Hezbollah rockets kill at least 7 in Israel as Lebanese PM says cease-fire could come soon
Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Seven people were killed in rural northern Israel Thursday by Hezbollah rockets from Lebanon in the deadliest day in months in Israel's north.
The IDF confirmed two rocket attacks in the Metula area killed 5 agriculture workers in an orchard. Hours later two more people were killed by a rocket in a field outside Haifa.
The rocket hit on Metual was described as a "direct hit." Four of those killed there were foreign farm workers. One was Israeli.
The deaths brought Israel's civilian death toll from Hezbollah rocket attacks to 39.
Meanwhile, the IDF issued evacuation orders for Lebanon's Baalbek for the second day Thursday. Israeli strikes there killed 19 people, according to Lebanese authorities.
A barrage of 30 rockets launched by Hezbollah later was fired toward Karmiel and other communities in the Galilee region, but no deaths or injuries were reported.
The IDF said on X that Israel's air force "struck weapons storage facilities and command centers used by Hezbollah's Radwan Forces and its Munitions Unit in the area of Al-Qusayr, Syria."
The rocket attacks came as efforts for a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel ramped up.
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said a cease-fire could come within hours or days.
"We are doing everything we can, and we should remain optimistic that in the coming hours or days, we will have a cease-fire," Mikati said, adding that he was "cautiously optimistic."
He cited the U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein who was due in Israel Thursday, expressing optimism about a possible cease-fire within days.
"Hochstein, during his call with me, suggested to me that we could reach an agreement before the end of the month and before Nov. 5," Mikati said.
According to CNN, Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi indicated to officers in Gaza that military action in Gaza and against Hezbollah in Lebanon may soon reach an end.
"In the north, there's a possibility of reaching a sharp conclusion," Halevi said, speaking of the war with Hezbollah.
He added that "if we take out the northern Gaza Brigade commander, it's another collapse.... I don't know what we'll encounter tomorrow, but this pressure brings us closer to more achievements."
