Israel Reports Fresh Hezbollah Strikes

Israel reported fresh rocket attacks by Hezbollah, Tuesday, a day after deadly airstrikes that killed nearly 500 people in Lebanon.

Israeli Channel 12 said 50 rockets were launched from Lebanon towards the settlement of Kiryat Shmona in the Galilee region. At least 10 rockets were also fired on the northern city of Haifa.

Several homes in Kiryat Shmona were damaged by the rocket barrage, Israel’s Army Radio reported.

The Israeli ambulance service Magen David Adom said at least one person was slightly injured from the rocket fire in the Galilee region according to the Anadolu news agency.

Hezbollah, for its part, said it hit with missiles several military installations in northern Israel, including two airfields and an explosives factory.

The group said the rocket attacks were in support of “the Palestinian people in Gaza and their courageous resistance” and in defense of Lebanon.

Israel launched deadly airstrikes on Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 492 people, including 35 children, and injuring 1,645 others, while thousands of people have fled their homes.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, the majority of whom are women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

Israeli forces intensified their attacks on Lebanon, ignoring the international community’s warnings that they would risk spreading the Gaza conflict to other regions.

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A ‘War Day’ in The Life of Haifa

CROSSFIREARABIA – Sirens in Haifa. its surroundings areas and in the north of Israel have been going off all day, Monday, because of continuing missiles coming all the way from southern Lebanon.

Israeli media reports say the sirens are bellowing hard in the center of the city that doesn’t rest these days, either night or day. Eyewitness reports describe the incoming missiles as “heavy” while people scurrying in the streets looking for safe areas to hide.

It was a tough day, Monday, as described with at least 165 rockets being launched into different parts of Israel.

This is the first time since 2006 since Hezbollah launched direct hits on Haifa with rattled people – estimated at 300,000 – quickly going to underground shelters. At least 30 rockets hit the city at different times triggering the sirens and panic among people with many registering for therapy these days.

One of the areas hit was Kiryat Tivon to the southeast and surprisingly in the middle of the Haifa’s prestigious Technion Institute where a number of rockets from the north landed as part of a large-scale missile launch to reach all part of the country including Tiberias and Safad as estimated by the operations unit of the Israeli army.

With the rockets coming in sharp thuds, the fires in the different northern parts of Israel like Ein Zeitim have raged on, keeping the fire engines busy.

The strikes have been part of wider military launches from southern Lebanon including to Acca, Upper Galilee and Lower Galilee while missiles reaching to the occupied West Bank, about 120 kilometers from the Lebanese border.

This is the first long stretch of rocket launches and show that Hezbollah has a lot of missiles in their storerooms despite the Israeli claims that 50 percent of their military hardware have been destroyed.

But the city of Haifa has been under bombardment since early this week with the Ramat David Airbase and other sensitive sites being under attack and hit for a second time on Sunday, which means that nervousness among the people and workers continue.

Hezbollah rockets also landed on the Israeli Rafael Advanced Defense Systems military-industrial complex, which specializes in electronic warfare, using the-now-becoming-famous Fadi-I, Fadi-II and Katyusha rocket weapons. 

The complex lies to the north of Haifa and is supposed to be the pride of Israeli military industrial ingenuity but for how long many wounder.

A settler from Kiryat Bialik, north of Haifa, told Maariv: “We have never seen anything like this before, not even in 2006. We all assumed that there would be a response from Hezbollah, but we did not think it would be this strong, especially when there is Iron Dome, which is supposed to protect us.”

Talk of the Iron Dome these days, seems to be a dead duck affair since it is woefully failing to intercept many of the missiles that seems to be flying into Israeli airspace whether from Hezbollah, the Houthis of Yemen and the Islamist groups in Iraq.

But elation is not expected in this war for the Israeli army is fighting back and doing damage. On Monday evening, Lebanese Health Minister Firas Al Abiad announced 274 people were killed and 1024 injured in what the Israeli army said over 1000 air raids into Lebanon.

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Hezbollah Attacks Major Complex in Haifa

Lebanese group Hezbollah fired rockets at an Israeli military industrial complex in Haifa on Monday, marking the second attack on the northern city since the current conflict began last 7 October, 2023.

The group said dozens of rockets were launched at Rafael Electronics Company north of Haifa, as well as the reserve headquarters of the Northern Corps and logistics base of the Galilee Formation in the Ami’ad camp.

Israeli Channel 13 reported that five illegal settlers sustained minor injuries from shrapnel after rockets were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel.

