NAHARIYA, Israel (Reuters) – A drone launched by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fell in the Israeli coastal city of Nahariya on Sunday, causing a fire but no injuries, Israel’s military and local media reported.
Air raid sirens had sent the city’s roughly 75,000 residents running for shelter, after a day of continuous rocket fire from Lebanon at northern Israel. Israel’s military said throughout the day it had responded by striking Hezbollah targets.
Nahariya is about seven kilometers (4.4 miles) from the Lebanese border.
Israel’s military said in a statement that it tried unsuccessfully to intercept the drone.
There was no immediate claim of launching the drone by Hezbollah.
Amateur footage of a drone falling from the sky and landing in an area surrounded by trees was published by leading news website Ynet and Channel 12 TV. The Mediterranean sea was visible in the background.
“The fire was caused as a result of the drone fall, which landed in Nahariya,” the military said.
Reuters TV footage showed Israeli security forces later removing an object from the area of the blaze, which was along a roadside in the city.
Iranian-backed Hezbollah started firing at northern Israel shortly after Palestinian group Hamas’ Oct. 7 shock attack in the south of the country. The two sides have been exchanging fire since, but have refrained from pushing the conflict into all-out war.
(Reporting by Avi Ohayon and Ari Rabinovitch; editing by Diane Craft)
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