The IDF's Home Front Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Shay Klepper announced on Friday that HFC will extend the time civilians have to reach shelter from the moment a siren sounds for rockets launched by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon towards Israel.
Klepper noted that 10 localities would remain unchanged under the new system and that these are "still under consideration."
"Next week, we want to look at additional areas as well. This is a significant change and will go into effect in the coming days in all relevant localities," Klepper said.
"It will happen in the coming week. There is no specific day," he stated.
Klepper's announcement was initially previewed by N12 News earlier on Friday.
Most notable is at the Lebanese border, where sirens would sound 15 seconds before residents need to reach a safe space. Currently, there is no time from the moment a siren sounds to the moment residents need to take cover, and in many instances, Israelis hear the interception of missiles before a siren sounds.
In the Nahariya area, the current 15-second warning time could expand to 30 seconds.
In Safed, the current 30-second warning time would extend to over a minute, while the minute-long warning times in the Haifa and Tiberias areas would extend to approximately two minutes.
Currently, Tel Aviv has a warning of approximately 1.5 minutes, which would extend to over 2.5 minutes under the new system.
Hezbollah fires intense barrages of rockets towards Israel, IDF
Hezbollah has fired over 600 times on Israel and IDF troops in a 24-hour period, around double its prior high of around 300 aerial threats during the 2023-2024 conflict between the sides, IDF sources confirmed on Thursday.
The vast majority of the rockets, mortars, and drones were launched at IDF forces holding positions in or seeking to advance within southern Lebanon.
This major spike in Hezbollah attacks, up from a general average of around 100 attacks per day during the current war, occurred in the shadow of a possible end to the Israel-Iran war.
Meanwhile, IDF soldiers killed over 30 Hezbollah terrorists in recent days, the military announced, including approximately 10 Radwan Force terrorists.
According to the statement, the targets were killed via various means, including Israel Air Force strikes, tank fire, IDF snipers, and drones.
In one instance, IDF troops killed several Hezbollah terrorists after noticing them inside a building.
Additionally, the IDF destroyed dozens of Hezbollah infrastructure sites and weapons stockpiles.
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Aaron Glick contributed to this report.