News Digest — 3/12/26
Hezbollah Fires More Than 100 Rockets Into Israel
Hezbollah launched a barrage of over 100 rockets toward Israel on Wednesday evening (11th), triggering interceptions by Israel air defenses, as the Israeli Air Force carried out strikes on Hezbollah launchers and infrastructure across Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Sirens sounded in several areas as emergency services responded to reported impact sites.
Magen David Adom said a man in his 50s was lightly wounded after a flying object struck him in the arm.
One rocket hit a residential structure in the central Galilee. Fire crews were dispatched to the scene and conducted searches inside the building while securing electrical systems.
The officials said a rocket struck the roof of a one-story private home, prompting firefighters to search the structure for anyone trapped, disconnect electricity sources and assist injured residents in leaving the building.
Medical personnel reported two people sustained light injuries. Paramedics arriving with ambulances and intensive care units found structural damage, shrapnel and smoke at the scene. One of the injured individuals was able to walk toward the responders with family members, and was taken to the hospital, while several other people at the location were treated for shock.
Shortly after 8: 20 p.m., the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit stated: “In the past few minutes, the Hezbollah terrorist organization launched rockets toward several areas in Israel. Along with the intercepting effort, the Israeli Air Force is currently striking ready-to-launch projectile launchers and additional infrastructure sites belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization across Lebanon.”
Earlier Wednesday evening (11th), Mate Asher Regional Council Chairman Moshe Davidovich urged residents to remain close to protected spaces and limit non-essential activity after what he described as accumulating “alerts from security sources.”
Communities canceled evening gatherings and extracurricular activities and advised residents to be ready to enter shelters quickly.
Despite messages circulating on social media and WhatsApp groups warning of a “significant missile barrage,” the IDF Home Front Command said there had been no change in official civil defense directives
[The rocket barrages came just after The Home Front Commander BG Shay Kalper addressed the public Wednesday evening, 11th.]
Home Front Command Chief: Defense Is Not Hermetic, Continue Following Guidelines
Commander of the Home Front Command BG, Shay Kalper addressed the public on Wednesday evening (11th) as Israel entered the twelfth day of Operation Roaring Lion.
Kalper thanked Israeli civilians for what he described as their steadfastness and resilience during the conflict that the country experienced with a challenging night with several sirens. He added that Israelis, particularly residents of the north, have endured a challenging and complex two and a half years.
Kalper said the Home Front Command is deployed nationwide and operating in cooperation with emergency organizations, including the Israel Police, Fire and Rescue Services, Magen David Adom, and local authorities.
As part of that coordination, he said he traveled to northern Israel earlier in the day to meet with local leadership and residents.
“I met responsible, professional, and courageous leadership that demonstrates extraordinary resilience,” he said, adding that he is aware of the challenges posed by the current security reality.
Addressing the issue of sirens and early warnings, Kalper explained that response times vary depending on the origin of the threat.
“When there is a threat from the third circle such as Iran, there is more time to provide an early warning instruction before the siren is sounded,” he said. “When the threat comes from Lebanon, the time available is shorter.”
Kalper stressed that while the IDF possesses some of the most advanced defense systems in the world, they are not hermetic,” and civilians must continue to follow Home Front Command instructions and enter protected spaces when required.
He added that the IDF is operating 24/7 to further degrade the Iranian regime and its military capabilities both ballistic and nuclear.
Addressing the fighting in the north, Kalper acknowledged that with the renewal of combat on the northern front, “feelings of discomfort and uncertainty have resurfaced among the residents.”
At the same time, he said the IDF is “beyond the border defending the residents of the north and operating to directly and significantly weaken Hezbollah.”
Kalper said the Home Front Command assesses defensive policy daily, with “the safety of Israel’s civilians” as the central consideration, alongside maintaining the functioning of the economy and the education system.
He concluded by wishing a speedy recovery to those injured and offering condolences to families who have lost loved ones.
“I would like to wish a full recovery to the wounded and express my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families who have lost what is most precious to them, “ Kalper said, adding : “Citizens of Israel, your resilience and steadfastness are important to us in achieving victory.”
UN Security Council Approves Resolution Condemning Iran’s Attacks Against Gulf States
The UN Security Council on Wednesday (11th) approved a resolution submitted by Bahrain on behalf of the Gulf states, condemning Iran’s attacks against countries in the region.
The resolution passed with 13 votes in favor and two abstentions – Russia and China, both of which hold veto power. The Council determined that Iran’s strikes against regional states constitutes a violation of international law and a threat to international peace and security, and called for the immediate cessation of attacks and threats from Tehran.
In an unusual move, Russia – one of Iran’s main allies – chose not to use its veto, effectively leaving Iran diplomatically isolated. The resolution was also backed by 135 UN member states that condemned Iran’s attacks against the Gulf countries. Moscow was reportedly aware that using its veto could have further isolated it internationally.
Some representatives argued that Hezbollah has initiated the current round of violence, undermined Lebanon’s sovereignty and dragged the country into a conflict that does not serve its institutions or its citizens in what appeared to be a relatively rare international consensus against the terror group.
By contrast, Russia and China presented a different stance, placing most of the blame on Israel and the United States. The Russian representative said that “our Western partners are trying to turn things around and distort reality,” accusing Israel of initiating ceasefire agreements, carrying out extensive strikes in Lebanon and targeting civilian sites.
