Hezbollah drone hits nursing home in Herzliya, hundreds of rockets rain on northern Israel during Yom Kippur

In Israel, a Yom Kippur overshadowed by the active fighting in the north and south came to an end on Saturday at sundown.

For the first time, drones launched from Lebanon managed to penetrate Israeli air defenses and reach as far as Herzliya, while over 300 rockets rained on Israeli towns across northern Israel.

Late on Friday, two drones were launched by Hezbollah, reaching as far as Herzliya, just north of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast. One drone was shot down, while the second drone struck a nursing home, causing some damage but no injuries.

While the IDF claimed the drones were observed from the start of launch, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jet was only able to intercept one of them. The IDF didn’t explain why the second drone could not be shot down.

Israel’s Channel 12 News reported that the explosion sparked a fire and caused parts of the city to lose temporarily electricity.

“Police officers and police bomb disposal experts from the district are currently on-site, managing the debris from the interception and conducting thorough searches to mitigate any further risks to the public. At this time, no injuries have been reported, although there is some damage to a building,” Israel Police stated.

Over the Yom Kippur holiday, which began Friday evening at sundown and ended 25 hours later, rocket alarms were activated in dozens of towns across northern Israel, including Haifa, Acre, Nahariya, Safed and Kiryat Shmona.

Overall, the IDF said about 320 rockets were fired at Israel during the holiday, 150 of them on Saturday.

Magen David Adom rescue services reported that three people were lightly injured by a rocket blast near Acre on Saturday, while 12 others sustained injuries after falling while rushing to shelters during the rocket sirens.

As part of the Israeli ground operations in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours, the IDF eliminated about 50 Hezbollah terrorists in gun battles and airstrikes.

The IAF destroyed around 200 terrorist sites across Lebanon, including dozens of rocket and missile launchers used to attack the Jewish nation during Yom Kippur, as well as underground infrastructure used to smuggle and store weapons on the Lebanese-Syrian border.

Israeli troops discovered additional underground tunnels, dozens of loaded rocket and anti-tank missile launchers, ammunition depots and Hezbollah equipment.

Two IDF soldiers sustained serious injuries, one in southern Lebanon, and another in Gaza.

During battles in Gaza, troops of the 162nd Division eliminated over 20 terrorists in Jabaliya, while the 252nd and the Gaza Division killed several more in clashes across the Strip.

Hamas terrorists also launched two rockets at the town of Ashkelon, which landed in open areas.

In addition, a drone launched from Syria crashed in an open area in the Golan Heights.