Hezbollah intensifies heavy rocket barrages on northern Israel as full-scale war appears closer than ever

As the IDF intensifies its bombardment of Hezbollah sites across Lebanon, striking some 1,600 targets over the past 24 hours, the terror group has retaliated with ongoing rocket attacks on Israel’s northern communities. 

Air raid sirens were activated in the Krayot area near Haifa, the Jezreel Valley, and across the Galilee overnight, with impacts reported in Nazareth and Afula. While there was property damage from the falls, no casualties were reported. 

Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency services reported Tuesday afternoon that a young man was moderately injured by rocket shrapnel near the Golani Junction in the central Galilee.

In addition, one of MDA's ambulances was damaged in the Jezreel Valley, while the English Hospital in Nazareth was also struck by a rocket. 

Later on Tuesday morning, another 55 launches were identified, targeting the towns of Kiryat Shmona, Nazareth, Afula, and the surrounding area. Rockets fell in several locations, including near Kiryat Shmona.

According to the Israel Fire and Rescue Service, six fire crews from the Galilee-Golan station were dispatched to a number of locations around Kiryat Shmona as a result of rocket impacts. Firefighters worked to extinguish a fire that started in a warehouse that was directly hit, as well as several locations in open areas. 

A building in Tamra was also damaged by an apparent rocket impact, with images on social media showing the site of impact and damage to a storage room. 

The Hezbollah terror group took responsibility for the early morning barrage, claiming they were targeting a military supplies factory in Zichron Yaakov, the Amos IDF base near Afula, and the Megiddo Airfield.

Around 10 rockets were launched toward Haifa at around 7:45 a.m., several of which were intercepted by air defense systems. 

At the time of publication, the IDF said that about 100 launches toward Israel had been detected by air defense systems since midnight.  

MDA reported at least two people had been injured by Hezbollah attacks as of Tuesday morning. One victim, a 58-year-old woman, was lightly injured by shrapnel, while the other, a 61-year-old man, was seriously wounded. Both were taken to a hospital in Nahariya for treatment.

Emek Medical Center in Afula reported that four people were lightly injured while fleeing to protected spaces in the city. 

The IDF launched retaliatory strikes against several Hezbollah rocket launch facilities after the latest round of attacks. 

Meanwhile, at least two Palestinians living in the West Bank were reportedly wounded due to Hezbollah rocket fire on Monday evening. The rockets were part of a longer-range barrage that was launched toward central Israel. 

The Palestinian Authority news site Wafa reported the injuries and damages but added that “it was not determined if the rockets were fired from Lebanon or from the interceptor rockets launched by the Israeli occupation.”