Moment rocket slams into city of Haifa as Israel is forced to fend off strikes from Hamas and Hezbollah amid October 7 commemorations

Israel was forced to fend off rocket attacks from its foes at either end of the country this morning as its citizens commemorated the first anniversary of Hamas atrocities on October 7 last year.  

A rocket fired by Hezbollah across Israels northern border slammed into the city of Haifa south of Tel Aviv overnight, with security footage showing the moment the projectile erupted in a ferocious explosion in a quiet residential street.

Hours later, more rockets soared over Israels southern border and impacted targets in Tel Aviv and elsewhere as Hamas sought to wreak havoc a year on from one of the darkest days in Jewish history since the Holocaust.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog began the day with a minute of silence at 6:29am - the moment Hamas cross-border insurgency started - at the site of the Nova music festival near Reim where heavily armed Hamas fighters killed at least 370 people. 

But minutes later the service was marred by air raid sirens as Hamas declared it launched projectiles at the enemy gatherings just a few kilometres from the border with Gaza, as well as at Tel Aviv.

Images emerged later this morning showed civilians and rescue workers inspecting damage at various buildings caused by rockets or falling shrapnel, while videos showed smoke trailing from craters near Israels cultural and commercial capital.  

The Israeli army said several Hamas rockets were downed by air defence systems, adding that it had foiled what would have been a much larger attack after it struck Hamas launch posts and underground terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip.

But some projectiles still hit their targets, while Hezbollah announced it had let loose two salvos of Fadi 1 missiles on Haifa and Tiberias.

It is unclear whether anyone was killed in the attacks, but images emerging from blast sites in Israel showed spatters of blood inside homes as rescuers investigated the wreckage.

The attacks prompted an IDF spokesperson to issue an evacuation order to residents in several regions of southern Gaza ahead of an extreme response, before the military said was also launching targeted strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut.

Due to Hamas terrorist acts, which will be met with extreme force, you must evacuate these areas immediately and move to the humanitarian area an Al-Mawasi, the IDFs Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee declared. 

Ceremonies and events are planned across Israel and in cities around the world to mark the anniversary of the unprecedented attack by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip, which claimed more than 1,200 lives. 

Families of those killed attended the memorial site of the Nova music festival in Reim and many were seen breaking down as President Herzog declared: A year has passed since life came to a halt, the skies darkened, and all of us witnessed the monstrous cruelty of the enemy that sought to bring destruction upon the Jewish people, the State of Israel, and Israeli society.

We are all still in pain, and we seek to make space for national mourning, for the tears over the terrible disaster that struck us, he said, adding that the world must support Israel to bring peace.

Herzog will later on Monday lead a ceremony to remember victims of the war against Hamas in the western Israel city of Sderot, less than two kilometres (just over a mile) from the Gaza border.

The world has to realise and understand that in order to change the course of history and bring peace, a better future to the region, it must support Israel in its battle against its enemies, Herzog said this morning in Reim, before walking among the memorials to greet families of the victims. 

The IDF meanwhile released never-before-seen footage from October 7, showing Israeli soldiers fighting Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Reim on the morning of the onslaught in a reminder of the brutality of the unexpected attacks.

It came as a senior Hamas official gloated this morning that last years ruthless terrorist attack returned Israel back to square zero.

The Al-Aqsa flood returned the occupation to square zero and threatened its existence, Khaled Meshaal, the former head of Hamas, said on the Al Arabiya TV station, using the Palestinian groups official name for the attack.

Last years shocking insurgency into Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to tallies based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.

Since then, at least 41,870 Palestinians have been killed in Israels military campaign in the Gaza Strip according to data provided by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The UN has acknowledged these figures as reliable.

Meshaal said the October 7 operation was a natural response to the occupation and its accelerating plans for settlement, siege and aggression against Al-Aqsa, referring to the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalems Old City.

He also accused Israel of threatening Egypt and Jordan, despite long-standing peace agreements between the countries, saying the enemy wants everyone in the region to be subject to him and he does this even with countries that do not fight him.

He said that Israel attacks Arab and Islamic national security everywhere.

The first anniversary of Hamas atrocity comes with Israel still fighting in Gaza and engaged in a fresh war to the north in Lebanon against Hamas ally Hezbollah. 

It is also preparing its retaliation against Tehran over an Iranian missile attack last week, raising fears of an even wider conflict.

On a visit to the border with Lebanon this morning to speak with IDF troops engaged in the conflict to the north, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: A year ago, we suffered a terrible blow. 

But over the past 12 months, we have completely transformed reality, he concluded, vowing to achieve victory over Hamas and Hezbollah. 

Meanwhile, IDF chief Herzi Halevi told his troops: A year has passed, and we have defeated the military wing of Hamas... We have dealt a severe blow to Hezbollah, which has lost all of its senior leadership.

