Direct hit on car: Hezbollah rocket blitz kills married couple
JERUSALEM – Lebanese-based Iranian Shi'ite proxy terrorist group Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at Israel's Golan Heights Tuesday night – killing a married couple with a direct hit on their car – following the IDF's alleged elimination earlier in the day of an operative on the Beirut-Damascus highway in Syria.
The couple, named as Noa and Nir Baranes, both 46 from Kibbutz Ortal, were driving on Route 91 – a relatively short stretch of road connecting the Jordan Valley and the Golan Heights – and are survived by their three children, aged 13, 16 and 18.
Hezbollah launched at least 40 rockets in a heavy barrage, as the terrorist group sought to retaliate for the death of Yasser Qarnabash in Syria earlier in the day. Although Hezbollah acknowledged Qarnabash's death following reports in Arabic media, it did not release his role or rank. However, he was known to have formally been one of organization leader Hassan Nasrallah's bodyguards.
This was the car which was hit by a rocket yesterday in the Golan Heights which murdered Noa and Nir Baranes https://t.co/6j4QXNnfoQ pic.twitter.com/nGRh0CHsxE
— Documenting Israel (@DocumentIsrael) July 10, 2024
The number of Israeli civilians killed in the ongoing rocket and missile fire over the Lebanese border and into northern Israel has now risen to 12. An additional 16 IDF troops have been killed in the skirmishes since Oct. 8, when Hezbollah started firing rockets, missiles, and drones into Israel.
While many communities and kibbutzim have been evacuated in the north, the area in which the Baranes' were killed has not. This has drawn the ire of local politicians according to Ynet, which reported Katzrin Mayor Yehuda Dua telling political leaders his region is at war. Katzrin, known as the unofficial capital of the Golan, has a population of about 7,000.
"I looked the decision-makers in the eyes and told them I came there to demand compensation for businesses lost and returned home to the horrors of sirens and interceptions in the ongoing war," he said.
"This is our reality, our routine, and the government is being negligent in the face of this brutal enemy. The only option to beat terror is by force."
The rockets have caused brush fires, which have decimated hundreds of acres of grassland, as well as destroyed buildings, and caused untold damage to wildlife.
In response, the IDF attacked several sites late Tuesday and overnight Wednesday. It released footage of a missile from an IAF jet striking Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon's Qabrikha, from which an estimated 30 rockets were launched.
מטוסי קרב תקפו מוקדם יותר הערב תשתית טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב קבריח'א, ממנו בוצעו השיגורים לרמת הגולן.
כמו כן, מטוסי קרב תקפו מבנים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב כפר כילא שבדרום לבנון pic.twitter.com/Mpru6xX43g
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 9, 2024
Hezbollah releases drone footage of military sites in northern Israel
Earlier Tuesday, Hezbollah released previously unseen drone footage of several highly sensitive military sites in northern Israel, as it ramps up its propaganda campaign against the Jewish state.
Hezbollah has now released an additional 10-Minutes of Propaganda Footage taken from a Surveillance Drone, showing several Israeli Military Sites within the Golan Heights of Northeastern Israel on the Border with Syria. The Footage while Undated, is believed to have been taken… pic.twitter.com/ClUjLGU5Ci
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) July 9, 2024
The almost 10-minute-long video is the second part of drone footage the Iranian-backed militia group has released. The first one was published last month.
The video opened with a map highlighting Mount Dov, the Golan Heights, Nahariya, Safed, Haifa, and Afula.
It showed what Hezbollah described as military intelligence bases, strategic electronic intelligence stations, and facilities capable of conducting electronic attacks, which Hezbollah dubs the "eyes of the state," according to Ynet.
This version differed from the earlier one in that it exclusively highlights military sites, including military outposts, buses reportedly carrying troops, Iron Dome batteries, as well as concentrations of tanks. The terrorist group also claimed it had located a base, which the IDF's vaunted Military Intelligence Unit 8200 purportedly uses.
Hezbollah claimed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) entered Israeli airspace, captured the footage, and returned to Lebanon undetected. Israel has not commented on the claim.
If Hezbollah's contention is true, it suggests – like Oct. 7 – sometimes low-tech solutions to supposedly high-tech problems can work in terrorist groups' favor.
Following the video's release, Hezbollah media-relations officer Muhammad Afif said it sent "a clear message to the enemy and its army," the Times of Israel reported.
"The importance stems from demonstrating our technical and technological capabilities in the field of surveillance and obtaining necessary information we need in times of war," he added.
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