At least 67 people were injured, some seriously, this Sunday during an attack with a drone Hezbollah in the Jewish settlement area of Binyamina, south of Haifa (West Bank), according to United Hatzalah, the Israeli emergency service. “With the help of United Hatzalah ambulance teams, we assisted more than 60 injured people with varying degrees of injuries: critical, serious, moderate and minor,” they said in a statement.
An attack that comes hours after an Israeli tank attacked a base UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) and left fifteen peacekeepers injured. “An army tank which was trying to evacuate wounded soldiers – after a Hezbollah attack – while still under fire, retreated several meters towards a UNIFIL post,” indicate the Hebrew authorities.
“Around 4:30 p.m. local time, while the peacekeepers were in shelters, two Merkava tanks of the Israeli army destroyed the main gate of the position and entered it by force,” reported UNIFIL, which considers that it is a serious violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.
According to the UN memo, Israeli soldiers repeatedly asked the base to turn off its lights and the tanks left about 45 minutes later, after UNIFIL protested through the liaison mechanism, stating that “the presence of the army was endanger peacekeepers“.
“Despite wearing protective masks, fifteen soldiers suffered effects“, including skin irritations and gastrointestinal reactions due to smoke entering the camp,” UNIFIL said, adding that the troops were being treated.
Hezbollah attack
The number of injured increased little by little. At first, the perpetrator of the events was unknown, but the Shiite organization quickly claimed responsibility.
Four of the injured are in critical condition. 5 in serious condition and 14 are in moderate condition, while the others suffer minor injuries, according to Israeli media citing medical sources.
Helicopters and ambulances transported all the injured to various medical centers, including Rambam Hospital in Haifa; Saba at Tel Hashomer; Hillel Yaffe in Hadera; Ha’emek in Afula and Laniado in Netanya. “The army intercepted a drone which was launched from Lebanon towards the northern naval zone. Civilians must continue to follow the directives of the National Front command,” the army reported.
According to the Israeli newspaper HaareztThe army is also investigating why the anti-aircraft alarms did not sound as well as the failure of the Israeli anti-aircraft system to intercept the second drone.
