The chatter of the birds in the northern border town of Kiryat Shmona was peremptorily disrupted Wednesday morning by the howl of the Color Red rocket alert siren, a sound far more common these days in the south.
Magen David Adom medics and security personnel raced to determine if a Katyusha rocket exploded, but they concluded that the siren probably was a false alarm. However, the screeching warning was enough to send two people to the hospital for treatment for emotional trauma.
Two weeks ago, four rockets were found in Ein al-Jawz, a region in southeastern Lebanon along the border with Israel that faces the Golan Heights. The rockets were pointed at Israel.
Lebanese terrorists fired two Katyusha rockets on February 21 at a village in northern Israel. A woman and two other people were lightly wounded by flying glass and her children suffered severe emotional trauma when one of the missiles exploded in the yard of their western Galilee home. Two houses were damaged.
The IDF responded by firing artillery at the source of the attack. No soldiers or terrorists were reported wounded.
On February 4, the Lebanese Army discovered a battery of five Katyushas set up in the southwestern region of the country, across the border from the Israeli town of Rosh Hanikra.
A barrage of six rockets also struck the northwestern city of Nahariya on January 8, seriously damaging a nursing home. Four people were lightly wounded and several others were severely traumatized in the attack.
Another battery of three rockets was discovered in southern Lebanon, timed and set up to launch at Israel, less than a week later.
Rocket Attacks in Southern Israel
Gaza terrorists launched an attack on the western Negev on Wednesday morning, firing two short-range Kassam rockets at the Eshkol region.
Both of the missiles landed in an open area. No one was physically injured, and no damage was reported.
The IDF bombed two smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza earlier in the morning in response to rocket attacks that were launched against Israeli civilians on Tuesday.
Israel has carried out a policy of restraint in response to the near-daily rocket attacks that have resumed since the IDF ended its counterterrorist Operation Cast Lead in Gaza on January 18.