Hezbollah attacks Israel’s Haifa in first direct hit on strategic city

Hezbollah announced it launched a salvo of Fadi 1 missiles at the Carmel base, south of Haifa, and carried out a rocket attack on the Nimra base, west of Tiberias.

Israeli media reported 10 people were wounded in Haifa and Tiberias.

“This was the first real hit in the city,” stated its mayor, Yona Yahav.

Israel’s military said five rockets were launched at Haifa from Lebanon, adding, “Interceptors were fired. Fallen projectiles were identified in the area. The incident is under review.”

It noted 15 other rockets were fired at Tiberias, some of them intercepted.

Police in Haifa say several buildings and properties were damaged, with several reports of minor injuries and some people taken to a nearby hospital.

Israel’s military has also announced that fighter jets hit targets belonging to Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut, including intelligence-gathering means, command centres, and additional infrastructure sites.

Over the past few hours, the airstrikes struck Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in the area of Beirut, the military said, adding that secondary explosions were identified following the strikes, indicating the presence of weaponry.

Israeli warplanes also hit Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa area, including weapons storage facilities, infrastructure sites, a command centre, and a launcher, the military noted.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 41,800 people, most of them women and children, following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

At least 2,100 people have since been killed, over 9,500 injured, and 1.2 million others displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.