Church staff in the city said Tiberias was like a ghost town the morning after the attacks.

The 69-room complex in the north of the city was opened in 1999 after a major refurbishment of the previous guest-house for pilgrims.

Guests were sent to bomb shelters on Saturday afternoon after the first strikes, but within hours normal activity was returning with jetskiers on the sea.

After the second strikes in early evening, one just 50 metres from the hotel, people began to evacuate the area, and all the guests left the hotel.

The hotel, which had been full, remained closed yesterday and is not expected to reopen today.

Jen Zielinski, from Dunoon, is working for the Church of Scotland as a programme director in Tiberias. She said: "When I saw smoke about 50 yards from my apartment I decided I had better go to the shelter.

"On Sunday morning, I went down to the Catholic church for worship and there were only 10 people and the priest. It was a ghost town."

She added: "There was another alert and I thought I had better leave. I won't be going back until the situation has settled down.

"The Israeli people are stunned. They did not believe Hizbollah had enough firepower to hit Tiberias."

No-one from the Church of Scotland headquarters was available for comment.