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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Two rockets from Lebanon slam into Israel: police |
| 2008-01-09 |
| Two rockets slammed into northern Israel from Lebanon overnight, police said on Tuesday, in an attack that underscored cross-border tensions ahead of US President George W. Bush's regional visit. It was the first such incident in nearly seven months and came a day before Bush arrives on a landmark trip aimed at bolstering revived Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. "Two 107-mm Katyusha rockets were fired overnight into northern Israel," Avi Edri, a spokesman for the Israeli northern district police, told AFP. No-one was injured and the rockets caused only minor damage to a house and a nearby street in the border town of Shlomi, but Defence Minister Ehud Barak called the incident "grave." "We will learn what happened together with the army officers, we'll think and decide how to act," Barak said during a visit to Israel's northern border. The incident was not reported until hours later because residents of the town thought the noise from the explosions was thunder, Shlomi mayor Gabi Naama told army radio. "The rockets fell around 2:00 am (midnight GMT) and were fired from southern Lebanon," he said. But in Lebanon the army denied any rockets had been fired. "The reports are false, there were no rockets fired from Lebanon today," a Lebanese army spokesman told AFP. An official with the Hezbollah militia -- with which Israel fought a 34-day war in July-August 2006 -- said the group "had no information on this subject." Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel during the 2006 conflict. The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL), which monitors the ceasefire between the two sides, said its specialists were examining the incident. "UNIFIL is in the process of ascertaining the facts. We have our team on the ground. In the meantime, we cannot confirm or deny this report," spokeswoman Yasmina Buziane told AFP. But Israel's foreign ministry said it had filed a "severe complaint" to the United Nation's Security Council over the rocket firing, saying it was a "warning call" for the international community. The last time rockets were fired into northern Israel from Lebanon was on June 17, 2007, when two projectiles hit an industrial zone in the border town of Kiryat Shmona without causing casualties. At the time Hezbollah denied having fired any missiles and Israeli defence officials said they believed the rockets were launched by a Palestinian group in Lebanon, without naming an organisation. No group ever claimed responsibility for the incident. The Israeli army early on Tuesday released into UNIFIL custody a Lebanese shepherd whom they arrested the previous day, Lebanese police said. The army had said that the man had been detained after crossing into Israeli territory. In Beirut, Prime Minister Fuad Siniora's office said Lebanon would complain to the UN Security Council over "the kidnapping" of one of its citizens. |
| Posted by:Fred |