Hezbollah strikes kill 7 in northern Israel as ceasefire talks advance

Hezbollah rocket attacks killed seven people in northern Israel on Thursday, in one of the deadliest days for the country since the start of its multi-front war last year. 

The strikes took place as Israeli, Lebanese and U.S. negotiators worked toward a peace agreement in Lebanon.

The IDF reported that Hezbollah fired dozens of projectiles into Israel’s north in a series of attacks throughout the day targeting the Golan Heights and other parts of northern Israel, including areas surrounding the major port city of Haifa. 

The barrage killed a mother and son, Mina and Karmi Hasson, from the Arab-Israeli town of Shefa-Amr, also known as Shfaram, close to Haifa. The pair were reportedly harvesting olives when they were hit by shrapnel. Efforts to save their lives by Magen David Adom, the emergency medical service, were unsuccessful. 

In a separate incident, five people were killed in a strike near the city of Metula, one of Israel’s northernmost points, according to media reports. Four of the fatalities were foreign workers. Kibbutz Dafna, southeast of Metula, identified the other victim as resident Omer Weinstein. The deaths bring the total number of Israeli civilians killed in the conflict with Hezbollah to 39. 

Some of the projectiles fired by Hezbollah were downed by aerial defense systems while others landed in open areas, the IDF said. The Israeli air force attacked weapons warehouses and a command center used by Hezbollah in Syria on Thursday afternoon. Other strikes were reported in Lebanon.

The strikes occurred on the same day that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other senior Israeli officials met with White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk and Senior Advisor to the U.S. President Amos Hochstein. 

Hochstein is leading U.S. efforts to secure a negotiated end to the conflict in the north, which began on Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah began firing missiles into Israel following Hamas’ invasion the previous day. Since then, Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged fire, leading to thousands of deaths in Lebanon and close to 100 among Israelis, as well as the evacuation of tens of thousands of the area’s residents. Israel recently escalated its fight against Hezbollah, killing its leader and other top officials and fighters, and decimating its missile stock. 

Ceasefire talks in the north have reportedly made progress. A draft agreement published by Israel’s public broadcaster centers on the implementation of a U.N. Security Council resolution that was passed after the 2006 Lebanon war, Israel’s last major conflict with Hezbollah, that would see the terror group withdraw to north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has expressed hope that an agreement will be signed within days. 

“Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear that the main point is not this or that agreement on paper but Israel’s ability and determination to enforce the agreement and thwart any threat to its security from Lebanon, in a manner that will return our residents securely to their homes,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement following the meeting with Hochstein.