ISTANBUL

A fire broke out at the Bazan oil refinery in Haifa on Monday after a missile barrage from Iran and Lebanon hit northern Israel, local media reported.

Footage aired by Channel 12 showed smoke rising from the refinery, but it was not clear if the refinery was directly hit by a missile or it was hit by shrapnel from an interception.
No casualties were reported.

Channel 12 also reported damage in nearby areas from the barrages, including Krayot and Shfaram.

Army Radio said that a gasoline tank was damaged at the refinery.

The broadcaster added that the attack has caused Bazan’s shares to fall by 2.5% on the stock exchange.

The same facility was hit more than a week earlier by a missile launched from Iran.

Israel’s public broadcaster said the strike in Haifa caused direct damage to an industrial building and damage to a residential building.

It added that Hezbollah fired 10 rockets from Lebanon in parallel with launches from Iran.

Israel maintains strict censorship on reporting losses from missile and drone strikes, restricting the publication of footage showing impact sites.

Monday’s attack came despite US and Israeli statements that most of Iran’s and Hezbollah’s missile capabilities had been neutralized.

On Sunday, a large fire broke out at a chemical plant near Beersheba in southern Israel following an Iranian missile barrage.

The Middle East region has been on alert since the US and Israel launched an air offensive on Iran on Feb. 28, killing so far more than 1,340 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel as well as Jordan, Iraq and Gulf countries hosting US military assets.