nd Front? Rockets land in Israel’s north
By Associated Press | Thursday, January 8, 2009 |
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NAHARIYA, Israel — Residents of this northern Israeli town awoke today to one of their country’s worst nightmares: Rockets from Lebanon and the possibility of a second front in a battle that has raged for two weeks in Gaza.
No armed group claimed responsibility for the two Katyusha rockets that landed in Israel, including one that ripped through a crowded nursing home. The most likely suspects are thought to be small Palestinian factions operating in south Lebanon and known to posses Katyushas.
Hezbollah guerrillas, who fought a 34-day war against Israel in 2006, denied involvement.
Quiet returned to the border after a brief retaliation by Israeli artillery. But the point had been made: Israel may be tied up in an offensive in the Gaza Strip aimed at halting Hamas rocket fire at the country’s south, but millions more Israelis are vulnerable to the whims and rockets of shadowy militant groups from the north.
Israel now faces threats on two of its borders from Islamic organizations with close ties to Iran. Hamas rockets threaten about 1 million Israelis out of a population of 7 million, and Israel’s military believes the rockets in the arsenal of the Lebanese group Hezbollah can hit most of the remaining 6 million.
"We’re all a bit traumatized at the moment," said Sarit Arieli, 44, who was jolted out of bed by the sound of the rocket’s impact in Nahariya and was standing later outside the nursing home it hit. But she added, "I think we’re stronger than them, and I believe the world will be with us. We are fighting for our survival."
The rocket fell through the roof of the nursing home’s kitchen. Light from the new hole in the ceiling illuminated plates with cream cheese that were about to be served to the home’s residents just after 7 a.m., when the rocket hit.
The floor was covered in rubble, and a dazed-looking elderly woman sat in the lobby not far away. One person was lightly injured in the strike.
Thursday’s rockets were fired from territory under Hezbollah’s de facto control. But Hezbollah — which ignited a devastating 2006 war that left swaths of Lebanon in ruins — has said it does not want to drag the country into another conflict.
Backed by Iran and Syria, Hezbollah likely wants to avoid damaging its newfound standing as a credible player on Lebanon’s political stage. After showing its military strength against Israel in 2006 and then again in May 2008 against its Lebanese rivals — when it took control of large parts of Beirut by force — Hezbollah is now a partner in Lebanon’s government with veto power over all decisions.
Its leaders have been making do with fiery speeches.
Israeli officials suggested the rocket strike was an isolated incident that would not lead to escalation. "We look at it as a local event, something that was predictable," Cabinet Minister Isaac Herzog said in a visit to the southern town of Ashekelon, which has been struck by nearly 100 Hamas rockets since the Gaza offensive began on Dec. 27.
"It’s very scary and sad if another city has to adjust to this new reality," said Yehudit Sheetrit, 33, who works at a clothing store in an Ashekelon mall that was nearly empty because residents have been staying inside for safety.
Nahariya residents are not new to rocket attacks — the town was hit by hundreds of Hezbollah rockets in the 2006 fighting and was repeatedly targeted in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s by Palestinian and Shiite guerrillas in Lebanon.
Hezbollah denied it was behind Thursday’s attack and reported it without elaboration on its Al-Manar TV station. But the group has been suspected in the past by Israel and its opponents in Lebanon of using allied radical groups to strike Israel with a lower risk of retaliation.
One such group allied with Hezbollah, the Syrian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, had warned it might open other fronts against Israel if the Gaza offensive continued.
Its officials refused to deny or confirm they were behind the rocket attack, but spokesman Anwar Raja in Syria seemed to voice support, telling the AP it was "a natural outcome ... of the Israeli aggression."
There has been rocket fire into Israel from Lebanon twice since the end of the 2006 war. And on Dec. 25, before the Israeli offensive began, the Lebanese military said troops discovered seven rockets rigged to timers that were on the verge of firing near the border with Israel.
Lebanon has the most to lose from a new war, having only recently begun recovering from the ravages of the last one. In a statement Thursday, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said the rocket fire "is the work of parties who stand to lose from the continued stability in Lebanon."
Israel, too, does not appear to be eager for a second fight.
"Even though we have the ability to respond with great force, the response needs to be carefully considered and responsible," Cabinet minister Meir Sheetrit told Army Radio. "We don’t need to play into their hands."
the U S chose B, there is no evidence of that
