In an unforseen move, Israeli Police have halted all buses heading to Meron for Lag BaOmer celebrations, a move that has dampened the excitement of thousands.

It isn’t yet clear whether the buses were stopped due to concerns of overcrowding at the kever of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai or due to an Israeli strike that targeted top Islamic Jihad leaders in Gaza in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

Due to the strikes, Israel’s Home Front Command has issued an alert to residents in the country’s south to remain near a shelter all night.

But there are also fears that another Iran-backed group, Hezbollah, will launch retaliatory rockets from Lebanon in the north, some of which might target Meron, hence the stop to all buses heading there.

Israeli military officials have named the ongoing strikes Operation Shield and Arrow.

Islamic Jihad terrorists who have been killed in the air strikes thus far include Khalil Bahitini, the commander of the al-Quds Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip, Tareq Ezz al-Din, a spokesperson for the movement who also manages terrorist activities in the West Bank and Gaza, and Jihad Ghannem, secretary of the movement’s military council.

Of note, Ezz al-Din had previously been sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in suicide bombings in the early 2000s, but was released in the prisoner exchange to free Gilad Shalit.

DEVELOPING.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)