Massive wave of Katyusha rockets strikes northern Israel
Last update - 21:14 19/07/2006
Massive wave of Katyusha rockets strikes northern Israel
Two children killed in Katyusha rocket strike on Nazareth
Hezbollah rocket attacks on the northern town of Nazareth killed two Israeli Arab children, brothers aged 3 and 9, on Wednesday afternoon, bringing to 15 the death toll from rocket strikes since the crisis in Lebanon began a week ago.
Another 12 people sustained light wounds in the attack, and were evacuated to the Italian Hospital in the town.
The two siblings, Rabia Abed Taluzi and his older brother Mahmoud, were killed by a direct hit from a rocket while playing in the yard of their family's home, the Israel Defense Forces said. It was the first time the town had been attacked.
Upper Nazareth, the mainly Jewish town adjacent to predominantly Arab Nazareth, was hit over the weekend.
A second rocket struck a building in the city's commercial center. Smoke billowed from a damaged building and its roof appeared mostly destroyed, television footage showed. Local residents ran to the building and helped fire fighters unwind their water hoses.
Mohammed Assawi, who saw the attack, told Channel 10 television that the rocket that killed the two children struck in the middle of a downtown street.
"It's a vacation and it's afternoon so where will they go if not to play in the streets?" he said. "It is unpleasant to say what we saw."
Hours later, a Katyusha fell in an open area in Haifa. There were no injuries.
Katyushas also hit the northern town of Nahariya in the late afternoon.
Also Wednesday, two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed during heavy exchanges of fire with Hezbollah guerillas inside Lebanese territory, across the Israel-Lebanon border.
A massive wave of rockets battered northern Israel at around 3 P.M. Wednesday, with strikes in Haifa, Carmiel, Tiberias, Afula and communities in the Galilee.
Some 70 Katyushas were fired at Israel within the space of an hour.
There were no reports of injuries in the strike, although houses in Carmiel and Tiberias sustained direct hits. One person was treated for wounds from shattered glass in Aful, another in Tiberias was treated for shock.
Rockets also struck Kiryat Shmona, Rosh Pina, Dishon, Moshav Sde Eliezer, Hatzor Haglilit, Amuka and the Jezreel Valley. There were no injuries in those strikes.
Earlier Wednesday, two rockets hit Haifa and others fell in the Western Galilee and the Hula Valley.
A building in Haifa was hit by one of the rockets, but it was empty at the time. One resident was lightly injured by shrapnel, and six people suffered from shock. Soon after, several rockets landed in open spaces near Nahariya, causing no injuries or damage.
Over 100 Katyusha rockets were fired into Israel throughout the day on Tuesday, killing Nahariya resident Andrei Zelinksy, 37, as he rushed to the bomb shelter. Another person was hurt in a rocket strike on Gush Halav, in the Mount Meron area of the Galilee.
The rocket salvos on Tuesday also struck Safed, Hatzor, Carmiel, Moshe Sde Eleizer, Acre, Kiryat Shmona, Tiberias, the Krayot region (Haifa suburbs of Kiryat Yam, Kiryat Haim, and Kiryat Ata), Hatzor Haglilit, Yesod Hama'ala, the central Golan Heights, and the Haifa Bay region.
Eye witness Eli Dayari told Channel 10 television that the rocket hit a two-story building in Nahariya, and an apartment there was on fire.
"I was near the bomb shelter, there was a humongous boom, and I saw it was two meters next to my house, really two meters," he said. "People are panicking and the house was on fire, really big flames, the fire fighters are here."
Zelinsky, who had moved to Israel with his family from the Ukraine several years ago, was walking toward the bomb shelter in a public park 20 meters from his home when he was directly struck by the rocket.
When the siren sounded to warn of an incoming rocket, he insisted that his family enter the bomb shelter before him. His wife and four-year-old daughter managed to enter the shelter in time, but Zelinsky was still outside when the rocket hit, killing him. His wife, who was waiting to receive her husband at the entrance to the shelter, witnessed the incident as it unfolded.
