Hezbollah suddenly returned to launching a barrage of rockets today after a two day lull. This time the barrage included long-range Iranian Kaibar-1 rockets. A village some 45 miles from the border came under attack for the first time.
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Hizbollah guerrillas bombarded northern Israel with rockets and fought up to 6,000 Israeli troops in Lebanon on Wednesday after Israel vowed to pursue the war until a strong international force arrived.
Israeli commandos snatched suspected Hizbollah members from the ancient city of Baalbek in a helicopter-borne raid backed by air strikes that killed 19 people, including four children.
In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Reuters he wanted the international force to be mandated to enforce a U.N. resolution calling for Hizbollah to be disarmed, adding that Israel had already destroyed much of the group's military power.
Soon after he spoke, one of more than 80 rockets fired by Hizbollah on Wednesday, landed just inside the West Bank after flying further than any fired at Israel in the past three weeks.
Hizbollah said it had hit the Israeli town of Beit Shean, almost 70 km (45 miles) from the border, with "Khaibar 1" rockets to avenge Israeli attacks on civilians in Lebanon.
The Hizbollah barrage, which killed one person in the northern Israeli city of Nahariya, followed a relative lull in its attacks over the previous two days.
The Jerusalem Post puts the number of rockets today at over 150. One person was killed.
One person was killed when a Hizbullah-fired rocket scored a direct hit on a house in the Nahariya area Wednesday afternoon.
Bringing another city under Hizbullah's sights, A Khabar-1 rocket landed near Beit She'an Wednesday. Israel, which claims the rocket is Iranian-made, confirmed the hit and said at least seven people were wounded.
Beit Shean is about 70 kilometers (42 miles) south of the Lebanese border and marks the farthest town to date to come under fire.
The death marked the first fatality since rockets began raining down all over the North on Wednesday morning after a relative lull in rocket attacks for two days.
At least six people were wounded by shrapnel – two in light to moderate condition – in the morning's attacks, and 15 people were treated for shock.
More than 150 rockets have fallen on northern cities so far.
Where's the outcry over the Hezbollah war crimes?
“…in a helicopter-borne raid backed by air strikes that killed 19 people, including four children.”
Yeah, Reuters, thanks for adding that wildly pertinent detail. Because we all know Hezzbo’s rockets ask for ID before blowing Israelis up.