
Two Arab citizens of Israel were killed yesterday when Hezbollah missiles struck the Muslim town of Majd al-Krum, located near Karmiel. Arjwan Manaa, 19, and Hassan Suad, 21, were critically wounded in the attack, and their death was declared at the hospital. An 80-year-old man was heavily wounded in the attack, two other people were moderately wounded, and four were lightly wounded.
One of the rockets struck a gym and the other struck a market in the center of town.
“In [the Lebanon War of] 2006, four people were killed in Majd al-Krum,” a 42-year-old resident of the town who asked to go only by his first name, Kassem, told Davar. “We feel that there is neglect in the Arab sector. There’s no protection here. I don’t believe that there will be peace, but I pray that we’ll return to what used to be.”
He said that Hezbollah’s Al Mayadeen station was celebrating that they had successfully killed Israelis. “We are Israelis,” Kassem, who works at the Haifa port, said.
Hussein Manah, a lawyer and activist who serves as head of the town’s parents’ committee, noted that only 10 outdoor shelters exist in Majd al-Krum, which has a population of more than 15,000. He said that they had installed large concrete pipes as makeshift shelters, which provided some semblance of protection for those who were at the market on Friday. “But it’s a joke,” he said.

“Schools have been closed since the start of the war with distance learning. Half an hour before today’s strike, I got a message that the [Home Front Command] regulations would be reduced. A great disaster could happen on the way to school,” Manah said. “There isn’t 30 seconds [to get a shelter].”
Manah said that some residents, especially younger people, believe that Israel prioritizes protecting the mostly Jewish residents of nearby Karmiel and is less concerned about impacts on Majd al-Krum.

The Israeli military reported that around 30 rockets had been fired from Lebanon, only some of which had been shot down. Sirens went off in Karmiel, Majd al-Krum, and surrounding towns at 3 p.m.
Head of the Majd al-Krum local council Salim Sleebi described the strike as “a difficult event in the town caused by a great lack of protection.” “Recently, we placed concrete pipes in neighborhoods as an alternative for those who don’t have a shelter in their home, but that didn’t help today because of the direct strikes on buildings,” he said.

Muhammad Jabar, an assistant trainer at the gym that was struck, said that several men were inside at the time of the strike. “We heard the sirens. Suddenly, everything fell—the lights, the glass, everything. Magen David Adom showed up and evacuated the wounded. We stayed inside the gym, we heard several impacts,” Jabar said.
Another Majd al-Krum resident also named Jabar was in his home when he heard the sirens. “I went into the protected space in my home,” he said. “I stayed home until it was calm. I heard the hard impact. After a few minutes I went down and I saw the wounded and the dead.”
At 3:30 p.m., Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a “large strike” on the Karmiel area, the 16th time that day the group had taken responsibility for an attack on Israel.
This article was translated from Hebrew by Leah Schwartz.