Israel's military reported that a Hezbollah drone attack resulted in the deaths of four soldiers at one of its northern bases on Sunday, as the Israeli forces intensified their bombardments of Lebanon and engaged in clashes with Hezbollah fighters along the border.
The attack on a military training camp in Binyamina, located near Haifa, marked the most severe assault on an Israeli base since September 23, when Israel escalated its strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Emergency services reported over 60 injured individuals.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it deployed 'a squadron of attack drones' against the Binyamina camp, approximately 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the city of Haifa. The group asserted that the strike was in retaliation for Israeli attacks, including air strikes on Thursday that the Lebanese health ministry reported killed at least 22 people in central Beirut.
In a subsequent statement, Hezbollah warned Israel that 'what it witnessed today in southern Haifa is nothing compared to what awaits it if it decides to continue its aggression against our noble and dear people.' Hezbollah also reported multiple clashes with Israeli troops attempting to 'infiltrate' villages along the border.
Prior to the drone strike, Hezbollah had claimed to have launched a barrage of rockets at a 'base in southern Haifa.' Israel's military reported that approximately 115 projectiles fired by Hezbollah had crossed into Israeli territory by Sunday afternoon.
Israel's military also announced the capture of a Hezbollah fighter emerging from a tunnel in southern Lebanon on Sunday, marking the first such announcement since the commencement of the ground offensive.
Meanwhile, UN peacekeepers accused Israeli troops of breaching a gate and entering one of their positions in south Lebanon before dawn on Sunday, adding to several incidents reported by the UNIFIL mission since Thursday. Five Blue Helmets have been injured so far, drawing international condemnation.
UNIFIL stated that 'two IDF (Israeli military) Merkava tanks destroyed the position's main gate and forcibly entered the position' in the Ramia area, before departing 45 minutes later. The Israeli military later explained that a tank 'backed several meters into a UNIFIL post' while under fire and attempting to evacuate injured soldiers.
UN chief Antonio Guterres expressed on Sunday that 'attacks' against peacekeepers 'may constitute a war crime.' UNIFIL, with approximately 9,500 troops, operates in southern Lebanon under the longstanding UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which mandates that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be deployed in south Lebanon.
