VIDEO - A 15 year-old girl was killed Tuesday afternoon when a rocket fired from Lebanon hit the northern Druze village of Mrar, near Carmiel in the Galilee region.
According to reports, the rocket landed near the village’s mosque. One man was seriously injured in the attack, a girl sustained moderate injuries, and two boys were lightly injured. Some 20 people suffered from shock.
Last week a rocket landed in Nazareth, killingtwo Arab-Israeli brothers. Hizbullah Chief Hassan Nasrallah apologized for the attack, saying that he regards those killed as shahids.
After 48 hours of relative quiet Haifa was hit Tuesday afternoon by a number of rockets that landed in its downtown area.
Paramedics rushed to the landing sites to treat the 14 people wounded in the attack; three were moderately wounded while the rest sustained light injuires. In the southern part of the city a building was damaged by shrapnel from a rocket that landed in a nearby shopping mall; a number of people were treated for shock, as was a woman who was lightly injured while sitting in the shopping mall's hair salon. One of the rockets damaged a bus.
Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav, speaking at the scene of a rocket attack in south Haifa, said Hizbullah was creating a "honey trap" for Haifa residents.
"They give us a few hours of quiet, so people begin going out onto the streets and walking around like in Switzerland. Even I went today to buy two cakes," he said. Yahav called on citizens to remain in protected structures.
More rockets landed on the northern towns of Nahariya and Ma’alot; earlier two rocket barrages fell in Rosh Pina and near Safed.
Magen David Adom forces treated two shock victims in Safed.
Two additional rocket barrages were fired at two communities in the Upper Galilee near the border with Lebanon. The rockets landed in open territory and no casualties have been reported.
IAF bombs target in southern Lebanon (Photo: Reuters)
Additional rockets fell in the Akko area; no injuries or damage were reported.
Sources in the Air Force are cautiously talking about a reduction in Hizbullah's capabilities in light of the relative calm that has reigned for the past two days in Haifa, but the recent attack has proven that the terror group is still capable of firing long-range rockets at the city.
Eighty one rockets fell on northern communities on Monday. Heavy barrages were fired at Tiberias, Maalot, Nahariya, Akko, Carmiel, and Kiryat Shmona.
Around 50 civilians were injured, including two moderately – seriously, and a number of people were lightly injured. There were many shock victims,
With that, sources in the Air Force are cautiously talking about a reduction in Hizbullah's capabilities, in light of the relative calm that has reigned for the past two days in Haifa.
Ground fighting continues
In Lebanese territory ground fighting continues in the Bint Jbeil area, described by the IDF as the capital of Hizbullah.
Senior officers say forces captured dominating positions over the town of Hamahuz, and are prepared for entering the town.
The aerial campaign is also continuing, and seven residents were killed in an aerial bombing of a house in southern Lebanon.
An Air Force plane fired a missile at a house in Nabatiyeh and caused immediate damage and the death of the home's owner Muhammad Gandror, as well as the deaths of six other people. Gandror's wife is still buried beneath the wreckage.
Earlier the IDF bombed banks in Lebanon holding Hizbullah money, as part of the operation to destroy the terror organizations economic infrastructure, NBC television said.
In other developments:
- Saudi king Abdullah pledged USD 500 million to rebuild Lebanon and another USD 250 million for the Palestinian Authority.
- Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad-Reza Sheybani said that Hizbullah's military capability has greatly increased in the last decade, and threatened that if Israel harmed Syria, the Iranians would respond with force.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Lebanon conflict proves that the UN must increase its efficiency. “The war in Lebanon created a severe humanitarian crisis and is indicative of the importance of the UN’s activity in the international arena," he said.
Hanan Greenberg contributed to this report
First published: 09:52, 07.25.6