Rockets From Lebanon Into Northern Israel Force Residents Into Bomb Shelters

Three or four rockets were fired at northern Israel from Lebanon Thursday afternoon, sending residents into bomb shelters, Israeli media reported.

The Israel Defense Forces said on its Twitter account that one of the rockets was shot out of the air by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.

Iron Dome battery (File photo via IDF spokesman)

Sirens blared in Nahariya and Acre, while Israel Channel 2 reported that one of the rockets fell in a field near Nahariya in the Western Galilee.

The IDF said the remaining rockets fell outside of Israeli territory.

The Times of Israel cited Lebanese media reports which said “that two volleys of rockets had been fired from a Palestinian refugee camp near Tyre into Israel.”

No group immediately took responsibility for the attack in the Galilee, a region currently filled with vacationing families in the days leading up to the start of the school year.

“I heard a soft explosion…then a stronger explosion” a resident of Nahariya told Army Radio.

Another resident said, “Everyone was in panic, but thank God everyone is alright.”

Army Radio Arab Affairs Correspondent Jackie Hugi speculated the attack might not be the work of the radical Shiite group Hezbollah -- which has a long history of firing rockets and missiles into Israel -- but rather a jihadi group operating in Lebanon. The IDF tweeted its assessment that "global jihad terrorists fired the rockets from Southern Lebanon."

Israeli television and radio stations went into live coverage mode.

There were no reports of damage or physical injuries, though three people were treated for panic, according to Army Radio which cited sources at Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency rescue service.

Shimon Lankri, the mayor of Acre told Israel Army Radio, “We heard a few muffled explosions and a soft siren. In Acre we haven’t heard any strikes.”

He sent a message to his citizens asking they be aware of the development and stay close to shelters.

“Don’t wander around the streets until all of the details are learned,” he said.

“While there have been several incidents in which mortars were fired into Israel's north in recent months from Syria, today's explosions are being reported in the western end of the northern border, opposite Lebanon,” Israel National News reported.

The Israel Defense Forces also asked citizens in the area to stay near shelters.

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