Israel shoots down apparent drone from Syria, Hezbollah rocket causes local blackout

An Israeli fighter jet destroyed a “suspicious aerial target” – most likely a drone – that infiltrated into Israeli airspace from Syria, Israel Defense Forces stated on Tuesday morning.

Several similar drone attacks over the past few months are believed to have been carried out by Hezbollah terrorists operating in Syria. The terror group has also launched dozens of drones from southern Lebanon during its daily attacks against Israeli targets since last October.

On Monday evening, one of its rockets hit an Israeli utility pole and caused local blackouts in several northern Israeli communities, Israeli media reported.

Footage shows Iron Dome interceptions over the Western Galilee https://t.co/V40cOvL4XW pic.twitter.com/UcYAqe551a

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According to the IDF, at least 10 rockets were fired from Lebanon at Western Galilee during the barrage, with most rockets being intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system or falling into open areas.

“In one area a rocket hit near an electricity pole, as a result, a transformer was damaged and the electricity company is now working to repair it. In some of the localities of Mateh Asher, there is a power outage and the matter is being dealt with by the electric company,” the Mateh Asher Regional Council stated on Monday.

The statement didn’t specify which or how many towns were impacted by the power outage.

In response to a missile attack by Hezbollah that killed one and wounded several farmhands near Margaliot earlier on Monday, Israeli fighter jets attacked a series of Hezbollah targets in the areas of Bint Jbeil, a-Saltaniya and Tzadikin, including military buildings and a military headquarters.

Contrary to initial reports, the man who was killed in the strike hailed from southern India, in a town called Kollam in the state of Kerala. He was identified as Patnibin Maxwell, an agricultural worker who arrived in Israel two months ago.

Israeli officials have repeatedly warned that in the case of an escalation on the northern border, the danger of widespread power outages was real.

In January, the Ynet news outlet reported that the Knesset’s Health Committee discussed a scenario of several days of blackouts across the nation with ministry representatives, the IDF Home Front Command, rescue services, and the national electric company.

At the same time, an internal message sent to employees in the Ministry of Justice urged staff to be ready for “several days of darkness in the country, without electricity, in preparation for the possibility of war in the north.”

The message continued: “The National Emergency Authority instructed the government ministries to prepare for the possibility of severe damage to the infrastructure and national power, with at least 60% of the population being cut off from electricity for a period of 24 to 48 hours, and in some areas, this may also last 72 hours.”