A Hezbollah drone struck an Israeli community center Wednesday in the northern border village of Arab al-Aramshe injuring eighteen persons, authorities said, The Times of Israel reported.
Fourteen out of the eighteen who were wounded were IDF soldiers, the outlet reported.
One victim was listed as being in critical condition, two as seriously hurt, four as moderately wounded and the rest as lightly wounded, the Galilee Medical Center said, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Iran Threatens To Use Weapons It ‘Has Not Used Before’ Against Israel)
Emanuel Fabian, the military correspondent for The Times of Israel, tweeted out footage he said displayed the moment the explosive-laden drone hit a building.
Additional footage shows the Hezbollah explosive-laden drone striking the community center in Arab al-Aramshe, wounding seven people. pic.twitter.com/DEE13pxE26
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 17, 2024
Fabian shared footage from a different perspective that showed the destructive impact more clearly. He first tweeted out that it was a missile, then clarified in a reply that it may have been a drone.
Footage shows the missile impact in northern community of Arab al-Aramshe, wounding six people including one seriously. pic.twitter.com/Jd8TVx58Ol
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 17, 2024
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is investigating why the warning sirens for the community did not sound in advance of the drone strike, The Times of Israel reported. Hezbollah reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was in response to three of its members getting killed in airstrikes. Hezbollah said they were targeting a building used by the IDF, the outlet reported.
The village struck by Hezbollah is split into two sides, one inhabited by Bedouin Arabs with Israeli citizenship and the other by the same with Lebanese citizenship, according to Haaretz. The village on the Israeli side had 1,750 inhabitants as of a 2022 census, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. The town has been mostly evacuated by civilians since Hezbollah started to lob projectiles into Israel on Oct. 8, the Times of Israel reported.
Israeli Air Force aircraft attacked one of Hezbollah’s air defense positions in northeastern Lebanon around 60 miles from its border with Israel, the IDF stated, according to The Times of Israel. The attack was reportedly in response to the drone attack on the border village earlier Wednesday.