11 injured after Israeli town targeted by Lebanese rocket barrages
Many of the projectiles were intercepted by Israeli air defences while others landed in unpopulated areas.
An attack on a central Israeli town on Saturday has injured 11 people, health officials said.
The pre-dawn strike on Tira, which followed air raid sirens across central Israel, was one of several barrages fired from Lebanon early in the day.
Many of the projectiles were intercepted by Israeli air defences while others landed in unpopulated areas.
The Magen David Adom emergency service said 11 people were hurt by shrapnel and glass shards in a direct strike on a building in Tira, a predominantly Israeli Arab town.
Three were in moderate condition while the others suffered milder injuries.
Footage showed significant damage to the roof and top floor of the three-storey building and cars below.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group claimed responsibility for firing missiles toward the Israeli military’s Unit 8200 base in Glilot on the edge of Tel Aviv and for attacking central Israel’s Palmachim air base with explosive drones, saying they “scored precise hits on targets”.
Israel’s military has not confirmed whether either base was targeted or hit.
Hezbollah said the Saturday dawn missile attack directed at Glilot was in retaliation for the “massacres” that are being committed by Israel.
It was likely the claim was linked to the strike on Tira, which is about 11 miles away from Glilot.
Tamar Abdel Hai, a resident of Tira, said the attack was frightening.
“I call upon all the leaders in the Arab world and the leaders in Israel, and to everyone who can help to end this war. It’s enough,” he said.
Hezbollah also said its fighters have fired salvos of rockets into northern Israeli towns including Dalton, Yesud HaMa’ala and Bar Yohai.
Meanwhile, a Lebanese ship captain was taken away by a group of armed men who landed on a coast north of Beirut, authorities said, adding that they were investigating whether Israel was involved.
Two Lebanese military officials confirmed to the Associated Press that a naval force landed in Batroun, about 18 miles north of Beirut, and abducted a Lebanese citizen.
Neither gave the man’s identity or said whether he was thought to have links to Hezbollah. They did not confirm whether the armed men were an Israeli force.
Speaking to Lebanon’s Al-Jadeed TV, minister of public works and transport Ali Hamie declined to go into details or answer questions about whether it was thought to be an Israeli operation.
Three Lebanese judicial officials told AP the incident happened at dawn on Friday, adding that the captain might have links with Hezbollah.
The officials said an investigation is looking into whether the man is linked to Hezbollah or working for an Israeli spy agency, and an Israeli force came to rescue him.
