Hezbollah claims attack on 'Israeli command post'

Hezbollah claims to have launched a missile and drone attack on its command post in northern Israel in response to the Tel Aviv attack.

"We launched a coordinated attack with guided missiles and explosive-laden drones (UAVs) on the military reconnaissance command post in northern Israel in response to the enemy's killing of a number of militants in Ain Baal and Shehabiya," Hezbollah in Lebanon said in a statement today.

The facility was attacked in the village of Arab al-Aramshe, near the Lebanese border. The Israeli military said Hezbollah attacked a residential area, wounding at least seven people, two of them seriously.

Video shared on social media shows the UAV crashing into the village and exploding. Sirens were not activated before the attack and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is investigating the cause.

Hezbollah attacks Israeli military base — Hezbollah UAV strikes target in the Arab village of al-Aramshe, northern Israel on April 17. Video: *Times of Israel*

Hezbollah's move comes after the IDF announced on April 16 that it had killed Ismail Yusef Baz, "commander of Hezbollah's coastal forces" in an airstrike in Ain Baal, southern Lebanon. Ismail is considered a veteran member of Hezbollah's military wing, holding a position equivalent to a brigade commander.

According to the IDF, Ismail participated in proposing and planning rocket and anti-tank missile attacks from the Lebanese coast into Israel.

The IDF then continued airstrikes, killing two Hezbollah members: Mohammed Shehoury, commander of the rocket and missile unit of the Radwan special forces, and Mahmoud Ibrahim Fadel-Allah.

Hezbollah's statement did not confirm the positions of the members killed in the Israeli attack.

Cross-border fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli army has been taking place almost daily since the conflict in the Gaza Strip broke out in October 2023. Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Hamas and the people of Gaza.