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Iranian missile shrapnel damages Haifa refinery

Four people were wounded in a separate missile attack on Kiryat Shmona.

The Haifa oil refinery. Photo by Avishai Teicher/PikiWiki Israel.
The Haifa oil refinery. Photo by Avishai Teicher/PikiWiki Israel.

Shrapnel from an Iranian missile intercepted by the IDF struck Israel’s largest oil refinery in Haifa Bay on Thursday, causing damage to the facility and triggering power outages in the surrounding area, the Israel Fire and Rescue Services confirmed.

Smoke was seen billowing from the Bazan Group oil refineries following the attack. A Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson said no casualties were reported at the refinery, though the structure sustained some damage.

Shrapnel from the missile also hit a high-tension electricity line, causing localized outages. The Israel Electric Corp. said power was quickly restored to most residential areas.

Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen said that the damage to the electricity network in northern Israel was limited. “IEC teams are already working in the field and have restored electricity to most of the disconnected areas,” he said.

The Bazan facility was damaged during the 12-day war last June, when three of its employees were killed.

In a separate incident on Thursday, Magen David Adom reported four people wounded in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona following additional rocket fire.

According to MDA, a man aged about 60 was in serious condition with an abdominal injury, a 68-year-old woman was in moderate condition with a head injury, and two people in their 20s were listed in light condition suffering from blast injuries.

A Thai worker in central Israel and four Palestinian women in southern Judea were killed by Iranian missile attacks overnight Wednesday.

At least 21 people, all civilians, have been killed in Israel as a result of hundreds of Iranian ballistic missile attacks since the start of the war with the Islamic Republic on Feb. 28.

During a heated exchange at a conference on conflict-related sexual violence, Israel’s ambassador accused senior United Nations representatives of bias against the Jewish state.
One of the soldiers was killed in an incident in which two others were critically injured and an officer was moderately injured.
“Hezbollah is Iran’s long arm and they don’t want a cease fire,” the ambassador said.
“IDF soldiers must stand between Hezbollah and Israeli civilians. We will not wait for the next attack to reach our homes.”
The Jewish state, by contrast, absorbed Holocaust survivors, Jews expelled from Arab states and others who did not maintain their refugee status.
U.S.-Iran talks have been postponed after an explosive drone killed four Israeli soldiers in Southern Lebanon.