Deadly Hezbollah attack on Haifa

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- A rocket attack by Hezbollah killed at least nine Israelis on Sunday in the northern coastal city of Haifa, Israeli police said.

It was the second attack on Haifa since Israel and Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon began trading fire on Wednesday.

In a statement issued Sunday, Hezbollah said it fired "dozens" of rockets at Haifa in retaliation for Israel's airstrikes Saturday night.

The city, which is about 30 miles from the Lebanon border, was hit Thursday by Hezbollah rockets.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah Friday declared "an open war" on Israel, and vowed to take the war to Haifa "and beyond."

Earlier, Israeli warplanes started blasting the southern suburbs of Beirut in an attempt to destroy Hezbollah strongholds.

Some of the bombs were dropped only 10 minutes apart and were aimed at targets in the center of the capital, CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson said.

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At least eight people were killed Sunday morning as Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon hit three cities along Israel's northern coast, including Haifa.

Most of the fatalities were in an Israel Railways garage located near an Israel Electric Corporation installation on Haifa Bay, according to the Magen David Adom director general.

Following the strike, Israel Railways announced it was halting train traffic north of Binyamina.

Two salvos of several rockets hit Ahuza, a central residential and business district of Haifa. Rockets also landed in the city of Acre and in Nahariya. A rocket also struck the town of Kiryat Haim, located north of Haifa, Channel 2 television reported.

Channel 10 television reported that rockets also hit the Checkpost business district on the Haifa-Nahyaria highway.

A strategic installation on Haifa Bay was hit by another rocket, Channel 10 said.

A subsequent attack hit a major street in Haifa, causing further casualties, police said.

Some 30 casualties were reported, mostly suffering from shock and anxiety. Shattered glass caused light injuries to some of the casualties.

Of the wounded, 15 people were taken to Ramabam Medical Center in Haifa. One person was in serious condition, one sustained moderate wounds and the rest were lightly hurt.

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In Haifa, Israeli medics said more than a dozen people had also been wounded in the Hezbollah attacks. The city of 260,000 was hit by at least 20 rockets, including one that struck a train station.

Israeli authorities have declared a 48-hour period of martial law in northern Israel.

Hezbollah said the latest attacks were in retaliation for Israel's killing of civilians and destruction of Lebanese infrastructure during the past five days.

"After the Zionist enemy exceeded all limits killing and destroying ... the Islamic Resistance announces that it bombarded the city of Haifa with dozens of Raad 2 and Raad 3 rockets at 9am (0600 GMT)," Hezbollah said in a statement.

Deadliest

The attacks are Hezbollah's deadliest rocket strikes in at least 10 years. Hezbollah usually hits Israeli border towns and this is the first time that Haifa has been reached.

In the last five days Hezbollah has fired about 400 rockets into Israel, killing at least 16 civilians.

Israel has killed at least 80 Lebanese civilians since Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed two others in a cross-border raid on Wednesday.

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