Hezbollah Attacks Northern Israel With Hundreds of Rocket Strikes

Photo: Israeli security forces and rescue services work at the site where a rocket fired from Lebanon hit, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, September 22, 2024.

Hezbollah launched more than 100 rockets across northern Israel on Sunday, September 22, some of which landed near Haifa, while Israel launched hundreds of strikes on Lebanon. Both sides appear to be close to starting a full-scale war after months of mounting tensions, the Associated Press reports.

The overnight rocket attack triggered air raid sirens across northern Israel, forcing thousands of people to take shelter. The Israeli army said the rockets were fired “at civilian areas,” signaling a possible escalation as previous attacks have mostly targeted military targets.

One of the rockets hit near a residential building in Kiryat Bialik, a town near Haifa, injuring at least three people and setting fires in buildings and cars. Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said a total of four people were wounded by shrapnel in the attack.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said one person was killed and another wounded in an Israeli strike near the border.

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The attack came after an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on Friday that killed at least 45 people, including a senior Hezbollah leader and several women and children. Hezbollah was already suffering the effects of another attack that blew up thousands of communications devices days earlier.

The Israeli army said the IDF had launched a wave of strikes in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours, hitting some 400 militant sites, including rocket launchers. Lt. Col. Nadov Shoshani, an Israeli army spokesman, said the strikes had prevented an even larger attack on Israel.

“Hundreds of thousands of civilians were caught in the crossfire across northern Israel. They spent the night and now the morning in bomb shelters,” he said. "Today we saw shelling that hit Israel deeper than before.".

The army also said it intercepted several aerial devices fired from Iraq, after Iranian-backed militants there said they had launched drones toward Israel.

Israel's Health Ministry said all hospitals in the north would begin moving their operations to secure areas or shelters within medical centers.

Also today, Israeli troops raided the West Bank offices of Qatar-based Al Jazeera, which was banned in Israel earlier this year, accusing it of serving as a "mouthpiece for militants." The international broadcaster denied the accusations.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading blows since the Gaza war began nearly a year ago, when militants began shelling Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians and their ally Hamas.

Prepared by: Sergei Daga