Acquaintances said that Zelinsky, who worked in a local factory, was known as a diligent and dedicated worker.
Tuesday afternoon's first barrage, which included more than 80 rockets, was one of the more fierce to have struck Israel since the outbreak of hostilities.
The rocket fire also ignited fires in the northern Golan Heights near the town of Goshrim and the Nahal Amod and Rosh Pina regions.
The injured victim in Gush Halav suffered shrapnel wounds to his head. In contrast with other cities and municipalities in the north, a warning siren was heard in Gush Halav just prior to the landing of the Katyushas.
Gush Halav municipality chief Henry A'alam said that while the village comprises 2,900 residents, there are only seven bomb shelters available, four of which are public shelters.
One month ago, A'alam requested that the IDF Homefront Command erect more bomb shelters in the town. A'alam said he was told that most of the IDF's budget allocated for reinforcing structures has been invested towards the south due to the constant threat of Qassam rockets.
The train depot in Haifa where eight people were killed in a rocket strike Sunday was hit for a second time Tuesday afternoon, as fresh barrages of Katyusha rockets fired by Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon struck the northern towns of Haifa and Safed.
Israel Radio said that six rockets struck Haifa, Israel's third city, earlier Tuesday.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the first strikes in Haifa, medics said.
Several rockets landed near the west Galilee town of Shlomi before noon, but no injuries or damage were reported.
GOC Northern Command Major General Udi Adam said Tuesday that the rocket attacks have begun to drop, but the Israel Defense Forces is not about to ease off in its offensive against Lebanon.
"Overall, knock on wood, there have been less rockets lately," Udi Adam, head of Israel's northern command, told Channel 1 Television.
"We have hit a large part of their weapons arsenal, their anti-aircraft missiles and their rockets. [The operation] will take time, even three to four weeks."
On Monday night, Hezbollah fired more than 50 rockets, including a barrage which landed after 10 P.M. in the northern towns of Safed, Rosh Pina, Tzivon, Sakhnin, Hatzur Haglilit and Peki'in.
Nine people were wounded in the rocket barrage, including eight hurt when a rocket hit a hospital in Safed.
The Katyusha struck the Rebecca Sieff Hospital at around 11 P.M. Most of the wounded were hit by shrapnel.
The rocket hit the hospital's northern external wall. Five patients, two doctors and two other hospital employees were hurt in the attack. The casualties were treated in the hospital's emergency room.
Hospital deputy director Dr. Klein Shapira said after the attack that the rocket damaged the air conditioning system in the building.
"It is hard to know if the fire was intentionally directed at us. We know from the movies that hospitals are not attacked (in war), but when it comes to Katyushas the rules must be different," he said.
"It was a miracle that the hit didn't cause more serious damage," said one of the hospital employees wounded in the attack.
On the border with Lebanon, IDF troops on Monday night opened fire at a group of Hezbollah militants who approached the fence, thwarting an attempt to infiltrate Israel.
An unknown number of militants are suspected to have been wounded in the exchange of fire. No IDF troops were wounded, IDF officials said.
On Monday, an Israel Air Force air strike in Lebanon destroyed at least ten long-range Iranian-made missile capable of hitting Tel Aviv, the IAF's chief operations officer, Brigadier General Ram Shmueli, said.
The officials said an IAF aircraft targeted a Hezbollah truck carrying the weapons before they could be launched. The force of the blast sent at least one missile flying into the air, but it fell nearby. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under military regulations.
Officials said the destroyed missile was an Iranian-made "Zilzal," which has a range of about 200 kilometers.
Lebanese TV stations broadcast video pictures of the downed missile which they initially reported was an IAF aircraft falling to the ground.
During nearly a week of fighting, Hezbollah militants have fired missiles up to 40 kilometers into Israel. But officials have raised concerns the guerrilla group could strike Tel Aviv, roughly 120 kilometers south of the border with Lebanon.