China’s ambassador to the United Nations, Fu Cong, also refrained from condemning Hezbollah. He called for an immediate ceasefire and said Israel should immediately withdraw from Lebanon.
At the same time, a separate Russian proposal failed to pass. Only four countries voted in favor, two voted against, and nine abstained. Following the vote the Russian ambassador confronted his U.S. counterpart.
The Russian proposal called for reaffirming the principles and goals of the UN Charter, urging all sides to immediately halt military activity, avoid further escalation in the Middle East, and return to negotiations without delay.
Earlier, the Security Council also held a discussion on the situation in Lebanon, where several participants took a firm line against Hezbollah, repeatedly placing responsibility for the latest confrontations on the group.
Israel Establishes New Town On Biblical Mountain Deep In Samaria
Settlement activists working overnight in Samaria established a new town on a mountain mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
On Tuesday (10th), prefabricated homes were transported from central Israel on Route 5 to Mount Ebal, one of two mountains next to the Palestinian-Authority-administered city of Nablus – known in the Bible as Shechem.
Located near the biblical site of Joshua bin Nun’s altar, Ebal was established following a government decision last May authorizing the founding of a new town on Mount Ebal.
The chief rabbi of Samaria, Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, and Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, took part in a ceremony Wednesday morning (11th) inaugurating the new town.
“We are here in the name of the people of Israel across the generations. A community on Mount Ebal is the pinnacle of Zionism,“ said Dagan.
Ebal is one of 22 towns across Judea and Samaria that received government authorization last May. The decision also permitted the resettlement of two towns evacuated during the 2005 Gaza Disengagement Plan: Homesh and Sa-Nur.
On Tuesday (10th), German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned Israel’s settlement plans, calling efforts to expand Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria a “big mistake.” He called for Israel “to nix further planned expansions in that area.”
In particular, Merz objected to the Israeli government’s decision to move forward with the long-delayed E1 project, linking Jerusalem to the city of Ma’ale Adumim to the east.
Israel plans to build some 3,400 homes in E1, a move that will make it difficult to establish territorial continuity between Judea and Samaria if a Palestinian state is ever established.
IDF Military Funeral In Golan Druze Town Signals Historic Shift – Adi Hashmonai
For decades the community center in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights was covered with a huge Syrian flag. This week, that flag was nowhere to be seen. The hundreds who filled the community center came to console the family of Master Sgt. Maher Khatar, a native of the town and an IDF combat officer, who was killed in Lebanon.
In the 1980s, those few Golan Druze with Israeli ID cards were victims of a religious and social boycott considered to have betrayed the Syrian nation. Dr. Ramzi Halabi from the Israeli Druze town of Daliat al-Carmel, said this moment symbolizes the breaking of the last barriers between the residents of the Druze villages in the Golan and the State of Israel. “The Druze in Israel have long since defined themselves first of all as Israelis, and hope that in the next stage, the identification with Israel will reach the Golan Heights.”
Dr. Salim Barik, a political scientist who studies the Druze, said the process of the Israelization for the Druze in the Golan began with the outbreak of the civil war in Syria. “It started in 2011 when people said, ‘Syria is falling apart, so it’s clear we won’t return to Syria and it won’t be able to liberate the Golan Heights. The story is over – we’re Israelis, let’s become part of Israel.’”
“What strengthened this trend most was the massacre in Sweida… . About 800 Druzes were slaughtered there. Thousands were wounded and displaced, and villages were torched. Today there’s a genuine fear of Muslims.
Sheik Zahir al-Din said, “Israel stood by our side in Sweida when accursed people massacred our brothers and sisters, and we will never forget that. I asked someone here who was pro-Syrian how his son enlisted in the IDF.” He replied that, “at the time, we had children and relatives in the Syrian army. Now there aren’t any – I am pleased about that,”
On Iran, We Stand With Israel And America – Dr. Houman David Hammati
47 years ago, I stood at a window in Tehran as a 3-year-old boy, smelling burning tires and hearing the chants that would steal my country. I do not celebrate war. No decent person does. What I celebrate – what millions of Iranians inside the country and in the diaspora have prayed for in secret for decades – is the possibility that a regime which has no right to exist may finally be forced to go.
This is the same regime that armed and cheered the Oct. 7 massacre against Israel for no reason other than pure genocidal hatred; murdered tens of thousands of its own sons and daughters who dared to walk peacefully in the streets demanding the most basic freedoms, gouges out the eyes of young women for the “crime” of wearing makeup, hangs teenagers from cranes for posting a tweet; exports terror, poverty, and darkness to every corner it can reach, including the U.S.
No nation, no people, should have to live under that. Not Israelis. Not Americans. And certainly not Iranians. I am a son of Iran who has spent his life mourning a stolen homeland. What we are witnessing is not aggression – it is necessary surgery to remove the tumor that has metastisized for 47 years. The tumor is the Islamic Republic that has hijacked Iran.
To the brave pilots of the Israeli Air Force and the men and women of the U.S. military now carrying out this mission: you are not invaders. You are the answer to the prayers of millions who have whispered “enough” in the dark since 1979. Thank you, Israel! Thank you America! The Iranian people – the real Iran – will never forget.
The Iranian-born writer is Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at USC Keck School Of Medicine, (Facebook)
