Early reports regarding the first wave said 20 were "lightly hurt"- until Magen David Adom abruptly publicized the much graver news.
One of the Katyushas scored a direct hit at 9:05 AM on a train garage downtown in the city, which has a larger proportion of Arab residents than most other Israeli cities. The injured, including some in moderate and serious condition, are suffering from shrapnel wounds and shock.
At 11:15, another wave of rockets hit Haifa. Rockets were also fired this morning at Acco and Nahariya - two other coastal cities between Haifa and Lebanon - as well as in Kiryat Motzkin and other areas nearby.
Residents along the border have been instructed to remain in their shelters. Other residents of the entire area north of the Haifa-Tiberias latitude have been instructed to stay in protected areas, and not to remain in cars or near the outside walls of buildings. South of this area and towards central Israel, as far south as Tel Aviv, residents have been instructed to "increase awareness." If rockets are fired towards the Gush Dan/Tel Aviv area, a siren is expected to sound 60 seconds in advance.
A total of 1,300 rockets have been fired into Israel over the past few days, including close to 750 Katyushas, killing 12 people: Andrea Zeidman of Nahariya and Nitzan Rosban of Tzfat on Thursday; Yehudit Itzkowitz and her grandson Omer Pesahov in Meiron; and the eight in Haifa on Sunday.
Fourteen soldiers have been killed since the current warfare broke out:
* Two in the attack in which Gilad Shalit was kidnapped in Gaza,
* four when Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Yariv were abducted by Hizbullah,
* four more in a tank that set out in pursuit of the Hizbullah kidnappers,
* and four sailors on Friday night.
In addition, four Israelis have been kidnapped by Moslem attackers: The above three, and Eliyahu Asheir of Itamar, who was later murdered.
Three Patriot anti-missile batteries have been deployed in Haifa. It is not certain, however, that the Patriot, which was designed to oppose Iranian Scud missiles, can also intercept Katyushas.
Israel succeeeded briefly in silencing the terrorists' Al-Manar television network. Hizbullah's "voice to the people" managed to broadcast a threat this morning to attack Israel's petrochemical and oil facilities in Haifa if Israel continues to bomb Lebanese infrastructures - but later this morning, its screen went blank. It later managed to begin broadcasting, on a reduced basis, once again.
Many countries have begun evacuating thousands of their citizens from Lebanon. The U.S. Embassy plans to transport citizens to Cyprus, Britain has sent two ships to Lebanon to evacuate its citizens, and France is taking similar measures.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, opening the weekly Cabinet meeting today, said "the enemy will fail" in its attempt to destroy Israel. "Israel will fight as long as it takes to defeat the Hizbullah and the terrorists," he said. Defense Minister Amir Peretz, speaking later at a meeting of the Haifa Municipal Council, said, "We have no intention of ending this campaign until the situation in Lebanon is changed."
U.S. President George Bush repeated his position over the weekend that Israel has the right to defend itself. He added his hope for "restraint," but showed no signs of pressuring Israel to stop its offensive in Lebanon.
Bush described the war as "a moment of clarification" that should show the world how Hizbullah and others are disrupting the peace process. "It is a moment that requires all of us to work together and send a clear message, not only to Hizbullah, but to the Iranians who financed Hizbullah, and to the Syrians who house Hizbullah," Bush said.
Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres explained this morning that the current warfare is basically against the intention of Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas to try and take over the Middle East. "Unsurprisingly, Egypt and Jordan are against these intentions," Peres said.
Israel has refused Lebanese Prime Minister's Fuad Siniora's request for a ceasefire. "It is not practical," Peres said. "Let him first get rid of Hizbullah on the border." He acknowledged that this is a "war of homefront against homefront."
Lebanon claims that Israel is punishing it for Hizbullah's original attack last week in which eight IDF soldiers were killed and two were kidnapped. "Lebanon has been penalized," Siniora told CNN. "The Lebanese government has made it very clear that it had no information about this operation and it takes no responsibility, and in fact, it is disavowing [it]." However, Israel maintains that Lebanon is responsible for the terrorists in its midst. Israel's Ambassador to the United Nation, Dan Gillerman, said that Lebanon is a breeding ground for terror. "Israel's reactions were a direct response to an unprovoked act of war from Lebanon," he said.
The Israel Air Force attacked two Hizbullah strongholds earlier this morning, including a southern Beirut suburb, as well as targets in Tyre. Hizbullah denies that its leader Sheikh Nasrallah was hurt in an Israeli rocket attack - though Nasrallah himself has not been seen or heard from. Israel had announced that Nasrallah was trapped in a bunker under the ruins of an 11-story building bombed by Israel.
