(TJV NEWS) Hezbollah unleashed a heavy barrage of rockets into northern Israel at the start of the Passover holiday, injuring several civilians and sending large swaths of the population scrambling for shelter, according to reporting by The Times of Israel.

According to The Times of Israel, roughly 80 rockets were fired toward northern communities on the first day of Passover, part of a broader escalation that has seen repeated cross-border attacks amid the ongoing regional conflict. The strikes came as Israelis gathered for holiday observances, underscoring the persistent security threat facing the country’s northern region.

Emergency services reported that at least two people were lightly wounded when one of the rockets struck a building in the town of Kiryat Shmona. The Times of Israel noted that the victims included a 34-year-old and an 85-year-old man who required medical treatment after the impact.

In a separate incident later in the day, additional rockets hit the Arab town of Bi’ina, where two more men in their 30s and 40s sustained light injuries, according to The Times of Israel. The attacks caused property damage across multiple locations, with images showing shattered buildings and blown-out windows, including at a commercial site near the Lebanese border.

The barrage triggered widespread air raid sirens throughout northern Israel, forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to seek refuge in bomb shelters as the holiday began. The Times of Israel reported that the rocket fire coincided with ongoing Israeli military operations targeting Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.

The attacks are part of a broader escalation involving Iran-backed forces, with Hezbollah continuing to fire rockets into Israel while Israeli forces respond with strikes aimed at degrading the group’s capabilities. The timing—during one of the most significant holidays in the Jewish calendar—has heightened tensions and disrupted celebrations across the country.

As The Times of Israel has repeatedly highlighted, the northern front remains volatile, with civilians bearing the brunt of near-daily exchanges of fire.