A 25-year-old Israeli man was killed in the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday by a Hezbollah rocket barrage from Lebanon.
According to Magen David Adom, the man, a laborer later identified by Israeli media as Zahar Bashara, was pronounced dead after being pulled from a damaged building in the city’s industrial zone. Zahara was a resident of the Druze village of Ein Qiniyye in the Golan Heights.
Another man, in his 30s, was rescued unharmed from the same building, according to Israeli reports.
Two Israelis were also lightly wounded by shrapnel.
At least 30 rockets were fired across the border from Lebanon on Wednesday morning, according to the Israel Defense Forces, several of which impacted in the northern city, including at industrial sites, setting buildings aflame.
Around 10 missiles fell in Kiryat Shmona and the surrounding area, while 20 more were intercepted, Ynet reported.
At least seven buildings suffered direct hits, according to Israel’s Channel 12. Video circulating on social media showed a public bus and several other vehicles passing by seconds before a rocket impact.
Footage posted to social media showed Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system intercepting some of the rockets.
A message from the city to residents at 7:59 a.m. read: “Due to fear of rocket fire, residents of Kiryat Shmona who are staying in the city are asked to immediately enter shelters and protected areas. If no other message is received, you can leave the protected area after 10 minutes. Please obey the instructions. They save lives.”
Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack, saying it was a response to a deadly Israeli airstrike overnight Tuesday in the southern Lebanese town of Habbariyeh, located five kilometers (3 miles) from the border.
The IDF confirmed the strike, which it said had targeted a key terror operative who had “advanced [terror plots] against Israeli territory in the past.”
According to Reuters, seven people were killed in the Israeli strike on a center belonging to Jamaa al-Islamiya, which maintains close ties to both Hezbollah and Hamas terrorists in Lebanon.
