One hurt as Hezbollah fires over 40 rockets at northern Israel

IDF says it hit over 200 targets in Lebanon over past day; foreign press group urges vigilance after IDF posts altered image of slain Hezbollah-linked reporter

A man was lightly injured on Wednesday morning in one of several Hezbollah rocket barrages on northern Israel, in which the Iran-backed terror group fired over 40 rockets.

Magen David Adom said the 61-year-old was hit by shrapnel near the city of Tamra.

The attacks came a day after Israel and Lebanon held a historic summit in Washington, DC, with envoys for the two nations meeting with the hopes of reaching a peace deal that would end decades of conflict.

Hezbollah has expressed fierce opposition to the talks. The Lebanese government has distanced itself from the terror group and made efforts to disarm it, though Israel is skeptical of its ability to do so.

Hezbollah has been firing hundreds of rockets per day, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The vast majority of the daily rocket fire has been directed at Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon, with only a few dozen projectiles crossing the border into Israel.

The IDF believes Hezbollah still possesses thousands of short-range rockets, along with hundreds of longer-range projectiles. The IDF has said that Hezbollah is launching most of its attacks from deep within southern Lebanon, north of the Litani River, and not from areas close to the border.

The military, meanwhile, carried on with its campaign against the terror group, saying the Israeli Air Force has struck over 200 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon over the past day.

The IDF said the targets included terror operatives, buildings used by the terror group, and some 20 rocket launchers, including some used in attacks on Israel.

Lebanese media reported that at least two vehicles were targeted in Israeli strikes on a coastal highway south of Beirut, near the seaside towns of Jiyeh and Saadiyat, some 70 kilometers north of Israel’s border.

There was no immediate comment from the IDF on the specific strikes.

Despite its ongoing attacks, Israel has not targeted the Lebanese capital since a series of attacks targeting Hezbollah sites across the country on April 8 killed more than 350 people.

The IDF also reiterated on Wednesday its wide-scale evacuation warning for southern Lebanon.

“Hezbollah’s terror activities are forcing the IDF to act strongly against it. Strikes are ongoing… therefore, for your safety, we again urge you to evacuate your homes immediately and move at once to north of the Zahrani River,” army spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee wrote on X.

The IDF has issued such warnings numerous times in recent weeks.

On the ground, Israeli troops in the south located a Hezbollah anti-tank guided missile launcher that was aimed at Israel, the military said.

Reservists of the 8th Armored Brigade, operating under the 91st “Galilee” Regional Division, found several anti-tank missiles alongside the launcher, as well as other weapons and equipment.

The IDF said the division in recent days also directed airstrikes on buildings in southern Lebanon that were being used by Hezbollah, including a command center, and killed several members of the terror group.

The military also announced Wednesday that, following the injury of the commander of the 401st Armored Brigade’s 52nd Battalion in southern Lebanon Tuesday, Lt. Col. Daniel Ella, a previous commander of the battalion, will return to the role temporarily.

Ella, as the 52nd Battalion commander, was moderately wounded during fighting in Gaza in July 2024. He was replaced by Lt. Col. Yehuda Shalev, who was later severely wounded in October 2024. Ella then briefly returned to serve as acting battalion commander until the latest commander — seriously wounded on Tuesday — entered the role.

Now, Ella will again serve as acting commander of the battalion.

Israeli officials have said the IDF is establishing a demilitarized “security zone” in southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, until the threat of Hezbollah is removed.

The buffer zone would be controlled with surveillance and firepower, as well as ground troops in areas deemed strategically necessary, the military has said.

Defense Minister Israel Katz has said he instructed the IDF to raze all buildings in the so-called “first line” of Lebanese villages close to the Israeli border, to ensure Hezbollah cannot use them to stage attacks on Israel.

Thirteen IDF soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon amid fighting against Hezbollah, two civilians were killed by Hezbollah rockets, and an Israeli civilian was mistakenly killed in the north by Israeli artillery shelling.

In Lebanon, the Israeli military has said that it has killed some 1,500 Hezbollah operatives, including hundreds of members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, since hostilities escalated amid the war with Iran.

More than 3,500 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon have also been struck, including hundreds of command centers, weapon depots, and rocket and missile launchers, according to the IDF.

Foreign press group urges vigilance after IDF shares altered image

The Foreign Press Association is urging journalists to be “vigilant in accepting handout materials” from the IDF “at face value,” after the military circulated a digitally manipulated image of a Lebanese journalist it killed in an airstrike, alleging he was a Hezbollah operative.

On March 28, the IDF published an image of Hezbollah-affiliated journalist Ali Shoeib, showing him split between two depictions: one unedited, in a press vest, and another altered to show him in Hezbollah uniform. The military said he had been targeted as a Radwan Force operative acting “under the guise of a journalist.”

“This image turned out to be fake,” the FPA said in a statement, adding that it was intended to “discredit” Shoeib, who was killed alongside two other journalists.

“During the recent wars, it has been common practice by the Israeli military to discredit journalists and sow doubt by releasing inaccurate information and raising allegations without providing clear evidence,” the group charged.

A day after the edited image was published, the IDF released what appeared to be an unaltered image of Shoeib in military attire, standing near a tank.

Israel has faced repeated accusations of targeting journalists since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack, particularly in Gaza, where foreign press has been barred from entering since the war began.

The IDF has consistently denied the allegations, saying it takes steps to minimize civilian harm while maintaining that some journalists killed in strikes were affiliated with terror groups.