We are not stopping – we fight, debrief, learn, and improve, he added, as troops in northern Gaza operated against what the IDF said were Hamas attempts to rebuild.

We are destroying our enemies capabilities, and we will ensure that these capabilities are not rebuilt, so that October 7th is never repeated.

The Israeli military said the air force was carrying out extensive bombings of Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon today, and that two Israeli soldiers were killed in border-area combat, taking the military death toll inside Lebanon so far to 11. 

Lebanons health ministry said 10 firefighters were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a municipal building in the border-area town of Bint Jbeil, and that other aerial attacks on Sunday killed 22 people in a swathe of southern and eastern towns. 

An Israeli campaign group this morning announced the death of another hostage held in Gaza. 

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Idan Shtivi, 28, was abducted from the site of the Nova music festival and his body is still held captive by Hamas.

The forum said Shtivi had just arrived at the festival site when the attack began.

On October 7, Idan arrived at the Nova Festival in the early morning to document his friends performances and workshops, the forum said in a statement.

However, he never made it inside. When the attack began, Idan helped two strangers he had just met escape from the site. This selfless choice ultimately led to his abduction.

Other families whose loved ones are thought to remain alive in Gaza after a year in captivity have told of their agony. 

Among them is Mandy Damari, a 63-year-old primary school teacher from Surrey. She had her world torn apart on October 7 last year after her daughter Emily, 28, was taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza by Hamas thugs. 

Mandy has spent the last year lobbying Israeli and British politicians for the safe return of her daughter, the only British hostage to remain in Hamas hands. 

In a short snippet shared with media outlets, Mandy said: I would like to feel that the British public were behind her and the British government are behind her and they were saying there was a British hostage held captive in the terror tunnels by Hamas in Gaza.

I want them to know that shes there and to advocate for her release unconditionally and immediately.

Shes a young woman who knows whats happening to her. If theres a way to put her on social media, see her out there, remind people that shes there, make sure shes not forgotten.

Shes my daughter, I love her to the moon and back. Theres no way Im giving up on her. Thats my job now, to get my daughter back alive.

Hamas terrorists killed some 1,200 people in the October 7 attack and took another 250 hostage. They still hold around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead. 

President Herzog promised: I pledge — we will rebuild and restore everything anew, and that rebuilding will not be complete until the hostages return home. 

Among those hostages that have been released since October 7 is little Emily Hand, nine, who was snatched in her pyjamas during a sleepover at her friends house on October 7 last year and was held hostage for 50 days.

Footage of Emily running into her fathers arms before they shared an emotional embrace warmed the hearts of all who watched it.

Her father Thomas said at the time she was broken but in one piece after he had previously said he believed she would be better off dead than kidnapped by Hamas.

Its been a long road to recovery, as upon her return Emily was painfully skinny, with  matted filthy hair and she only spoke in a whisper because her thuggish captors had told the schoolgirl they would stab her if she made too much noise. 

But Thomas praised her as a fighter and revealed she is now as noisy and boisterous as ever and is smiling again. He vowed to never complain about how loud she is being.

He told The Sun that Emily is smiling again and is back at school with some of her old friends, starting to enjoy life.

He said: Emily still gets scared of loud noises and wasnt able to sleep alone for a long time after she came back. She still has nightmares but counselling has helped and things are much better now.

Ahead of the todays anniversary during which hostages like Emily were taken to Gaza by Hamas, Israel intensified its bombardment of Hamas-ally Lebanon, with huge blasts ripping through its capital Beirut in another night of airstrikes.

The latest onslaught hit Beiruts southern suburbs late on Sunday, with large fireballs seen from miles away and loud booms ringing out over the darkened skyline.

The assault signified the most intense bombardment of the Lebanese capital since Israel sharply escalated its campaign against Iran-backed group Hezbollah last month.

Lebanons state-run National News Agency reported more than 30 strikes overnight into Sunday, while Israels military said about 130 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.

It was very difficult. All of us in Beirut could hear everything, resident Haytham Al-Darazi said. Another resident, Maxime Jawad, called it a night of terror.

One strike on Sunday killed three sisters and their aunt in the coastal village of Jiyyeh. This is a civilian home, and the biggest evidence is those martyred are four women, said a neighbor, Ali Al Hajj.

The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for residents of southern Beirut late on Sunday in advance of further strikes.

In southern Lebanon, Israeli soldiers hit Hezbollahs underground infrastructure, weapons caches and observation posts in ground raids, Israels military said.

On Sunday night, it declared three more areas on its northern border as closed military zones in addition to more than five closed last week as military staging areas.

An Israeli strike on a building in the central mountain town of Kayfoun killed six people and wounded 13, Lebanons health ministry said. A strike in the nearby town Qmatiye killed six more, including three children, and wounded 11, it said.