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The IDF said on Saturday that it intended to respond with force to a rocket attack targeting the Upper Galilee. Six rockets were launched from South Lebanon at the border town of Metula in the early morning hours, three fell short of the border and three were intercepted by aerial defenses. No changes were announced to the instructions issued by the IDF Home Front Command.
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Rockets from South Lebanon target Metula
The military responded immediately with artillery fire toward targets in South Lebanon. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Lebanese government bears responsibility for any attack on Israel and for the proper implementation of the cease-fire deal that ended the war with Hezbollah last November.
4דיווח לבנוני: טילי יירוט התפוצצו בגזרה המזרחית של דרום לבנוןדיווח לבנוני: טילי יירוט התפוצצו בגזרה המזרחית של דרום לבנון
Aerial defenses intercept rockets fired from Lebanon at Metual on Saturday
4יוחמוריוחמורPhoto: Rabih Daher / AFP
IDF targets South Lebanon after rockets attack Israel's north
Metula was among the most severely hit towns on the Israel-Lebanon border during the year of war with Hezbollah. Most of its homes were either destroyed or damaged. Although the government instructed residents to return home to the north, only 8% of Metual's population has returned many of them expressing their doubts that they would be safe from attack.
4שרידי רקטה במטולהשרידי רקטה במטולהPhoto: Gil Nechushtan
Hezbollah rocket lands outside a home in Metula during the war with Hezbollah
4הנזק מהירי לעברהנזק מהירי לעבר
Destruction to homes in Metuallah during the year-long war
In the town, there is anger and frustration. "We go from house to house and ask the people how they are feeling after the IDF said there was no security risk anymore, well now we see that there is no security at all," Metula Mayor David Azulay told ynet. "We have lived under sporadic attacks for 23 years and this is what the military and the government are trying to portray as normal living. Hezbollah must be eradicated, and the Lebanese army should be the only armed force across the border," he said.
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The mayor called on the government to act with force to ensure that not one bullet was fired at the Galilee. Not one rocket or missile. "This is the same policy of appeasement we saw before the Oct. 7 massacre and we will not allow it. Rather than dealing with nonsense, the government must work to provide security to its citizens."