Schools closed in Haifa and entire north amid rocket barrages from Lebanon
IDF Home Front Command sets maximum size for outdoor gatherings at 10 people as far south as Beit She’an, over 60 kilometers from border
The IDF Home Front Command further tightened its restrictions on public activities in northern Israel amid overnight rocket barrages by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah that continued into Sunday morning as months of simmering conflict dramatically heated up.
According to the latest guidelines, schools are to be shut in the Golan Heights, Galilee, Haifa Bay area, and northern valleys as far south as Beit Shean, which is about 63 kilometers (40 miles) from the Lebanese border.
Gatherings were restricted to 10 people outdoors and 100 indoors. Workplaces can only operate if an adequate shelter is nearby and can be reached in time.
The new rules came into effect at 6 a.m. and were to last until Monday at 6 p.m.
Previous instructions issued over the weekend had permitted outdoor gatherings of up to 30 people, and indoors of up to 300.
Similar but looser restrictions remain in effect in areas around the Gaza Strip, with gatherings of up to 1,000 people permitted, no restrictions on work activities, and most school activities permitted.
No special instructions or restrictions were issued for other areas of the country.
The Home Front Command (Hebrew) website provides up-to-date instructions including an option to search for orders for specific communities.
The fighting on Saturday came after Israel on Friday killed top Hezbollah commanders Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wahbi, along with other senior members of the group, in an airstrike on a residential building in Beirut, where the terror group leaders had gathered for a meeting in an underground room.
It also came days after thousands of Hezbollah members’ personal electronics — first pagers, then later walkie-talkies — exploded, killing dozens and wounding thousands, in an attack for which Israel was widely blamed.
The devastating blows to the Iranian proxy brought the sides closer to a full-scale war, after 11 months of near-daily Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel.
Overnight and into Sunday morning, Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel while the IDF bombed hundreds of rocket launchers it said the Iran-backed terror group had primed for fire at Israel.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated three people who were lightly wounded as a result of rocket impacts in Kiryat Bialik, near Haifa.
Several others were treated for acute anxiety or falling while running to shelters, MDA said.
Hezbollah launched around 85 rockets from Lebanon at northern Israel during the morning, in addition to its overnight barrages, according to the IDF.
The military said that some of the rockets were intercepted, while some impacted Kiryat Bialik, near Haifa, causing massive damage, and Moreshet, a community in the Lower Galilee region.
Footage showed one of the rocket impact sites in Kiryat Bialik.
MDA says it is treating three people who were lightly wounded as a result of rocket impacts in the Krayot and Lower Galilee.
Several others were treated for acute anxiety or falling over while running to shelters.
Footage shows one of the rocket impact sites in Kiryat Bialik. pic.twitter.com/MXy2CObapv
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Hezbollah claimed to have targeted a Rafael defense firm facility in the Haifa area.
On Saturday, some 100 rockets were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel, according to the IDF. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for those attacks too.
No injuries were reported as a result of any of the rockets, but police said they received reports of impacts that caused damage and sparked fires.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 22 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 502 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. Another 79 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have also been killed.
The war in Gaza began on October 7 when Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel responded with a military campaign and ground offensive in Gaza to destroy Hamas in the territory and save 251 hostages who were abducted from Israel during the October 7 assault.
