Hezbollah fires some 130 rockets at north on Passover; 4 lightly injured

Four people were lightly injured as Hezbollah fired around 130 rockets at northern Israel on Wednesday and Thursday, the start of the Passover holiday, as the military struck dozens of sites in Lebanon belonging to the Iran-backed terror group.

The bombardment as Israelis celebrated the first two days of the Passover festival sent hundreds of thousands of people into shelters, as Iran continued to also launch missiles at the country, including the north.

Two men, aged 34 and 85, were wounded Thursday when a rocket struck a building in Kiryat Shmona, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service.

Later, two men in their 30s and 40s were lightly wounded when a Hezbollah rocket struck the northern town of Bi’ina, Magen David Adom emergency personnel said.

Footage showed scenes of property damage after the barrages in the north, including a McDonald’s restaurant near Kibbutz Ma’ayan Baruch with many of its windows blown out.

Damage was also caused to an empty daycare in the northern city of Nahariya, according to rescue services.

Rocket sirens also sounded in the Krayot suburbs of Haifa, though according to the IDF, most of the rockets were intercepted and others were allowed to hit open areas, “according to protocol.” No injuries were reported.

הירי לצפון: נזק כבד לרכוש במתחם מסחרי סמוך לקריית שמונה | תיעוד@rubih67 pic.twitter.com/soTrGjoYMy

Advertisement

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) April 2, 2026

The IDF said on Thursday that more than 40 Hezbollah operatives were killed and dozens of sites belonging to the terror group in Lebanon were struck in the past day.

The Israeli Air Force bombed dozens of Hezbollah command centers, weapons depots, rocket launchers and anti-tank missile launch posts, according to the military.

The IDF said the Israeli Navy also struck a Hezbollah weapons depot in southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, ground forces continued operations in southern Lebanon.

The IDF said troops of the 91st “Galilee” Regional Division spotted a cell of Hezbollah operatives and directed a strike against them, and the 36th Division directed a strike on three armed operatives riding motorcycles, killing some 10 more gunmen during their operations.

The military said the 146th and 162nd divisions also located numerous weapons and destroyed dozens of Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon in the past day.

Hezbollah has been firing hundreds of rockets per day, according to the IDF. However, the vast majority of the daily rocket fire has been directed at Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon, with only a few dozen projectiles crossing the border into Israel.

The IDF believes Hezbollah still possesses thousands of short-range rockets, along with hundreds of longer-range projectiles. The IDF has said that the terror group is launching most of its attacks from deeper within southern Lebanon, and not from close to the border.

Katz threatens Hezbollah chief over rocket fire

Responding to the incessant rocket fire, Defense Minister Israel Katz again threatened Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem, saying he will “pay a very heavy price” for the constant attacks on Israel.

“I have a clear message for Naim Qassem, secretary-general of the Hezbollah terror organization: You and your associates will pay a very heavy price for the intensified fire toward Israeli civilians as they sit to celebrate the Passover Seder,” he said, following an assessment with military officials.

“You will not live to see this because you will be deep in the depths of hell together with Nasrallah, Khamenei, Sinwar and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil,” Katz added.

Israeli officials have said the IDF is establishing a demilitarized “security zone” in southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, until the threat of Hezbollah is removed.

The buffer zone would be controlled with surveillance and firepower, as well as ground troops in areas deemed strategically necessary, the military has said.

Ten IDF soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon amid fighting against Hezbollah, two civilians were killed by Hezbollah rockets, and an Israeli civilian was mistakenly killed in the north by Israeli artillery shelling.

In Lebanon, the Israeli military has said that it has killed some 1,000 Hezbollah operatives, including hundreds of members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, since hostilities escalated when Hezbollah began attacking Israel the day after the war against Iran began.

More than 2,500 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon have also been struck, including hundreds of command centers, weapon depots, and rocket and missile launchers, according to the IDF.

Lebanese authorities say that at least 1,200 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, but do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Additionally, some 1.2 million people have been displaced by the fighting in Lebanon, officials have said.