Eight people were killed and dozens wounded in a massive rocket barrage on Acre and Ma'alot Thursday afternoon.
A man holds part of a Katyusha rocket after an attack on the North.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski [file]
Police reported that 130 rockets were fired into Israel within 90 minutes between 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. Four were killed in Acre when a rocket hit near a home while residents stood on a balcony. Three others were killed in rocket attacks near Ma'alot.
Among the dead in Acre were Shimon Zribi, 41, and his 15-year-old daughter Mazal, as well as Albert Ben Abu, 41, and two others, whose names had not yet been release. Muhammad Faur, 17, Shanati Shanati, 21, and 18-year-old Amir Na'im were killed in Ma'alot.
Forty-seven people were evacuated to a hospital in MDA ambulances, one in critical condition, one in moderate condition and 12 in light condition. 33 were evacuated to hospital for shock, MDA reported.
In all, some 10 people were reported in serious condition from the attacks.
A car hit by a Katyusha rocket in Kiryat Shmona.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski
Some 180 rockets were fired at northern Israel on Thursday. Rockets also hit in Kiryat Shmona and Tiberias, lightly wounding two residents.
Earlier Thursday afternoon, two houses in Ma'alot and Kefar Vradim were heavily damaged in an earlier rocket attack while sirens sounded throughout northern towns.
Rockets also hit Nahariya and the Golan Heights.
The earlier barrage Thursday was fired at about 2:00 a.m., marking the first time Hizbullah had fired on Israel at night since the start of the conflict. There were no reports of casualties or damage from that attack.
On Wednesday, northern Israel found itself pummeled by Hizbullah fire after a few comparatively quiet days. One person was killed and at least 11 wounded as a result of the more than 200 rockets that rained down.
52-year-old David Martin Lelchook was killed on Wednesday afternoon while riding his bicycle in Kibbutz Sa'ar, near Nahariya, after a rocket scored a direct hit on one of the kibbutz homes. The death marked the first fatality since rockets began raining down all over the North on Wednesday morning after a relative lull in rocket attacks for two days.
Bringing another city under Hizbullah's sights, A Khabar-1 rocket landed near Beit She'an Wednesday. Israel, which claims the rocket is Iranian-made, confirmed the hit and said at least seven people were wounded.
Beit Shean is about 70 kilometers (42 miles) south of the Lebanese border and marks the farthest town to date to come under fire.
