A barrage of Hezbollah rockets slammed into northern Israel on Thursday, killing at least eight Israelis. Four people were killed when a rocket crashed directly into a house near the northern town of Ma'alot, and another four were killed when a rocket exploded near their vehicle in Acre. Four people were seriously wounded and two others sustained moderate wounds in rocket strikes in Acre, Hurfeish and Kiryat Shmona. Another 31 people were also lightly wounded in the attacks. Shimon Zaribi, 44, and Albert ben Abu, 41, both of Acre, were killed in the rocket attack on their hometown. Sinati Sinati, Amir Naeem and Mohammed Fouad, all 17-year-old residents of the village of Tarshiha, were killed in the attack near Ma'alot.Also Thursday, four Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and two others were seriously wounded Thursday in heavy fighting with Hezbollah guerillas in south Lebanon.
The Prime Minister's Office said the government would continue to fight the Hezbollah and put an end to the rocket attacks. "The Israeli government, along with the Israeli people are fully determined to break this Hezbollah threat and to restore quiet to Israel's north. We will seek and pursue Hezbollah without relenting and we will put an end to these murderous attacks," said David Baker, an official in the PMO.
A total of 160 rockets were fired by late afternoon Thursday, 130 of which fell between the hours of 4 P.M. and 5 P.M. Hardest hit were the towns of Nahariya, Ma'alot and Kiryat Shmona. Rockets also landed in Haifa, the Golan Heights, Rosh Pina and Safed. More than 2,050 rockets have been fired at Israel from Lebanon during the current conflict, killing 27 civilians. Hezbollah fired at least 30 rockets across the north on Thursday morning, striking Kiryat Shmona, Haifa, the Ma'alot area and the Golan Heights.