Josh Einiger in Israel: Seeking shelter in Haifa amid barrage of rockets
HAIFA, Israel (WABC) -- As Eyewitness News reporter Josh Einiger continues to cover the growing tension in the Middle East, he experienced first-hand what it is like to be warned to seek shelter in Israel.
For those who live in Israel, the alert to seek shelter can come at any time -- and while Einiger was interviewing an emergency management official in Haifa on Tuesday, Israel's third-largest city came under intense rocket attack by Hezbollah.
"We have five alert zones through Haifa, two of them alerted so we can continue, that's the whole point, we don't have to go to shelter here," Tal Siboni said.
Then their phones went off.
"We're gonna need to now," Siboni said.
The alert expanded to include their location and that is when they went to the shelter. Einiger said he could hear what sounded like the Iron Dome working to deal with the inbound rockets.
You can watch more of Josh Einiger's reporting from Israel HERE:
The terror group has been severely degraded by Israel, but it still managed to fire more than 100 rockets toward Haifa from Lebanon, 20 miles away.
The Iron Dome activated to intercept the projectiles, but that leads to a secondary risk of shrapnel falling into populated areas, which is another reason to find a safe place.
It all happened as the interim leader of Hezbollah vowed to expand rocket fire deeper into Israel and Tuesday was the biggest barrage ever toward the port city of Haifa where 300,000 people live.
The reason Einiger was there in the first place was to see the damage after a direct hit on a field over the weekend.
The rocket that hit was a very lucky break for people in the neighborhood because it just hit in the middle of the field and shrapnel sprayed in every direction.
In that attack, despite the fact that hundreds of people live in nearby buildings, only a few suffered minor injuries from shrapnel.
ALSO READ: Israelis to mark 1 year since the October 7th Hamas attack
----------
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
