Israel’s military says four people have died, seven others are severely wounded and dozens more injured following a drone strike on the northern Israeli town of Binyamina.
The strike, launched by Hezbollah, hit an army base, it added.
“All the injured individuals have been evacuated to hospitals and their families have been notified,” said the IDF, adding the incident is currently being examined.
Israel’s ambulance service earlier declared the attack as a mass casualty event.
Hezbollah said it launched a drone attack against an Israeli military training base south of the city of Haifa on Sunday evening.
The Iran-backed group launched “a squadron of attack drones at a training camp… in Binyamina, South of Haifa,” it said, in “response to Zionist attacks” including Israeli airstrikes in the central Beirut neighborhoods of Basta and Nweiri that killed 22 people on Thursday.
The attack was one of the most serious strikes to land in Israel in a year of war.
Israel’s advanced air-defense systems mean that it’s rare for so many people to be hurt by drones or missiles. Israeli media reported that two drones were launched from Lebanon, and Israel’s military said one was intercepted.
It was the second time in two days that a drone has struck in Israel. On Saturday, during the Israeli holiday of Yom Kippur, a drone struck in a suburb of Tel Aviv, causing damage but no injuries.
The strike came on the same day that the United States announced it would send a new air-defense system to Israel to help bolster its protection against missiles.
Israel is now at war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon – both Iran-backed militant groups – and is expected to strike Iran in retaliation for a missile attack earlier this month, though it has not said how or when. Iran has said it will respond to any Israeli attack.
With additional reports from Sky News and AL-Arabiya
