JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel suffered its first fatalities during Passover Friday, as a terrorist murdered two sisters and critically wounded their mother in a car near Hamra in the northern Jordan Valley. The Israeli Defense Forces identified the shooting as a terror attack and said, “IDF forces are blocking roads in the area and have begun a pursuit of the terrorists.”

Earlier, Israeli jets attacked what officials called Hamas “infrastructure” targets in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip early Friday in retaliation for rocket barrages from both places against northern and southern Israel on Thursday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened Israel’s Security Cabinet Thursday night to develop a response to the attacks, launched on the first day of Passover. The Times of Israel reports loud explosions were heard in the Lebanese coastal city of Tyre.

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As the Security Cabinet meeting began, the prime minister again cautioned Israel’s foes:  “Recently, I have made it clear that our enemies should not misjudge us: The internal debate in Israel (over judicial reform) will not prevent us from taking action against them wherever and whenever necessary. All of us, without exception, are united on this.”

Israel has rarely hit targets in Lebanon in recent years, and most of the warnings from Israel to the Lebanese government involve the terror group Hezbollah, which controls vast areas of Lebanon.

Sources in Lebanon said the strikes were near the town of al-Qulayla and the al-Rashidiah Palestinian refugee camp south of Tyre, and Israel claims they were directed at Hamas.

Israel’s air attack Friday, in the Gaza Strip included 10 Hamas targets, primarily weapons manufacturing sites and underground tunnels. Gazans fired at least 44 rockets overnight into Israel.

A Hamas spokesman said the group considers Israel “fully responsible for the repercussions of this dangerous escalation.”

The volley from Lebanon into northern Israel was the worst since the 2006 Hezbollah war – at least 34 rockets were fired from Lebanon Thursday afternoon, and 5 landed in Israel. The rest were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. Two Israelis sustained light shrapnel wounds, according to The Times of Israel.

Earlier in the day Thursday, Palestinian terrorists fired more missiles toward Israel from the Gaza Strip after a volley launched on the eve of Passover, Wednesday. Most of the missiles Thursday exploded in the air and two landed in the sea, according to authorities.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Nasrallah sent a warning about Israel’s clashes with Palestinians on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, saying the group would support “all measures” taken by the Palestinians. So far, Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for the rockets from Lebanon, referring instead to Palestinian organizations based in southern Lebanon. Still, such an attack on Israel would require at least tacit approval from the most powerful group in the country.

Many Middle East experts believe that Iran and the Gaza terror groups typically inflame the situation at the Temple Mount, calling for resistance during the Ramadan and Passover holidays.

Former IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus told CBN News this year’s Ramadan/Passover provocations are part of a premeditated plan by Hamas and other terror groups. 

“What they are basically trying to do is to create an impossible situation on the Temple Mount, in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, for there to be confrontation, and then for outrage to be generated in the Muslim world and for escalation to start happening,” Conricus explained.

Direct escalation from Lebanon has been rare recently, however, and because the Shi’ite Hezbollah organization is an Iranian proxy, Israel must take the escalation seriously, given the acceleration of Iran’s nuclear enrichment timetable and Israel’s unwillingness to allow Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons.

Authorities in the northern city of Nahariya near the Lebanese border opened bomb shelters, and sirens sounded in the Galilee following the rocket fire from Lebanon.