Four soldiers have been killed in a Hezbollah drone attack on an army base south of Haifa in the deadliest assault by the Lebanese group against Israel in the past year.
Seven people were seriously injured in the attack claimed by Hezbollah, which took place near the central city of Binyamina at a training base used by the Golani Brigade, an infantry unit usually associated with operations in the north of the country.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant visited the base on Monday and said the country was making a "national effort" to deal with the threat posed by drones. "This is a difficult event with painful results," he added.
Israel's Chief of the General Staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi also visited the base and conducted an initial inquiry.
Hezbollah said the attack was a response to two Israeli strikes on central Beirut last week that killed at least 22 people. The Lebanese group later launched rockets at another military site south of Haifa, but the military said it intercepted that attack.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said 61 people were injured in the drone attack. "This was a very difficult scene," paramedic Rafi Sheva said in a statement. "We declared it a mass casualty event and treated patients suffering from blast injuries and shrapnel. The injuries were severe."
The wounded were flown by helicopter to medical facilities for further treatment, the ambulance service statement said. It added that 37 people were admitted to hospital, including three in serious condition, with nine people suffering from anxiety.
Hezbollah has launched drone and rocket attacks on Israel on an almost daily basis in the past year, saying it is acting in support of Gaza-based militant group Hamas. Following the drone attack, Israel killed four people and injured dozens in strikes on Al Aqsa Hospital compound in central Gaza early on Monday. The Israeli military described it as an attack on a Hamas command and control centre.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Health Ministry said the death toll from Israeli attacks has increased to 2,306, with 10,698 injured. It said 51 people were killed and 174 wounded on Sunday by Israeli air strikes across the country. Twenty-two of those killed were in the Mount Lebanon region, in the north of the country, while 10 were killed in strikes in the southern Nabatieh region.
