Hezbollah rockets hit Israel's Haifa in first direct hit to city

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Hezbollah rockets hit Israel's third-largest city of Haifa early on Monday, in the first direct attack on the northern city that evaded the military's usually reliable air defence systems.

Hezbollah said it targeted a military base south of Haifa with a salvo of "Fadi 1" missiles. Media said two rockets hit Haifa - 27 miles (17 km) from the Lebanese border - on Israel's Mediterranean coast and five hit Tiberias 65 km (40 miles) away.

Israeli media said 10 people were wounded in Haifa and Tiberias.

"This was the first real hit in the city," said its mayor, Yona Yahav.

Israel's military said five rockets were launched at Haifa from Lebanon, adding, "Interceptors were fired. Fallen projectiles were identified in the area. The incident is under review."

It said 15 other rockets were fired at Tiberias, some of them intercepted.

Police in Haifa said several buildings and properties were damaged, with several reports of minor injuries and some people taken to a nearby hospital.

Video images from a surveillance camera showed the moment a Hezbollah rocket hit Haifa.

Reuters was able to independently verify the location, with the design and outline of the buildings, business signs, trees and road layout that match file and satellite imagery of the area.

Reuters was able to independently verify the date with corroborating reports and the timestamp of the footage.

Israel's military said fighter jets hit targets belonging to Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Beirut, including intelligence-gathering means, command centres, and additional infrastructure sites.

Over the past few hours, the airstrikes struck Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in the area of Beirut, the military said, adding that secondary explosions were identified following the strikes, indicating the presence of weaponry.

Airstrikes also hit Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa area, including weapons storage facilities, infrastructure sites, a command centre, and a launcher, the military said.

It blamed Hezbollah for deliberately embedding its command centres and weaponry beneath residential buildings in the heart of Beirut and endangering the civilian population.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer and Yomna Ehab; Additional reporting by Monica Naime; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Clarence Fernandez)