5 people killed as rocket hits settlement in northern Israel

By Khaled Yousef

ISTANBUL (AA) – Five people were killed when a rocket fired from Lebanon struck a settlement in northern Israel on Thursday, according to Israeli media.

Israeli Channel 12 said the rocket directly hit Metula settlement, killing one Israeli and four foreign nationals, without specifying their nationalities.

The Times of Israel news portal said the rocket hit an agricultural area in the settlement.

It came one day after two Israelis were injured in a rocket attack on the same settlement on Wednesday.

Tension has escalated amid a massive Israeli air campaign in Lebanon that Tel Aviv claims is targeting Hezbollah assets in an escalation in a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and the group since the start of Israel’s brutal offensive on Gaza.

More than 2,800 people have been killed and nearly 12,900 injured in Israeli attacks since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel expanded the conflict by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar