Hezbollah hits deep in Israel around Haifa and West Bank
Hezbollah said it targeted three sites in northern Israel including military production facilities in retaliation for intense Israeli strikes on south and east Lebanon.
"In response to the Israeli enemy attacks that targeted the south and Bekaa areas", Hezbollah fighters bombed two north Israel military positions as well as the "Rafael defense industry complexes" north of the city of Haifa, the group said in a statement.
As Israel carried out the most intense barrages of airstrikes in nearly a year of fighting against Hezbollah, Israeli authorities reported a series of air-raid sirens in northern Israel warning of incoming rocket fire from Lebanon.
Earlier Monday, Israel urged residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate from homes and other buildings where it claimed Hezbollah has stored weapons, saying the military would conduct "extensive strikes" against the militant group.
It was the first warning of its kind in nearly a year of steadily escalating conflict and came after a particularly heavy exchange of fire on Sunday. Hezbollah launched around 150 rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for strikes that killed a top commander and dozens of fighters.
Hezbollah targeted more Israeli bases later on Monday with "dozens of rockets" in retaliation for the wave of strikes on the south and the Bekaa in Lebanon's east.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah launched more than 100 projectiles toward Israel, reaching deep into Israel including around the northern city of Haifa and parts of the occupied West Bank.
Most of the missiles were intercepted but two people were lightly injured from falling shrapnel in northern Israel. A number of homes suffered direct hits.
School was canceled in northern Israel on Sunday and Monday and Israelis were instructed to stay close to protected areas.
Residents of Haifa ran for shelter as sirens rang out Monday evening. "Sirens sounded in the city of Haifa and surrounding areas in northern Israel," the Israeli army said in a statement.
Source: Agence France Presse
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