A nationwide malfunction in the Home Front Command's air raid siren system caused false "hi-lo" sirens to sound across Israel 'snorth and south.
The sirens sounded across most of the western Negev communities, the greater Ashdod area, Gav Yavnhe and Beer Tuvia in the south; as well as across the Galilee and Jezreel Valley communities, Migdal HaEmek and Nazareth in the north.
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The malfunction prompted thousands of panicked citizens to call the police emergency line.
Siren malfunction in Afula
(צילום: חגי אהרון)
The Home Front Command confirmed that a malfunction took places, adding it was investigating the cause of the system's failure.
A spokesperson for the Eshkol Regional Council said that seconds after sirens sounded in the area, the communities were told it was a false alarm.
Anat, a resident of Safed, told Ynet: "This was very stressful. We were scared. This is a sensitive sector and this kind of thing sends us back to the days of the Second Lebanon War."
Neri Brenner contributed to this report