As Israel pounds targets in Lebanon, the border town of Kiriat Byliak is in the frontline of rocket attacks coming the other way

In southern Lebanon, Israel has launched an unprecedented barrage of airstrikes, killing hundreds as thousands flee. In the small town of Kiriat Byliak in northern Israel, however, an eerie silence pervades – one occasionally interrupted by sirens and the thundering explosions of Hezbollah rockets and missiles being intercepted by air defences.

Some of the missiles get through. At about 6.30am on Sunday, Ami Aziza, 40, had just enough time to usher his family into their safe room, a fortified space found in many Israeli homes. Three seconds later, an Iranian-made Fajr-3 rocket struck their small street, lined with low-rise homes and flats, leaving a crater and setting vehicles ablaze. Three people were injured.