Massive wave of Katyusha rockets strikes northern Israel
Two children killed in Katyusha rocket strike on Nazareth
Hezbollah rocket attacks on the northern town of Nazareth killed two Israeli Arab children, brothers aged 3 and 9, on Wednesday afternoon, bringing to 15 the death toll from rocket strikes since the crisis in Lebanon began a week ago.
Another 12 people sustained light wounds in the attack, and were evacuated to the Italian Hospital in the town.
The two siblings, Rabia Abed Taluzi and his older brother Mahmoud, were killed by a direct hit from a rocket while playing in the yard of their family's home, the Israel Defense Forces said. It was the first time the town had been attacked.
Upper Nazareth, the mainly Jewish town adjacent to predominantly Arab Nazareth, was hit over the weekend.
A second rocket struck a building in the city's commercial center. Smoke billowed from a damaged building and its roof appeared mostly destroyed, television footage showed. Local residents ran to the building and helped fire fighters unwind their water hoses.
Mohammed Assawi, who saw the attack, told Channel 10 television that the rocket that killed the two children struck in the middle of a downtown street.
"It's a vacation and it's afternoon so where will they go if not to play in the streets?" he said. "It is unpleasant to say what we saw."
Hours later, a Katyusha fell in an open area in Haifa. There were no injuries.
Katyushas also hit the northern town of Nahariya in the late afternoon.
Also Wednesday, two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed during heavy exchanges of fire with Hezbollah guerillas inside Lebanese territory, across the Israel-Lebanon border.
A massive wave of rockets battered northern Israel at around 3 P.M. Wednesday, with strikes in Haifa, Carmiel, Tiberias, Afula and communities in the Galilee.
Some 70 Katyushas were fired at Israel within the space of an hour.
There were no reports of injuries in the strike, although houses in Carmiel and Tiberias sustained direct hits. One person was treated for wounds from shattered glass in Aful, another in Tiberias was treated for shock.
Rockets also struck Kiryat Shmona, Rosh Pina, Dishon, Moshav Sde Eliezer, Hatzor Haglilit, Amuka and the Jezreel Valley. There were no injuries in those strikes.
Earlier Wednesday, two rockets hit Haifa and others fell in the Western Galilee and the Hula Valley.
A building in Haifa was hit by one of the rockets, but it was empty at the time. One resident was lightly injured by shrapnel, and six people suffered from shock. Soon after, several rockets landed in open spaces near Nahariya, causing no injuries or damage.
Over 100 Katyusha rockets were fired into Israel throughout the day on Tuesday, killing Nahariya resident Andrei Zelinksy, 37, as he rushed to the bomb shelter. Another person was hurt in a rocket strike on Gush Halav, in the Mount Meron area of the Galilee.
The rocket salvos on Tuesday also struck Safed, Hatzor, Carmiel, Moshe Sde Eleizer, Acre, Kiryat Shmona, Tiberias, the Krayot region (Haifa suburbs of Kiryat Yam, Kiryat Haim, and Kiryat Ata), Hatzor Haglilit, Yesod Hama'ala, the central Golan Heights, and the Haifa Bay region.
Eye witness Eli Dayari told Channel 10 television that the rocket hit a two-story building in Nahariya, and an apartment there was on fire.
"I was near the bomb shelter, there was a humongous boom, and I saw it was two meters next to my house, really two meters," he said. "People are panicking and the house was on fire, really big flames, the fire fighters are here."
Zelinsky, who had moved to Israel with his family from the Ukraine several years ago, was walking toward the bomb shelter in a public park 20 meters from his home when he was directly struck by the rocket.
When the siren sounded to warn of an incoming rocket, he insisted that his family enter the bomb shelter before him. His wife and four-year-old daughter managed to enter the shelter in time, but Zelinsky was still outside when the rocket hit, killing him. His wife, who was waiting to receive her husband at the entrance to the shelter, witnessed the incident as it unfolded.
