The Israeli military has verified its overnight assault on Hizbullah arms storage locations. The air force of Israel launched strikes on two weapon storehouses belonging to Hizbullah in the southern part of Lebanon, housing rockets and other arsenal, according to an official military statement.
The National News Agency (NNA) in Lebanon reported on Saturday night that a raid had been initiated by the “Israeli enemy” on Adloun, a town roughly 30km away from the Israeli border. They later identified the target as a weaponry cache. Approximately one hour after the first reports of the strike came in, rockets were still detonating, causing minor injuries to three civilians, as stated by the NNA.
Earlier on Saturday, Hizbullah revealed it had fired multiple Katyusha rockets at northern Israel in retaliation to a strike, allegedly launched by Israel, which resulted in civilian casualties. The military stated that their Arrow 3 missile defence system had intercepted a surface-to-surface missile launched from Yemen on Sunday, effectively shooting it down before it crossed into Israeli territory.
On Sunday, air raid alarms were heard in Eilat, a city in southern Israel, prompting locals to seek shelter. The Houthis admitted to targeting the city with numerous ballistic missiles. This follows the air strikes that were made by Israel on the Yemeni city of Hodeidah after Israeli officials pledged retaliation for a drone strike that hit Tel Aviv on Friday, leading to one casualty and injuring at least 10 others.
The strikes resulted in a massive fire after hitting a refinery and electricity infrastructure on Saturday. This was the first direct hit on Yemen since the Houthis started their missile and drone attacks on Israel last year. Houthi-led Almasirah TV channel reported on Saturday night that the strikes had claimed three lives and wounded 87 in the Yemeni oil facilities.
In a separate incident, Israeli forces targeted a residential building in the central Gaza Bureij refugee camp with missiles, killing seven civilians, including women and children, and injuring others on Saturday night, as per the Palestinian news agency, Wafa.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is set to travel to the United States on Monday morning for a meeting with the US President, Joe Biden, scheduled for Tuesday. While the two heads of state prepare for their encounter, many Democrats are applying pressure on Mr Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, as he continues his recovery from Covid-19 in self-quarantine at his Delaware residence.