Fire contained after missile attack on oil refinery in Israel’s Haifa

Attack marks second time Oil Refineries facility in northern Israel targeted during US-Israeli war on Iran.

An oil refinery in northern Israel has been struck in a missile barrage from Iran and Lebanon, Israeli media report, in the second attack on the facility since the United States-Israeli war on Iran began last month.

Israeli media reported Oil Refineries, also known as the Bazan oil refinery, in Haifa was struck on Monday. A fire broke out at the facility and large plumes of black smoke could be seen over the area.

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It was not immediately clear if the blaze was caused by a direct hit or falling debris. It also was not clear whether the missile was fired from Iran or Lebanon.

“The incident has been fully contained. There are no casualties, no hazardous materials risks and no danger to the public,” Eitan Rifa, a fire commander, said.

Bazan Group, the company that runs the refinery, also said no casualties were reported in what it described as a missile attack on the roof of a distillates tank.

Iran and its allies, including the Lebanese group Hezbollah, have carried out missile and drone attacks across the Middle East against what they said are United States and Israeli targets.

The strikes come as the US-Israeli war on Iran has continued into a fifth week with no sign of abating despite growing international concern and diplomatic efforts to reach a deal to end the conflict.

The Iranian attacks have increasingly targeted energy facilities across the region while Hezbollah has launched missiles into northern Israel and confronted Israeli troops invading southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah on Monday said its forces had targeted an Israeli naval base in Haifa with a “barrage of advanced missiles”.

In addition to its attacks on Iran, the Israeli army has launched strikes across Lebanon and expanded its ground invasion of the country.

The intensified Israeli assault on Lebanon began on March 2 after Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israeli territory in response to the US-Israeli assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the start of the war on February 28.

In addition to air strikes, the Israeli military has pushed deeper into Lebanese territory as part of a ground invasion that Israel said aims to root out Hezbollah fighters.

Israel also has issued mass forced displacement orders across southern Lebanon and parts of the capital, Beirut, forcing more than 1.2 million people from their homes.

On Monday, Lebanon’s National News Agency said Israeli jets struck the town of Barashit in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon, killing one person and wounding another.

Separately, an Israeli attack on a military checkpoint in the south of the country killed a soldier and wounded others, the Lebanese army said in a statement.

Security affairs analyst Ali Rizk warned that Lebanon could become a deeper front in the war as Israeli leaders, such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have promised to expand the ground invasion.

“We can anticipate that [Netanyahu is] going to go to great lengths against Lebanon, including, quite likely, with a large-scale ground [offensive],” Rizk told Al Jazeera.

“And I think that unfortunately it’s quite likely that the Americans are on board or do not stand against the Israeli escalation in the Lebanese arena.”

More than 1,200 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Lebanon since the escalation began early this month, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.