2 drones infiltrate central Israel: Reports

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - At least two drones infiltrated the city of Herzliya, central Israel, from Lebanon on Friday night, with one of them striking a building, according to Israeli media reports.

The Times of Israel news website quoted a statement by the Israeli army as saying its fighter jets intercepted one drone, adding that an investigation is underway to determine whether the building in Herzliya was hit by the second drone or by shrapnel from the interceptor rocket.

Incoming rocket sirens were activated in central Israel, but no casualties were reported.

Israeli Channel 12 reported that the drone's impact caused a fire and left parts of the city without electricity.

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,351 people, injuring over 3,800 others, and displacing more than 1.2 million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed over 42,100 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, it expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching a ground incursion into southern Lebanon.