Fire breaks out on playground in North as Hezbollah fires roughly 140 rockets

A playground in the northern Israel city of Safed was hit by a rocket during a barrage of over 100 rockets that targetted Israel's North on Friday, Israeli media reported, noting that fires were ignited in the area as a result of the barrage. 

The IDF later reported that roughly 120 rockets had crossed from Lebanese territory into Israel after sirens sounded in the Golan Heights, Safed, and the Upper Galilee areas. Another approximately 20 rockets crossed into northern Israel after sirens sounded in the Meiron and Netua areas.

A fire broke out at the playground itself following the rocket hit, according to media reports. There were no reported injuries as a result of the incident, although one man in the Golan was lightly wounded from the shrapnel of a rocket, according to a Ynet report. 

Additional fires erupted in the area of Safed following the barrage as well, media reports noted.

המטח לצפון: נפילה בגן משחקים בצפת, שריפה פרצה במקום. לא דווח על נפגעים@Doron_Kadosh pic.twitter.com/qrtJljOjTb

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) September 20, 2024

While rockets and shrapnel did fall, igniting fires in several areas, the IDF stated that Israel's Aerial Defense Array managed to intercept others.

Fire and Rescue Services subsequently responded to combat the blazes that had erupted in the North, the military added.

Over half of houses in Metullah damaged since October

Separately, following an overnight rocket barrage, some 50 houses in the northern Israel community of Metulla sustained damage from rockets fired from Lebanon overnight, according to an assessment of the damage, Maariv reported on Friday.

According to the report, over 300 houses in the community have now been damaged since Hezbollah started firing rockets and launching drones at northern Israel on October 8 of last year.

This figure reportedly represents about half of the houses in Metulla.

Hezbollah takes responsibility for barrage

Following the Friday barrage, Lebanon's Hezbollah announced seven separate attacks on Israeli targets with Katyusha rockets.

The barrage came one day after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah broadcasted a Thursday speech in which he vowed to punish Israel for the Hezbollah device explosion attacks that took place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In the televised speech, Nasrallah stated that Israel would face “a crushing response from the axis of resistance. "Tuesday and Wednesday were bloody days, but we will be able to overcome this ordeal, and this blow won’t bring us down,” he added.

IDF strikes Hezbollah targets

In the IDF's Friday afternoon statement, the military reported that the Israeli air force struck a terrorist military structure in the Kfarkela area of southern Lebanon shortly after troops observed a Hezbollah operative entering the site.

The IAF also reportedly struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the southern Lebanese areas of Aitaroun, Kfarkela, Meiss El Jabal, Tayibe, Odaisseh, and Yaroun.

In conjunction, the military reported that artillery units fired on targets across southern Lebanon as well.

Reuters contributed to this report.