Hezbollah targets base near Haifa after another difficult night
Hezbollah targeted areas near Haifa twice on Monday with rockets.
The group said early Monday that it targeted an Israeli military base near the northern city of Haifa. It later fired a "large rocket salvo" at areas north of Haifa in the afternoon.
The Israeli army for its part said its air force was launching extensive strikes across southern Lebanon and warned people in over a dozen towns and villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate, including the coastal town of Naqoura where the U.N. peacekeeping mission is headquartered.
Hezbollah fighters had launched "a salvo of Fadi 1 rockets at the Carmel base south of Haifa," late Sunday the group said in a statement, having earlier reported two attacks on another base also south of Haifa. The group dedicated the attack to its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs last month.
Rocket sirens and blasts were heard in Haifa and Israel’s military said at least five projectiles were identified coming from Lebanon and "fallen projectiles" were found in the area. The military showed what appeared to be rubble along a street. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it was treating a teen with shrapnel injuries to the head and a man who fell from a window due to a blast.
The Israeli army on Sunday night announced a new call for residents to evacuate Beirut's southern suburbs, the latest of several appeals since it began heavily bombing the Hezbollah stronghold last month.
"Urgent warning to the residents of the southern suburb of Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath... you are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, and the IDF (Israeli military) will operate against them in the near future," said military spokesman Avichay Adraee on X, urging residents of the areas to leave.
Shortly after the evacuation calls, south Beirut’s skyline lit up with new airstrikes as Israel targeted what it said were Hezbollah militant sites, a day after Israel’s heaviest bombardment of the southern suburbs since it escalated its air campaign on Sept. 23.
Some strikes set off a series of explosions, suggesting that ammunition stores were hit. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the area was hit by more than 30 strikes.
A separate Israeli strike earlier Sunday in the town of Qmatiyeh southeast of Beirut killed seven people, including three children, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported more than 30 strikes overnight into Sunday, while Israel’s military said about 130 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
"It was very difficult. All of us in Beirut could hear everything," resident Haytham al-Darazi said. Another resident, Maxime Jawad, called it "a night of terror."
One strike killed three sisters and their aunt in the coastal village of Jiyyeh. "This is a civilian home, and the biggest evidence is those martyred are four women," said a neighbor, Ali al-Hajj.
The Israeli military said dozens of rockets and numerous drones entered Israeli territory from Lebanon on Sunday, most were intercepted or fell in open areas.
Israeli police said heavy damage was caused by rocket fire from Lebanon on the northern Israeli town of Ma’alot Tarshiha. Israeli media showed images of a makeshift structure outside a home in the town engulfed by fire. There were no reports of injuries.
Last week, Israel launched what it called a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders. The fighting is the worst since Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006.
At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes. Israel says it aims to drive Hezbollah from its border so tens of thousands of Israeli citizens can return home.
Source: Agence France Presse, Associated Press
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