By Khaled Yousef
JERUASLEM (AA) - The Israeli army announced on Sunday evening that four soldiers were killed and seven others injured following a Hezbollah airstrike on a military base south of Haifa, northern Israel.
In a video statement, military spokesperson Daniel Hagari provided the first official comment on the attack, which Israeli media reported had caused 67 injuries.
Hagari said a Hezbollah drone struck “a military base near Binyamina (south of Haifa), and all casualties were transported to hospitals, and their families have been notified.”
“Four Israeli soldiers were killed, and seven others were seriously wounded,” he confirmed.
Earlier on Sunday, Hezbollah announced it had attacked an Israeli army camp near Haifa using drones. Israeli media reported that 67 people were injured, with four in critical condition.
Israeli Army Radio reported that the military had opened an investigation into why the warning sirens were not activated when the drone entered northern Israel.
The Israeli defense system failed to detect the drone, and there was no attempt to intercept it, according to the radio.
Israel's official broadcaster, Kan, reported that Air Force Commander Gen. Tomer Bar was personally overseeing the military investigation.
The Israel Hayom newspaper said explosions were heard by residents of Haifa and nearby settlements, such as Kiryat, without warning sirens being activated.
The paper also reported that two drones penetrated the northern region from the Mediterranean Sea. One was intercepted near Nahariya, while the Israeli Air Force lost track of the other, leading to the failure of the sirens.
In a later statement, the Israeli military said it had intercepted a drone in the northern maritime area launched from Lebanon, without providing further details.
Israeli fighter jets struck 70 Hezbollah targets, including military buildings and rocket launch sites, on Sunday, according to the military statement.
Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,488 people, injuring over 4,297 others, and displacing more than 1.34 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 42,200 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 an incursion into southern Lebanon.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio