Hezbollah barrages Israel with rockets as Jewish state celebrates holiest day of the year

Hezbollah barraged Israel with 320 rockets Saturday as the country was largely shut down to mark its holiest day of the year, according to reports.

It was the first time since 1973 that Israel was at active war during the annual day of atonement, the Times of Israel reported.

There were few injuries. No one was killed.

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Hezbollah admitted Saturday the rocket fire was targeting what the terror group called a “gathering of Israeli enemy forces” in villages just south of the border, according to CNN.

The offensive came as the United States is contemplating providing Israel with Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) air defense systems, an American official reportedly told the Times of Israel.

The Biden administration had yet to make a final decision, the outlet said. 

As Israel emerged from the holiday, the government planned a cabinet meeting set for Sunday at which it was expected to consider a second national day of mourning recognizing the Oct. 7 massacre, reports indicated.

While the Israel Defense Force fended off rocket fire, the military ordered residents of 23 southern Lebanese villages to evacuate Saturday, while Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip were also warned to leave their homes.

The Iran-backed group has supposedly been using nearby sites to conceal weapons and launch attacks on Israel, the Israel Defense Forces claimed.

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Hezbollah, which was also accused of using ambulances to move fighters and weapons, denied hiding weapons among civilians.

Authorities in Lebanon reported 60 people were killed and 168 wounded over the last 24 hours, bringing the total toll over the year-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah to 2,229 dead and 10,380 wounded.

Meanwhile, the Iranian government is reportedly anxious about a potential Israeli strike on its nuclear sites and oil facilities – and is bracing for retaliation for its Oct. 1 missile attack, CNN said.

Israel has supposedly been consulting with the US on how it will respond to the attack.

Part of Iran’s worries stem from the fact that Hezbollah has been severely weakened by Israel’s onslaught in Lebanon.

Also on Saturday, the Israeli military renewed its orders for Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to abandon their homes and shelters as the IDF continued to face off against Hamas.

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Most of the fighting in northern Gaza over the last week has been in Jabaliya, where residents claimed they were trapped inside their homes.

An Israeli airstrike on a Jabaliya refugee camp Friday killed at least 22 people, including women as children, according to Palestinian medical officials.

A different strike killed a mother and father and wounded their baby in another part of the city, which is less than 3 miles from Gaza City.

No food has entered the northern Gaza Strip since Oct. 1, according to the United Nation World Food Program.

“The north is basically cut off and we’re not able to operate there,” Antoine Renard, the WFP country director of Palestinian territories, said on Saturday.

With Post wires