Heavy fire exchanged: Hezbollah rockets strike deep Into Northern Israel, tensions soar

CGTN Europe

Hezbollah and Israel unleashed heavy fire on Sunday, with rockets striking deep into northern Israel after intense bombardment.   Several buildings were struck, including a house near Haifa. Rescue teams treated the wounded but there were no reports of deaths.   Hezbollah’s deputy leader declared, "We have entered a new phase—an open-ended battle of reckoning."   As tensions soar, both sides brace for a long conflict.   #Israel #Hezbollah #Gaza

Transcript

00:00Yes, so just behind me is the scene of the impact that happened this morning.

00:05It was at 7 a.m. local time. It was actually the third major barrage that was sent from

00:12Lebanon overnight, and the one at 7 a.m. eventually ended with an impact here.

00:18We are in the city of Kiryat Bialik, which is on the northern outskirts of the city

00:23of Haifa, which is Israel's third largest city and the largest one in northern Israel.

00:29There was an impact here overnight. The Home Front Command changed the directives

00:34for the residents of northern Israel, saying that from Haifa northwards there are different

00:40directives. There were no schools, for example, all over northern Israel. Basically, this area

00:45was bracing for impact, which eventually happened. There was rocket fire way, way further south

00:51than we've seen in previous cases. Hezbollah is saying that it did not

00:55look to discriminately fire at citizens, but fire at a very important security establishment

01:03that is not far from here, and also an air force base called Ramat David, which is about 50 miles

01:10or so south of the border. This, according to Hezbollah, after the events of the night,

01:15Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the morning issued a statement threatening

01:22Let's listen to what Netanyahu had to say.

01:26In recent days, we have landed a series of blows on Hezbollah that it could have never imagined.

01:31If Hezbollah did not get the message, I assure you it will get the message. We are determined

01:37to safely return our residents to their homes in the north. No country can tolerate attacks

01:42on its citizens, attacks on its cities, and we, the state of Israel, will not tolerate it either.

01:49Jonathan, the United States and the United Nations have issued a warning of further

01:54risk of escalation with Lebanon. How are Israelis reacting?

02:02Israelis are saying that maybe it's about time for Israel to take a major step for things to

02:10change. For about a year, for almost a year now, the residents of northern Israel have been living

02:14under rocket fire. Yes, not the residents here. We are way further south than the border. But

02:20let's remember there is a security zone inside Israeli territory which is clear of residents.

02:26All of them have been evacuated. We're speaking of some 60,000 or so. And even communities which

02:32are not have not been evacuated but are a bit further south than the border are taking daily

02:39rocket fire. And now a rocket has gone even further south. We are some 20 miles or so

02:45south of the border. And you can see for yourselves there were impacts here. There

02:49were also impacts in places further south. Many Israelis are saying it's time for the state of

02:55Israel to take a tougher action, stronger action, such as the one taken in Gaza, for example,

03:00in order for this threat not to disappear, but at least to force Hezbollah further north

03:06of the border. A deterrence, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we're hitting Hezbollah again

03:11and again. Is there a deterrence when we're seeing these images right on the northern outskirts of

03:17the city of Haifa? I'm not so sure. Jonathan, thank you for that. Our correspondent Jonathan

03:21Regev in Haifa in Israel. Let's

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