Five Katyusha rockets landed in open areas near Kiryat Shmona Monday afternoon, igniting brush fires but causing no injuries.
A gas station in Israel.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski [file]
The attack was the first by Hizbullah since the IDF's partial suspension of airstrikes early Monday morning.
Despite the IDF's announcement that the aerial campaign over Lebanon would be suspended for 48 hours, the Home Front Command urged northerners to remain in shelters.
On Sunday, a total of 140 rockets - the highest number in a single day since the beginning of hostilities on July 12 - rained down on northern cities, including Nahariya, Kiryat Shmona, and Acre. Eight people were wounded, one moderately and seven lightly. Some 29 people suffered from shock.
One person was moderately wounded in a rocket barrage that landed in Kiryat Shmona shortly after 2:45 p.m. on Sunday. Three other residents were lightly wounded, and two suffered from shock. All the wounded were evacuated to a local hospital.
Earlier, one person was lightly wounded and several others suffering from shock in Kiryat Shmona as rocket barrages continued to pound the city on Sunday afternoon. In one barrage of at least 10 rockets, a house sustained a direct hit. Other damage was also reported, including several fires.
The first alert sirens sounded in Haifa and Tiberias at seven a.m. Several rockets landed in open territories in Haifa. There were no reports of rockets falling in Tiberias.
Nahariya and Acre were also hit Sunday morning. Seven rockets hit Nahariya, one of them reportedly hitting a car.
Meanwhile, Deputy OC Northern Command Brig.-Gen. Alon Friedman said Saturday that the missiles fired at Afula on Friday were not Iranian-made Fajr-5s, as originally reported, but an older Syrian-made rocket. This was the first time missiles of this type have been fired at Israel by Hizbullah.
Police in the North said in a statement that one of the missiles that landed near Afula contained 100 kg. of explosives - an amount that could have caused extensive damage and casualties. No one was wounded in the attack, and the Home Front Command instructed residents of the city to remain indoors. The attack caused a fire, and a helicopter was scrambled to help firefighters contain the blaze.
In a statement released by Hizbullah, the group called the attack an "implementation of the promise and decision and in response to the brutal aggression [by Israel]." Shortly after the attack, IAF jets destroyed the launcher.
"Hizbullah has yet to fall apart and is not ready yet to raise a white flag and surrender," a high-ranking officer said, adding that the group had been "hit on a number of levels, including its standing in Beirut and by the number of people who were killed."
