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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Lorenzo Tondo and Quique Kierszenbaum in Haifa and Kiryat Bialik. Photographs by Alessio Mamo

‘This was a peaceful town. Everything has changed’: the Israelis under Hezbollah fire

Three soldiers look at a shrapnel damaged building
Soldiers from the Home Front Command in Kiryat Bialik. Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian

In southern Lebanon, Israel has launched an unprecedented barrage of airstrikes, killing hundreds as thousands flee. In the small town of Kiryat Bialik in northern Israel, however, an eerie silence prevails – one occasionally interrupted by sirens and the thundering explosions of Hezbollah rockets and missiles being intercepted by air defences.

Some of the missiles get through. At about 6.30am on Sunday, Ami Aziza, 40, had just enough time to usher his family into their safe room, a fortified space found in many Israeli homes. Three seconds later, an Iranian-made Fajr-3 rocket struck their small street, lined with low-rise homes and flats, leaving a crater and setting vehicles ablaze. Three people were injured.

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