Rocket fire from Lebanon kills 5 in deadliest attack on northern Israel since invasion

Deadly rocket attack from Lebanon kills five in northern Israel amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Rocket fire from Lebanon killed five people in northern Israel on Thursday (October 31, 2024), including four foreign workers, in the deadliest such attack since Israel's invasion earlier this month.

The attack came as senior U.S. diplomats were in the region to push for cease-fires in Lebanon and Gaza, hoping to wind down the wars in the Middle East in the Biden administration’s final months.

The Hezbollah militant group has been firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel, and drawing retaliatory strikes, since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of the Gaza Strip triggered the war there. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies backed by Iran.

The conflict along the border escalated into a full-blown war last month when Israel launched a wave of heavy airstrikes across Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his deputies. Israeli ground forces pushed into Lebanon at the start of October.

The Metula regional council reported Thursday's attack, without detailing the number or type of projectiles used. The nationalities of the workers were also not immediately known.

Metula, Israel’s northernmost town which is surrounded by Lebanon on three sides, has suffered heavy damage from rockets. The town’s residents evacuated in October 2023, and only security officials and agricultural workers remain.

The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, an organization that advocates for foreign workers, said authorities had put them in danger by allowing them to work along the border without proper protection.