Non-stop sirens in northern Israel, as Hezbollah launches multiple drone attacks over holiday weekend

Over the holiday weekend, the Shia’a terror group Hezbollah attempted numerous attacks on Israeli soldiers operating within the Yellow Line in southern Lebanon, as well as in the communities of northern Israel, triggering multiple air raid sirens. 

Two IDF soldiers were wounded in a drone attack on Saturday, the military announced this morning. 

On Friday, a soldier was killed by an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah at soldiers operating near the border fence. Staff Sgt. Noam Hamburger, 23, a technology and maintenance soldier from the northern community of Atlit, was killed in the explosion, which wounded two other soldiers. 

A second drone attack on the same area, around 25 minutes later, did not injure any soldiers, the IDF stated. 

Staff Sgt. Hamburger is the ninth soldier killed in southern Lebanon since the start of the U.S.-initiated ceasefire in April. 

According to media watchdog organization HonestReporting, during the first 24 days of the Lebanon ceasefire, Hezbollah attacked Israeli forces and territory 220 times, using drones, rockets, explosive devices, and other weapons. It noted that almost no international media mention the repeated Hezbollah ceasefire violations, but the same media regularly depict Israeli strikes as ceaefire violations, indicating a bias in media coverage of the conflict.

In announcing Staff Sgt. Hamburger’s death, the IDF also released footage from an incident in which a combat military photographer was seriously wounded in a drone attack on Wednesday of last week. 

מהמצלמה של לוחמת התיעוד המבצעי בפעילות של 24 שעות בדרום לבנון: מפקד הפלוגה שנפצע, סרן מ׳ במחסן אמצעי לחימה של ׳כוח רדואן׳

לכל הפרטים👇https://t.co/B4hlOWVCYS pic.twitter.com/e6GVCtuUkp

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 23, 2026

In that attack, Hezbollah launched two explosive drones at the Israeli forces, which were conducting a mission inside the Yellow Line to locate and destroy infrastructure from the terror group. The soldiers were investigating a weapons depot which apparently belonged to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force when they came under attack. 

Around 10 explosive drones were launched into Israeli territory by Hezbollah on Friday, triggering air raid alarms in communities like Kiryat Shmonah and Metula. Additionally, a Hezbollah drone struck the border community of Rosh HaNikrah, a popular tourist destination, without activating an air raid siren on Friday. 

This attack came just several days after a previous drone attack in Rosh HaNikrah, which injured three employees at the tourist site on the border fence, one of whom remains in serious condition. 

At the same time, the IDF has broadened its strikes on Hezbollah, including in areas beyond the exclusion zone defined in the ceasefire agreement, as it attempts to destroy infrastructure related to Hezbollah’s drone and rocket programs. 

Arabic spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee issued several evacuation warnings to residents of towns in the southern Lebanon area, but north of the Israeli controlled territories over the weekend. 

“In light of the terrorist Hezbollah party violating the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is compelled to act against it forcefully,” Adraee wrote in posts on social media. “The Defense Army does not intend to harm you.” 

“For the sake of your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and stay away from the villages and towns for a distance of no less than 1,000 meters to open areas,” he continued. “Anyone present near Hezbollah elements, their facilities, and their combat means exposes their life to danger!” 

The warnings were followed by reports of Israeli airstrikes in several communities in south and east Lebanon where Hezbollah continues to maintain a presence. 

Lebanon’s civil defense agency said that one of the strikes destroyed a regional facility in the southern city of Nabatieh, but denied any casualties. The IDF had not commented on the report at time of publication. 

Lebanese media reported five people were killed in Israeli airstrikes south of Tyre on Saturday, without providing details on the number of Hezbollah operatives killed. The state-run National News Agency said that one of the Israeli strikes caused “severe damage” to Tyre’s Hiram Hospital, which was in the evacuation zone. 

On Saturday morning, the IDF said it struck terror infrastructure in the Tyre and Bekaa areas, saying the sites were used for “producing weapons intended to harm the civilians of the State of Israel and IDF forces operating in southern Lebanon.” 

אתר תת-קרקעי לייצור אמצעי לחימה בבקעא ותשתיות טרור בצור: תקיפות צה"ל במהלך הלילה

הלילה, צה"ל תקף במרחב הבקעא אתר תת-קרקעי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה שימש את מחבלי הארגון לייצור אמצעי לחימה שנועדו לפגוע באזרחי מדינת ישראל ובכוחות צה"ל הפועלים בדרום לבנון.

בנוסף, הותקפו תשתיות של… pic.twitter.com/vV08J7qr0J

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 23, 2026

Five Hezbollah operatives were killed in the Israeli controlled area of southern Lebanon on Friday, the military said. Soldiers identified the five Hezbollah terrorists entering a headquarters for the group, the IDF said, noting that the site was then struck by the Israel Air Force. 

צפו בתיעוד: כוחות חטיבה 551 זיהו מחבלי חיזבאללה נכנסים למפקדה של הארגון וחיסלו אותם

כוחות צוות הקרב של חטיבה 551 בפיקוד אוגדה 146 זיהו אתמול, חמישה מחבלי חיזבאללה שנכנסו למפקדה של ארגון הטרור, צפונית לקו ההגנה הקדמי בדרום לבנון. בסגירת מעגל מהירה, הכווינו את חיל האוויר שתקף את… pic.twitter.com/l8wNnRsXto

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 22, 2026

The IDF also released footage of a 100-meter-long Hezbollah tunnel in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border, which contained four living quarters for terrorists from the organization to stay for extended periods of time. The military said the tunnel, which had been discovered earlier, was destroyed. 

🎯DISMANTLED: Hezbollah underground terror tunnel, ~100 meters long with 4 hideout rooms that IDF troops located during operations in the Mount Dov area in southern Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/kDt8OeDbzF

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 24, 2026

Meanwhile, on Saturday, the IDF said it apprehended five Israeli citizens who crossed the border into Lebanese territory earlier in the day. The detained citizens were transferred to the Israel Police, the military said. 

Air raid sirens, warning of drone attacks, were activated multiple times Sunday morning, as the IDF continues to search for ways to neutralize the Hezbollah drone threat to its soldiers in southern Lebanon, and the northern Israeli border communities.