Four soldiers were killed and more than 60 injured in a Hezbollah drone attack
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said four soldiers were killed and more than 60 others injured in a drone attack on a military base in northern Israel.
The IDF said seven more soldiers were seriously injured in the attack on the base “adjacent to Binyamina” – a town about 20 miles (33km) south of Haifa.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said targeted a training camp of the Golani Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the region, based between Tel Aviv and Haifa.
The armed group’s media office said the strike was in response to Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon and Beirut on Thursday.
The group said it targeted the camp in northern Israel using a “swarm of drones”.
Israel’s ambulance agency, Magen David Adom (MDA), said 61 people were injured in the attack – including three critically. It added 37 of them were taken to eight area hospitals, either by ambulance or helicopter.
In a statement before the IDF confirmed the deaths, MDA said that in addition to the three seriously injured, 18 victims were in moderate condition, 31 had minor injuries and nine were “worried.”
The reason for the difference in the number of serious injuries between the MDA and the IDF is unclear.
Israeli censorship regulations prevent the media from saying exactly what the location or target was, but some media said the site was hit by a low-altitude drone launched from Lebanon. – a relatively simple weapon that doesn’t seem to trigger an early warning.
Footage posted by Israeli media shows injured people being loaded into emergency vehicles, including helicopters.
Many of the injured were evacuated to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in nearby Hadera – while others were taken to hospitals in Tel Hashomer, Haifa, Afula and Netanya.
Details are still scarce but many of the injured appeared to have been in the communal canteen at the time and were completely surprised. Images circulating on social media show an empty room with a hole in the roof.
