Hibzulah fired dozens of rockets yesterday at Kiryat Shmona, the largest Israeli town just across the border, in response to Tuesday’s deadly Israeli attacks on the village of Hebariyeh in southern Lebanon.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire across the border since war broke out between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in the biggest escalation between the old enemies since the 2006 conflict. Both sides have said they do not want an all-out war, but attacks have increased this week after a lull in cross-border bombings.
Israeli emergency services said a rocket attack yesterday killed a factory worker in Kiryat Shmona, a young Druze named Zaher Bashara, while at least seven people were killed in Israeli strikes on Hebariyeh, targeting the emergency center and Hizbullah relief in the village, two Lebanese security sources told Reuters. The victims were members of medical and rescue personnel, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. On Tuesday, Israeli airstrikes near two cities in northeastern Lebanon killed three Hezbollah militants, the Lebanese militia party posted on Telegram. Israel confirmed those attacks.
Elsewhere, in Gaza, Israel bombed at least three houses in Rafah overnight on Tuesday, raising new fears among the million people sheltering in the last refuge at the southern end of the Strip that a disaster could be looming. ground attack. One of the airstrikes killed eleven members of a family, health officials said.
Just north of Rafah, Israeli forces kept Khan Younis’ two main hospitals, Al Amal and Al Naser, under a blockade they imposed late last week. In Gaza City, Israeli troops continued their siege against the Al Shifa hospital for the tenth day yesterday.
