Hezbollah's heavy Burkan rockets ravage Metulla settlement
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Israel Hayom highlights that about 300 housing units thus far have been damaged, which make up half of the units in the settlement.
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A damaged house in the Israeli Metulla settlement in the Upper al-Jalil region on the border with Lebanon as a result of Hezbollah rockets (X)
Approximately 50 housing units in the Israeli Metulla settlement in the Upper al-Jalil region on the border with Lebanon were damaged overnight due to the heavy rockets launched from Lebanon, Israeli media reported on Friday.
The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom highlighted that, since October 8, about 300 housing units have been damaged, which make up half of the units in the settlement.
"I have never seen such damage in Metulla," one settler told the newspaper.
On his part, the head of Metulla's local council, David Azoulai, indicated that six to seven Burkan rockets landed in the settlement.
"There is mass destruction. I have not seen anything like this since the beginning of the war," he expressed.
Commenting on the strikes, Knesset member Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, indicated that Metulla, "the crown jewel of the north," has been wiped out due to Hezbollah's shelling.
Israeli media mentioned that yesterday's rocket launches from Lebanon caused damage to buildings in the settlement and triggered a fire in the area. An Israeli soldier was also injured in the attack.
The Israeli Channel 14 reported that nearly eight Burkan rockets caused "significant and extensive damage throughout Metulla, affecting electrical and communication cables."
A Yedioth Ahronoth correspondent in the north mentioned that the Metulla settlement is now in an "Alta" scenario, where there is no electricity or communication due to the heavy rockets that landed in the settlement.
Itay Blumental, Kan channel's military correspondent, posted on X photos showing the destruction in the settlement, saying, "Unbelievable images from Metulla after direct hits by Hezbollah's heavy rockets last night."
תמונות בלתי נתפסות ממטולה אחרי פגיעות ישירות של רקטות חיזבאללה עתירות משקל אתמול בלילה pic.twitter.com/8ff8Bb8R7J
— איתי בלומנטל 🇮🇱 Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) September 20, 2024
An Israeli media platform also pointed out that the Israeli military has declared a complete "media blackout" in northern settlements, preventing anyone from entering or filming.
No effective measures for settlers' return to North
Meanwhile, the military correspondent for the Israeli Walla website, Amir Bohbot, commented on Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech following the Israeli pagers attack on Lebanon. He said that "[Sayyed] Nasrallah warned of a Lebanese retaliation and stated that Israel has crossed red lines, and there will be consequences."
Bohbot noted that the Israeli military's 98th Division has been relocated from Gaza to the northern border with Lebanon, adding that the Home Front Command has begun reinforcing various regions across "Israel" with rescue and relief forces.
However, he suggested that no effective measures had been taken by Israeli authorities to support the safe return of northern settlers to their homes and described the situation as "more about stalling and creating crises of all kinds," attributing the delay to the "lack of progress in combat."
"The northern settlers who were evacuated received a reminder today of their inability to return home anytime soon," Bohbot emphasized, adding that two were killed and several others were wounded by an anti-tank missile and an attack drone.
Elsewhere, he called on Northern Command chief Major General Ori Gordin and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to "tell the public the truth."
On Friday, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah announced that its fighters struck a position of Israeli occupation soldiers at the Metulla site on the border with occupied Palestine with a guided missile.
A few hours earlier, on Thursday, Hezbollah targeted buildings used by Israeli soldiers in the Metulla settlement with unnamed "appropriate weapons" and hit them directly, in response to Israeli assaults on southern Lebanese villages and homes. The Lebanese Resistance group also shelled the Metulla site with a barrage of Falaq rockets.
Thursday's 17 operations came despite "Israel's" treacherous terror attack against Lebanon, where it detonated thousands of booby-trapped wireless communication devices across the country, which led to the martyrdom of 37 people and injured nearly 3,000 others.
Read more: New warfare era: Israelis weaponize consumer goods in terror attacks
