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 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.
The casualty of Hezbollah’s massive rocket attack this morning is Zahar Bashara, a Druze Israeli from the village Ein Kanya.
— Hillel Fuld (@HilzFuld) March 27, 2024
I’m sure Hezbollah is very disappointed it wasn’t a Jew. pic.twitter.com/DuYnAuBLCo
Another man, in his 30s, was rescued unharmed from the same building.
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 struck in Kiryat Shmona and the surrounding area, while 20 more were intercepted.
At least seven buildings suffered direct hits. Video circulating on social media showed a public bus and several other vehicles passing by seconds before a rocket impact.
🔴Dramatic video posted on Telegram reportedly showing the moment, around 90 minutes ago, that a Hezbollah rocket fired from Lebanon hit a building in the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona.
— Jewish News Syndicate (@JNS_org) March 27, 2024
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(Video source unknown) pic.twitter.com/dloMEMnwtn
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.”
More from Kiryat Shmona this morning
— Hamas Atrocities (@HamasAtrocities) March 27, 2024
The city is evacuated pic.twitter.com/zJIZWfFCCG
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 Hezbollah and Hamas terrorists in Lebanon.
Also on Wednesday, a Hezbollah drone was located in the area of Rosh HaNikra on the Mediterranean coast next to the Lebanese border. Israeli forces were sent to the scene and safely removed the device. The incident is under investigation.
