The Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah targeted northern and central Israel with multiple rocket barrages on November 24, including one of the largest attacks on the Tel Aviv area in one day since Operation Northern Arrows began on September 23. Israel’s operation against Hezbollah is now in its third month, and even though the IDF says it has struck numerous Hezbollah rocket launchers and eliminated more than 2,000 Hezbollah operatives, the group continues to use its arsenal.
Hezbollah began its attacks on November 24, using drones to target northern Israel. The IDF intercepted two of the drones. Next, just before 7:30 am, when many Israelis are dropping children off at school, the group launched six long-range rockets targeting areas of central Israel near Tel Aviv. The Israel Air Force intercepted five of the projectiles. Hezbollah followed up this attack with a barrage of 30 rockets targeting northern Israel. One woman was wounded in the barrage, and damage was caused in the town of Ma’alot-Tarshiha.
Later in the day, more rockets were fired at central Israel and Haifa in northern Israel, causing damage to buildings in the city of Petah Tikva northeast of Tel Aviv and in Haifa. Damage was caused to an area in Petah Tikva by the attacks. By 3:00 pm, the IDF said Hezbollah had launched more than 160 projectiles that crossed into Israel. This was the most since November 11, according to IDF data published semi-regularly. The last significant increase in attacks was on November 18, when 130 projectiles crossed into Israel. In general, most days in November have seen around 50–100 projectiles crossing into Israel.
Hezbollah’s attacks on November 24 typically included barrages of two dozen rockets at a time targeting specific areas in northern Israel and the launching of several long-range rockets at central Israel.
The IDF struck back at Hezbollah, hitting at least one of the rocket launchers used to target Haifa. The footage released by the IDF shows a rocket launcher on the back of a short flatbed truck. This type of vehicle could be used for civilian purposes, and the launcher could be disguised before being elevated, making platforms like this easy to deploy and hard to find. The IDF footage showed that the truck was empty of occupants, and the launcher was empty.
The IDF also carried out precision strikes on buildings in southern Beirut after warning locals to evacuate the area. “The IAF conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah command centers which were deliberately embedded between civilian buildings in the Dahieh, a key Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut. From those command centers, the Hezbollah terrorist organization is directing its terror activities against the State of Israel,” the Israeli military said. “All targets struck were deliberately embedded by the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the heart of civilian areas, this is a further example of how the Hezbollah terrorist organization cynically uses the Lebanese civilian population as a human shield,” the IDF added.
In the wake of the IDF strikes, Hezbollah continued to target central Israel. It launched two rockets at 6:12 pm and then singular rockets at 6:31 and 6:47 pm. Three fell in open areas, and one was intercepted. The attacks illustrate the complexity Israel faces in dealing with the rocket threat. These attacks often set off sirens over a large area because of the chance that shrapnel could fall if there is an interception and to prevent danger to civilians. The rocket may be intercepted or fall in an open area, but more than a million people may be sent to bomb shelters anyway.
