Hezbollah leader possibly wounded in Beirut strike, Israel shoots down drones as Yom Kippur is underway

A senior Hezbollah figure was reportedly wounded in Israel’s deadly strike on central Beirut — as Israel marked Yom Kippur under siege.Wafiq Safa, the chief of the Hezbollah Liaison and Coordination Unit, was supposedly in critical condition following the Thursday evening strike, the Times of Israel said, citing a report from Sky News Arabia.The Israeli military was targeting Safa when it launched a barrage on the Lebanese capital, which killed at least 22 people and wounded over 100 others.Israel did not issue evacuation warnings ahead of the strikes and had not previously attacked the city, which is removed from Beirut’s southern suburbs where Hezbollah’s headquarters have been repeatedly bombed by Israel.The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah started last year when the Iran-backed terror group opened fire on Israel in support of Hamas in the wake of Oct.7.The back-and-forth intensified in recent weeks, with Israel killing several of Hezbollah’s top leaders through bombing campaigns in Beirut’s southern suburbs.On Friday evening, Jews across the Middle East began the holiday of Yom Kippur, or the annual day of atonement.This year’s Yom Kippur — the most holy day in Judaism — got under way to the sound of warning sirens in central Israel, the Times of Israel reported.A building in Herzliya was hit when two drones fired from Lebanon crossed into Israeli airspace, according to the Israel Defense Forces.It was not clear if the building was hit by the drone or shrapnel from the interceptors, the Times of Israel noted.One of the drones was shot down by a fighter jet, the IDF said.

It was not immediately clear why the second drone was not shot down.Parts of Herzliya were left without power from the impact, and emergency personnel were responding to at least one fire, Channel 12 said.There were no initial reported injuries.Footage posted online showed the drone flying over Herzliya before it made impact.“The fact that two drones from Lebanon penetr...