Israel admits it missed warning before large Hezbollah attack
Shafaq News- Middle East
Israel on Thursday admitted it failed to warn the public in advance of an unusual Hezbollah attack after the group launched more than 300 missiles and drones in what it called Operation Eaten Straw.
In a briefing carried by Israeli media, the military claimed that Hezbollah had prepared additional waves of rockets and drones but that Israeli forces disrupted many launches by striking launch teams, platforms, and related sites.
Israel’s Northern Command and Home Front Command separately acknowledged that unusual Hezbollah deployments detected a day earlier should have prompted earlier warnings to civilians to prevent panic and rumors. The army will “review the incident and draw lessons.”
The admission followed Hezbollah’s announcement earlier today that it fired rockets at the Beit Lid military base, which hosts training camps for the Nahal and Paratroopers brigades, and struck the Glilot base near Tel Aviv. The group also targeted the Shayetet 13 naval commando headquarters at Atlit base south of Haifa and several settlements near the Lebanese frontier as part of its evacuation warning for northern Israeli settlers.
Meanwhile, Israel carried out around 20 airstrikes and artillery attacks since midnight across southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as the capital Beirut, targeting towns including Aramoun in Mount Lebanon, Al-Khiam and Al-Naqoura in the south, and areas near Baalbek in the east, according to local media.
The Israeli military also said it killed Abu Ali Rayan, the commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force southern Lebanon sector, in a strike last Saturday in the Harouf area, describing him as a key figure responsible for coordinating operations, recruitment, and weapons supply for the unit.
#عاجل 🔸جيش الدفاع قضى على قائد منطقة جنوب لبنان في وحدة قوة الرضوان التابعة لحزب الله الإرهابي ويقضي على أكثر من 100 عنصر إرهابي ويدمر أكثر من 60 مقرًا تابعًا لوحدة قوة الرضوان🔸هاجم جيش الدفاع السبت الماضي في منطقة حروف في لبنان وقضى على المدعو أبو علي ريان قائد منطقة جنوب…
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) March 12, 2026
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli attacks have killed 634 people, including 91 children, and wounded 1,586 others since the escalation began. In Israel, the Health Ministry reported 179 people hospitalized over the past 24 hours, including four in moderate condition, bringing the total number of Israelis injured since the start of the war with Iran on February 28 to 2,745.
