The town of Kiryat Shmona was established in May 1949 on the site of the former Bedouin village Al-Khalisa, whose inhabitants were expelled from the village after Safed was gained by Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Initially it was used as a transit camp for immigrants who worked mainly in farming. In 1953 it was classified as a development town. The town is named after eight members of nearby Tel Hai who were killed in 1920 during the Arab revolt against the French.
Attacks
Kiryat Shmona's location close to the Lebanon makes it a rich target for rocket fire cross-border attacks.
On April 11, 1974, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, sent three members across the border from Lebanon to Kiryat Shmona. They killed eighteen residents of an apartment building, including many children, before being killed in an exchange of fire at the complex, which became known as the Kiryat Shmona massacre.
The city continued to be the target of attacks after this, including Katyusha rocket attacks by the PLO in July 1981, a Katyusha rocket attack by the PLO in March 1986 (killing a teacher and injuring four students and one adult), and further Katyusha rocket attacks by Hezbollah during 1996's Operation Grapes of Wrath. The citizens of the town had suffered almost daily attack from the mid-1970s until 2000, when the IDF left Lebanon.
In the years 2000–06, the locals enjoyed relative peace but suffered from loud explosions every few weeks because of Hezbollahanti-aircraft cannons fired at IAF planes flying across the Israeli-Lebanese border.
During the 2006 Lebanon War, the city was again the target of Hezbollah Katyusha rocket attacks. Approximately half of the city’s residents had left the area, and the other half who remained stayed in bomb shelters. During the war, a total of 1,012 Katyusha rockets hit Kiryat Shmona