Acquaintances said that Zelinsky, who worked in a local factory, was known as a diligent and dedicated worker.
Tuesday afternoon's first barrage, which included more than 80 rockets, was one of the more fierce to have struck Israel since the outbreak of hostilities.
The rocket fire also ignited fires in the northern Golan Heights near the town of Goshrim and the Nahal Amod and Rosh Pina regions.
The injured victim in Gush Halav suffered shrapnel wounds to his head. In contrast with other cities and municipalities in the north, a warning siren was heard in Gush Halav just prior to the landing of the Katyushas.
Gush Halav municipality chief Henry A'alam said that while the village comprises 2,900 residents, there are only seven bomb shelters available, four of which are public shelters.
One month ago, A'alam requested that the IDF Homefront Command erect more bomb shelters in the town. A'alam said he was told that most of the IDF's budget allocated for reinforcing structures has been invested towards the south due to the constant threat of Qassam rockets.
The train depot in Haifa where eight people were killed in a rocket strike Sunday was hit for a second time Tuesday afternoon, as fresh barrages of Katyusha rockets fired by Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon struck the northern towns of Haifa and Safed.
Israel Radio said that six rockets struck Haifa, Israel's third city, earlier Tuesday.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the first strikes in Haifa, medics said.
Several rockets landed near the west Galilee town of Shlomi before noon, but no injuries or damage were reported.
GOC Northern Command Major General Udi Adam said Tuesday that the rocket attacks have begun to drop, but the Israel Defense Forces is not about to ease off in its offensive against Lebanon.
"Overall, knock on wood, there have been less rockets lately," Udi Adam, head of Israel's northern command, told Channel 1 Television.
"We have hit a large part of their weapons arsenal, their anti-aircraft missiles and their rockets. [The operation] will take time, even three to four weeks."
On Monday night, Hezbollah fired more than 50 rockets, including a barrage which landed after 10 P.M. in the northern towns of Safed, Rosh Pina, Tzivon, Sakhnin, Hatzur Haglilit and Peki'in.
Nine people were wounded in the rocket barrage, including eight hurt when a rocket hit a hospital in Safed.
The Katyusha struck the Rebecca Sieff Hospital at around 11 P.M. Most of the wounded were hit by shrapnel.
The rocket hit the hospital's northern external wall. Five patients, two doctors and two other hospital employees were hurt in the attack. The casualties were treated in the hospital's emergency room.
Hospital deputy director Dr. Klein Shapira said after the attack that the rocket damaged the air conditioning system in the building.
"It is hard to know if the fire was intentionally directed at us. We know from the movies that hospitals are not attacked (in war), but when it comes to Katyushas the rules must be different," he said.
"It was a miracle that the hit didn't cause more serious damage," said one of the hospital employees wounded in the attack.
On the border with Lebanon, IDF troops on Monday night opened fire at a group of Hezbollah militants who approached the fence, thwarting an attempt to infiltrate Israel.
An unknown number of militants are suspected to have been wounded in the exchange of fire. No IDF troops were wounded, IDF officials said.
On Monday, an Israel Air Force air strike in Lebanon destroyed at least ten long-range Iranian-made missile capable of hitting Tel Aviv, the IAF's chief operations officer, Brigadier General Ram Shmueli, said.
The officials said an IAF aircraft targeted a Hezbollah truck carrying the weapons before they could be launched. The force of the blast sent at least one missile flying into the air, but it fell nearby. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under military regulations.
Officials said the destroyed missile was an Iranian-made "Zilzal," which has a range of about 200 kilometers.
Lebanese TV stations broadcast video pictures of the downed missile which they initially reported was an IAF aircraft falling to the ground.
During nearly a week of fighting, Hezbollah militants have fired missiles up to 40 kilometers into Israel. But officials have raised concerns the guerrilla group could strike Tel Aviv, roughly 120 kilometers south of the border with Lebanon.
posted by shummer60 at Wednesday, July 19, 2006
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home