One of the Katyushas scored a direct hit at 9:05 AM on a train garage downtown in the city, which has a larger proportion of Arab residents than most other Israeli cities. The injured, including some in moderate and serious condition, are suffering from shrapnel wounds and shock.
At 11:15, another wave of rockets hit Haifa. Rockets were also fired this morning at Acco and Nahariya - two other coastal cities between Haifa and Lebanon - as well as in Kiryat Motzkin and other areas nearby.
Residents along the border have been instructed to remain in their shelters. Other residents of the entire area north of the Haifa-Tiberias latitude have been instructed to stay in protected areas, and not to remain in cars or near the outside walls of buildings. South of this area and towards central Israel, as far south as Tel Aviv, residents have been instructed to "increase awareness." If rockets are fired towards the Gush Dan/Tel Aviv area, a siren is expected to sound 60 seconds in advance.
A total of 1,300 rockets have been fired into Israel over the past few days, including close to 750 Katyushas, killing 12 people: Andrea Zeidman of Nahariya and Nitzan Rosban of Tzfat on Thursday; Yehudit Itzkowitz and her grandson Omer Pesahov in Meiron; and the eight in Haifa on Sunday.
Fourteen soldiers have been killed since the current warfare broke out:
* Two in the attack in which Gilad Shalit was kidnapped in Gaza,
* four when Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Yariv were abducted by Hizbullah,
* four more in a tank that set out in pursuit of the Hizbullah kidnappers,
* and four sailors on Friday night.
In addition, four Israelis have been kidnapped by Moslem attackers: The above three, and Eliyahu Asheir of Itamar, who was later murdered.
Three Patriot anti-missile batteries have been deployed in Haifa. It is not certain, however, that the Patriot, which was designed to oppose Iranian Scud missiles, can also intercept Katyushas.
Israel succeeeded briefly in silencing the terrorists' Al-Manar television network. Hizbullah's "voice to the people" managed to broadcast a threat this morning to attack Israel's petrochemical and oil facilities in Haifa if Israel continues to bomb Lebanese infrastructures - but later this morning, its screen went blank. It later managed to begin broadcasting, on a reduced basis, once again.
Many countries have begun evacuating thousands of their citizens from Lebanon. The U.S. Embassy plans to transport citizens to Cyprus, Britain has sent two ships to Lebanon to evacuate its citizens, and France is taking similar measures.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, opening the weekly Cabinet meeting today, said "the enemy will fail" in its attempt to destroy Israel. "Israel will fight as long as it takes to defeat the Hizbullah and the terrorists," he said. Defense Minister Amir Peretz, speaking later at a meeting of the Haifa Municipal Council, said, "We have no intention of ending this campaign until the situation in Lebanon is changed."
U.S. President George Bush repeated his position over the weekend that Israel has the right to defend itself. He added his hope for "restraint," but showed no signs of pressuring Israel to stop its offensive in Lebanon.
Bush described the war as "a moment of clarification" that should show the world how Hizbullah and others are disrupting the peace process. "It is a moment that requires all of us to work together and send a clear message, not only to Hizbullah, but to the Iranians who financed Hizbullah, and to the Syrians who house Hizbullah," Bush said.
Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres explained this morning that the current warfare is basically against the intention of Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas to try and take over the Middle East. "Unsurprisingly, Egypt and Jordan are against these intentions," Peres said.
Israel has refused Lebanese Prime Minister's Fuad Siniora's request for a ceasefire. "It is not practical," Peres said. "Let him first get rid of Hizbullah on the border." He acknowledged that this is a "war of homefront against homefront."
Lebanon claims that Israel is punishing it for Hizbullah's original attack last week in which eight IDF soldiers were killed and two were kidnapped. "Lebanon has been penalized," Siniora told CNN. "The Lebanese government has made it very clear that it had no information about this operation and it takes no responsibility, and in fact, it is disavowing [it]." However, Israel maintains that Lebanon is responsible for the terrorists in its midst. Israel's Ambassador to the United Nation, Dan Gillerman, said that Lebanon is a breeding ground for terror. "Israel's reactions were a direct response to an unprovoked act of war from Lebanon," he said.
The Israel Air Force attacked two Hizbullah strongholds earlier this morning, including a southern Beirut suburb, as well as targets in Tyre. Hizbullah denies that its leader Sheikh Nasrallah was hurt in an Israeli rocket attack - though Nasrallah himself has not been seen or heard from. Israel had announced that Nasrallah was trapped in a bunker under the ruins of an 11-story building bombed by Israel.