Sirens sounded repeatedly in central Israel Wednesday evening, surrounding the start of Passover, as Iran fired a major ballistic missile barrage and Hezbollah launched rockets from Lebanon, sending millions to bomb shelters and safe rooms as families across the country hosted their Seder meals. The attacks continued into early Thursday morning, with Iranian ballistic missiles fired at central Israel, the Jerusalem area and the north, while Hezbollah rocket fire from Lebanon triggered sirens near Haifa.
One of the Iranian missiles was carrying a cluster warhead, spreading bomblets across central Israel, with the Magen David Adom ambulance service reporting that a 12-year-old and two 7-month-olds in Bnei Brak were lightly injured from shattered glass. A 24-year-old was also lightly injured in the same incident, according to MDA. On Wednesday morning there, an 11-year-old girl was injured by shrapnel in another missile strike and she remains in critical condition, the medical service added. The overnight attack on Bnei Brak also damaged a water main in the city.
The IDF had previously warned that a missile attack was expected on Seder night, one of the most widely observed Jewish rituals. According to initial IDF assessments, some 10 ballistic missiles were fired at central Israel, in the largest Iranian salvo on Israel since the early days of the war. Minutes later, sirens again sounded in central and northern Israel, as the IDF detected another Iranian ballistic missile launch, the sixth such salvo of the day. Around the same time, sirens sounded in the Golan Heights and Galilee due to rocket fire by Hezbollah from Lebanon. (Read More)