This was the second time Hezbollah targeted military sites in Haifa, having previously fired missiles at the city on Sunday.

The rocket fire came as at least 100 people were killed and more than 400 others injured, including children, women and medics, in intensive Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon since Monday morning, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The Israeli army confirmed that its warplanes struck more than 300 targets across Lebanon this morning.

Tension has mounted between Hezbollah and Israel following a deadly airstrike on Friday that killed at least 45 people, including children and women, and injured dozens in Beirut’s southern suburb.

Hezbollah confirmed that at least 16 of its members, including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and top commander Ahmed Wahbi, were killed in the Israeli strike.

The attack came days after at least 37 people were killed and over 3,000 others injured in two waves of wireless communication device explosions across Lebanon according to Anadolu, the Turkish news agency.

While the Lebanese government and Hezbollah blame Israel for the explosions, Tel Aviv has not denied or confirmed its involvement.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas on 7 October last year.

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Israel Kills 100 People in 200 Raids on Lebanon

The Ministry of Health in Lebanon announced that “100 people were killed and more than 400 injured as a result of Israeli raids on various areas in eastern and southern Lebanon. In turn Hezbollah stated it bombed Haifa and the Galilee with missiles.

Israeli warplanes launched more than 250 raids on various areas in eastern and southern Lebanon this morning, Monday.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent said the raids targeted the towns of Mays al-Jabal, Aitaroun, Houla, Taybeh, Markaba, Bani Hayyan, Jabal al-Rayhan, the heights of Iqlim al-Tuffah al-Tiri, Bint Jbeil, Hanin, Zawtar, and the Nabatieh region in southern Lebanon.

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War Heats up as Hezbollah Trade Attacks With Israel

Hezbollah announced, Sunday morning, it  bombed an Israeli military industries complex in northern Haifa with dozens of rockets in an initial response to the pager and wireless explosions.

A party statement indicated it bombed “the military industries complexes of the Rafael Company, which specializes in electronic means and equipment, and is located in the Zevulun area north of Haifa, with dozens of Fadi 1, Fadi 2, and Katyusha rockets.”

Hezbollah rockets

Hezbollah had earlier announced at dawn, Sunday, it targeted the Ramat David base and airport for the second time with dozens of rockets.

In a statement it stated it “announces, for the second time in two hours, it targeted the Ramat David base and airport with dozens of Fadi 1 and Fadi 2 rockets, in response to the repeated Israeli attacks that targeted various Lebanese regions and led to the deaths of many civilian martyrs.”

In contrast, the Israeli army announced in the past hours, Hezbollah launched about 115 “air threats” towards northern Israel, adding firefighting teams were working to extinguish the fires that broke out as a result.

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that about 120 rockets were fired from Lebanon on Saturday night.

The Israeli Channel 13 reported Hezbollah focused on security and economic sites and facilities, and there was damage, especially in the Haifa and Kiryot areas, for the first time since August 2006.

Israel Today reported the army estimates that Hezbollah will continue to fire rockets in the coming days without expanding the scope of the targeting.

Injuries and fires

The Israeli Ambulance Service, Magen David Adom reported four people were injured by shrapnel from rockets fired by Hezbollah at the city of Haifa.

Meanwhile, three Israelis were injured near the city of Kiryot, and a number of people were injured as a result of several rockets falling in the occupied southern Golan Heights, according to the Israeli Walla website.

The Maariv newspaper quoted the Israeli ambulance as saying that there was one injury in the Lower Galilee as a result of Hezbollah rockets, while it reported that there were no injuries as a result of the shelling of the areas of Yokneam, Afula, and the Ramat David base.

On the other hand, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that some residents of the Kiryat Tiv’on settlement said that the shelters they tried to hide in were closed.

Israel Hayom reported firefighting teams were working to put out a fire that broke out near Migdal HaEmek, most likely caused by interceptor missile fragments. The Marj Bin Amer Regional Council also said that a missile fell and caused a fire in the area between Kfar Rauch and Yokneam.

Lebanon bombing

On the other hand, Channel 12 reported that Israeli warplanes have launched raids on sites in the Majdal Zun area in Lebanon.

The Israeli army said that the strikes will continue and increase in intensity against Hezbollah.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported that Israeli raids targeted the vicinity of the town of Yatar and the area of ​​the Nabaa al-Tasa stream in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli raids also targeted the towns of Aitaroun, Taybeh, Zebqin, the town of Khiam, and the vicinity of the town of Zrarieh in southern Lebanon.

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