclave on October 7, was not a part of the ceasefire agreement. However, it halted attacks in an effort to facilitate the ceasefire.
As of November 24, clashes on the Lebanese front have claimed the lives of six IDF troops, three Israeli civilians, 84 fighters of Hezbollah, two fighters from the Lebanese Resistance Brigades, one fighter from the Lebanese Resistance Regiments, seven fighters from the Hamas Movement, four fighters from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and 12 Lebanese civilians.
