EFL - JPostHizbullah launched a failed attempt to kidnap soldiers Monday in an assault on Mount Dov and Rajar and a coordinated mortar and rocket barrage on northern Galilee towns and kibbutzim. A fierce Israeli response killed four infiltrators and struck at Hizbullah targets in south Lebanon, but at least 11 soldiers were wounded and a house severely damaged in Metulla by Hizbullah mortar fire.
The assault began Monday afternoon and lasted about six hours, during which residents were ordered to shelters. But by last night a tense calm returned to the northern frontier and residents were allowed to return to their homes. Top security officials met late last night to reassess the situation following one of the most violent Hizbullah attacks on Israel since Israel pulled out of Lebanon five and a half years ago. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, speaking from his headquarters in Tel Aviv, said the Hizbullah attack on the northeastern border throughout the afternoon was a coordinated combination of gunfire, mortar fire and kidnap attempt. "Syrian and Iranian interests are behind this event. Their interest is to escalate the situation in the north to alleviate the pressure off Syria," Mofaz said.
Mofaz said Syria wanted to divert the spotlight on President Bashar Assad's regime from its apparent involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. The defense establishment, he said, will meet to discuss the attack. "Our aim is to come up with the best solution to provide the residents of northern Israel with the best possible protection," he added.
The attack began with a massive barrage directed against IDF posts on Mount Dov in the afternoon. It quickly spread westward. Shortly after the initial barrage, IDF troops prevented an attempt to infiltrate an outpost on Mount Dov, killing at least one gunman. An officer and soldier were seriously wounded in this apparently botched kidnapping attempt. An unspecified number of soldiers were also lightly wounded in the gun battle. The wounded were evacuated to Haifa's Rambam Hospital.
In nearby Rajar, a village of Alawite Muslims located in Israel, Hizbullah gunmen rode in on motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), Army Radio reported. They opened fire on a building housing the local council. IDF forces intercepted the gunmen and returned fire, killing three. As gun battles continued around Rajar, the mortar barrages moved westward, targeting Metulla and Kibbutzim Ma'ayan Baruch and Snir. Hizbullah later extended the fighting across the entire northern border, as mortars landed near the western towns of Nahariya and Shlomi. As a result of the shelling, residents of the north from the Mediterranean to Mount Hermon were ordered into bomb shelters Monday evening for the first time in years. A house in Metulla was directly hit by a Katyusha. While family members were in the house at the time, no injuries were reported. Extensive damage was caused to the building.
IDF artillery returned fire alongside IAF air strikes from helicopters. IAF aircraft bombed a number of roads as well as a building used by Hizbullah as a headquarters in southern Lebanon. According to Lebanese security officials in south Lebanon, Israeli warplanes also fired missiles at suspected terrorist hideouts about 500 meters from the Lebanese-Israeli border. Witnesses in Lebanon told news agencies that they saw over 100 explosions in the area.
Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim, speaking on Channel 1, reiterated Mofaz's analysis that Hizbullah's actions were aimed at releasing pressure from Syria. Analysts said it was an attempt by Syria to use Hizbullah to show the Americans that Damascus had cards too and could put all of northern Israel into bomb shelters and drag Israel into an international conflict with Syria