Israel At War On Multiple Fronts During Yom Kippur For First Time Since 1973

On Saturday Lebanese Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel, resulting in emergency warning sirens blaring in Israeli cities throughout the day, including even in Tel Aviv at times.

The constant rocket and drone launches are happening throughout this weekend’s Yom Kippur holiday. The country is on ‘high alert’ – and local media has noted it is the first Yom Kippur that Israel has spent at war on multiple fronts since the 1970s.

The empty streets in Tel Aviv, via TOI/Flash90

“Israel shut down late on Friday afternoon for Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, with the country embroiled in an active war on the Holy Day for the first time since 1973,” Times of Israel describes. The emergency situation has left many streets throughout the country empty – but this is also due to the ‘high holy day’.

“The country was on high alert, with troops continuing combat operations in Lebanon and Gaza and special alert systems in place to warn the population amid near-constant rocket fire and spiraling tensions with Iran,” the report continues. “More than 120 rockets were fired at Israel in the first hours of the holiday.”

For a review of the historic “Yom Kippur War”:

On October 6, 1973 — Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar (and during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan) — Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated surprise attack against Israel. The equivalent of the total forces of NATO in Europe was mobilized on Israel’s borders. On the Golan Heights, approximately 180 Israeli tanks faced an onslaught of 1,400 Syrian tanks. Along the Suez Canal, fewer than 500 Israeli defenders with only three tanks were attacked by 600,000 Egyptian soldiers, backed by 2,000 tanks and 550 aircraft.

Not only is Hezbollah vowing more rockets, but it has even begun issuing new ‘warnings’ to Israeli civilians. This also as Iran and Israel are on the brink of a direct shooting war, and paramilitaries in Iraq and the Houthis of Yemen have also vowed to attack.

On Saturday the Iran-linked Lebanese paramilitary group said that it will target residential buildings and bases in northern Israel which are believed used by the Israeli military.

Largely empty streets in Tel Aviv, TOI/Flash90

Here’s what the group said on Telegram:

“The ‘Israeli’ enemy army is using the homes of settlers in some settlements in northern occupied Palestine as gathering points for its officers and soldiers, and its military bases that manage the aggression against Lebanon are located within settlement neighborhoods in major occupied cities such as Haifa, Tabaraya [Tiberias], and Acre [Akka]. These homes and military bases are targets for the rocket and air forces of the Islamic Resistance, and we warn settlers against being near these military gatherings for their safety until further notice.”

It seems a mirror warning of the type of statements the IDF has issued for weeks. Israel has told Lebanese civilians to flee areas of south Beirut, including residential buildings, alleging that Hezbollah uses them for operations.

Israel has also accused Hezbollah of storing weapons in Lebanese civilian homes, including in the south of the country. Recent weeks have seen a high civilian casualty count as the IDF bombs several areas of Lebanon.

Hezbollah drone passes by a balcony in Tel Aviv👀 pic.twitter.com/Ur2aVNCO80

— روني الدنماركي (@Aldanmarki) October 11, 2024

All of this strongly suggests the war in Lebanon will not end anytime soon, despite the Israeli army previously saying its offensive would only last a few weeks. Israel could unleash a major attack on Iranian oil or even nuclear and military sites at any moment.