JERUSALEM, Sept 22, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The Israeli military said more than 100
projectiles were fired early Sunday from Lebanon, forcing hundreds of
thousands to take cover and prompting school closures in Israel's north.

The military said that "approximately 20 projectiles were identified crossing
from Lebanon" shortly before 5:00 am (0200 GMT), followed by a barrage of
"approximately 85 projectiles" launched from Lebanon after 6:00 am (0300
GMT).

"Hundreds of thousands of people had to take refuge in bomb shelters at that
time across northern Israel," military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav
Shoshani told AFP.

The military in an earlier statement said the rocket fire sparked fires,
while Israel's medical emergency service said at least four people suffered
"shrapnel injuries", three of whom in the area of the northern Israeli city
of Haifa.

Israel's civil defence agency has ordered all schools in the country's north
closed following the rocket fire, the latest escalation in nearly a year of
cross-border exchanges throughout the Gaza war.

Educational activities would not be permitted across northern Israel until at
least Monday at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT), the military's Home Front Command said,
affecting "hundreds of thousands of children" according to Shoshani.

"In Haifa, a lot of school are closed... and offices are empty", said
resident Patrice Wolff, who works in the medical industry.

He told AFP there was "more and more pressure" coming from Hezbollah as well
as from Israeli forces on the Lebanese group.

The military said it launched strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern
Lebanon in response to the rocket fire.

Shoshani said the military had hit a range of targets over the past day,
mostly "rockets launchers and rocket launcher barrels".

The Israeli strikes were meant "to prevent a larger-scale attack", the
military spokesman told an online press briefing.

A steady escalation in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah has stoked
fears of all-out war.

Israeli officials this week have signalled their intention to turn the focus
of military operations from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to the Iran-backed
Hezbollah group in Lebanon.