VIDEO - Massive rocket barrage hits northern Israel after several hours of calm: A 37-year-old man was killed Tuesday evening while running to a bomb shelter, raising the death toll of Israelis killed in rocket attacks since the fighting in the north began to 13.
About 60 people were injured in Tuesday evening's rocket attack and were evacuated to hospitals in Safed and Nahariya.
Some 130 rockets were fired at the north by Tuesday evening, 100 of them fired in a heavy barrage within one hour and a half, Northern District Police Commander Major-General Dan Ronen told Ynet.
Another barrage was fired at Nahariya at around 10 p.m., and after midnight rockets were fired at the Hula Valley. There were no injuries.
Hizbullah suffered a harsh blow ,but still managed to fire a heavy barrage of rockets at the entire northern area. Five or six rockets hit open areas near Haifa. Other rockets hit the Kiryat Haim area, Nahariya, Carmiel, Maalot, Tiberias, Safed, Hatzor Haglilit and Rosh Pina.
The buildings in Nahariya were seriously damaged. Moshe, who was at the scene of the rocket attack in Nahariya, told Ynet: "I was five meters (16.4 feet) away from the man killed. He ran to the bomb shelter, and the rocket reached him and hit him right next to the shelter."
Nuriel Trigobof, 30, from Nahariya, who was in a reinforced room at the time the rockets hit Nahariya, recounted: "The falls were right in front of my building. There were three blasts and two building were damaged."
"One of the missiles directly hit the reinforced room. I heard the missile coming and then everything trembled. I saw the smoke. I called my family to see that everything was okay. We hear the launches in recent days and after six second we hear the hits," he added.
Yoel Nissimov has been living in the neighborhood hit by the Katyusha barrage for five years now.
"Our life has turned into a nightmare," he said Tuesday evening. "The city has suffered the worst blow among the northern communities in the past week. Losing two residents from a direct hit and another resident killed in the incident in Haifa – and all this within a number of days. This causes a feeling of pain, among myself and many people here, along with helplessness regarding the coming days."
Nahariya building hit (Photo: Nuriel Trigobof)
Malka Algrabli was driving by the nearby street when she noticed the barrage passing over her car.
"I stopped, left the car with its engine on, and just lay down on the road. The cloud of smoke was huge, I saw death in front of my eyes. I thought about my children, may parents and my husband. At such moments your entire life passes before your eyes. But there is no choice, we have to make it clear to the government in Lebanon that there is a government and an army here and that we are no 'suckers.'"
Likud members' solidarity visit interrupted
Large rescue forces were dispatched to the areas where the rockets fell in order to attend to the injured and put out fires. Simultaneously, sirens were activated in many northern communities.
Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the Likud faction were touring the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa at the time of the rocket attack. The officials were taken to a secure room and then left the place.
All this happened after several hours of calm. Earlier, Hizbullah launched 17 rockets, three landing in Haifa. One of the rockets hit the Haifa train depot where eight workers were killed Sunday, but this time there were no injuries. The building suffered damage.
Rockets were also fired at Safed, one of them landing in a factory in the industrial zone.
Haifa police reported that the rocket that hit the industrial zone was different from rockets fired at the city so far and had a smaller caliber.
Yitzhak Farid, a manager near the railways, told Ynet the rocket fell soon after an official visited: "The minute we entered the protected area, the second rocket fell dozens of meters from the first landing site and in the same building. This time no one was injured."
Damage caused in Nahariya (Photo: Nuriel Trigobof)
Simultaneously, five rockets hit Safed, one of which apparently hit a gas pipe used to pump freon, and firefighters were ordered to wear protective gear while working to contain the fire.
Additionally, several rockets landed in open fields south of the town and sparked a few blazes. Two firefighters were injured from smoke inhalation. At other bomb sites, seven residents were treated for shock by Magen David Adom paramedics.
Other developments:
The IDF continued shelling Lebanese targets. According to Arab news reports, over 50 people were killed in Air Force strikes since Monday night. Lebanese security officials reported that at least ten Lebanese soldiers were killed and some thirty others were wounded as a result of a nocturnal Israeli air strike on a Lebanese army base. The security officials said warplanes swooped down on the area of Kfar Chima early Tuesday, firing missiles near the base.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met personally Tuesday with three members of the United Nations' delegation, which came from Beirut to Israel in an attempt to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Olmert stressed: "Israel will continue fighting against Hizbullah until it returns the kidnapped soldiers and until the security of Israeli citizens is guaranteed."
Likud leaders visited the north to show solidarity. Opposition Chairman MK Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) said Israel “should act as the United States did during the Cuban missile crisis.” Netanyahu added: “Our goal should be to eliminate the source of fire. We don’t want to leave Nasrallah with his finger on the trigger. We must continue the operation, even without international support.”
Hagai Einav, Aviram Zino, Sharon Roffe-Ofir and Attila Somfalvi contributed to the report
First published: 16:59, 07.18.6