Haifa facing ‘difficult’ economic situation, says mayor

The mayor of Haifa in northern Israel, Yona Yahav, said on Sunday that the city is suffering from a very difficult economic situation after shops were closed due to missiles fired by Hezbollah. Yahav told Israel’s i24 News that he will go to the Knesset (parliament) on Monday in order to explain the difficult situation in the city to elected members.

“The Finance Committee in the Knesset and the Israeli state do not understand or know the terrible and dangerous events taking place,” he explained. “Haifa is being targeted, the economy is collapsing and the city is economically stagnant since the shops have been closed.”

Hezbollah is intensifying its attacks on the Israeli city, which includes important military and economic facilities, in addition to targeting the settlements in Krayot (Haifa Bay), resulting in material losses, fires and injuries.

In central Israel, the mayor of Petah Tikva, Rami Greenberg, said that psychologists have been deployed after a rocket fired from Lebanon fell in the city. Israel’s FM 103 radio station quoted Greenberg as saying, “Social workers were deployed at the site where the Lebanese rocket fell.” The injuries, he added, are moderate and light. “Nevertheless, these specialists are providing the necessary answers to ease the burden on the settlers, as a result of Lebanese rockets falling over their heads.”

Greenberg’s statements came as Channel 12 reported that two Israelis were injured when a rocket fired from Lebanon hit a building in the Petah Tikva settlement. The official Israel Broadcasting Authority KAN broadcast a video showing the destruction of a building in Petah Tikva, after it was hit by a rocket and caught fire.

Air traffic was halted at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, central Israel, the occupation state’s main international airport.

READ: 3 Israelis injured in rocket barrage from Lebanon amid escalation