Sirens Jolt Northern Israel as Military Intercepts Aerial Targets

(MENAFN) Air raid sirens jolted northern Israel in the early hours of Monday as the Israeli military confirmed it had intercepted aerial threats — the latest flashpoint in a volatile security corridor stretching across the Lebanon border.

The army said the air force downed a "suspicious aerial target" before it crossed into Israeli territory, while alerts for rocket and missile fire were triggered over concerns about falling interception debris. Interceptors were also launched toward two additional aerial targets detected in an area where Israeli forces are currently operating in southern Lebanon, with the outcomes of those engagements still under review.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for 11 separate operations against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, describing them as being carried out "in defense of Lebanon and its people" and as direct responses to what the group characterized as ceasefire violations and attacks on civilians. The militant organization said it deployed attack drones against Israeli troop concentrations in Naqoura and shelled soldier positions and military vehicles in al-Bayyada, asserting direct hits in both engagements.

The flare-up comes against a backdrop of sustained Israeli military escalation. Since March 2 — shortly after Hezbollah retaliated following the Iran war — the Israeli army has carried out expanded strikes across Lebanon, killing nearly 2,700 people and displacing more than 1.6 million others, according to official Lebanese data.

A US-brokered 10-day ceasefire that took effect on April 17 was subsequently extended through mid-May — though Monday's events cast fresh doubt over its durability.

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