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Hizbullah shells Israeli border outpost

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, May 4, 2000

JERUSALEM -- Iran has delivered long-range rockets to Lebanon meant for use in any offensive against Israel, government sources said on Sunday.

The sources confirmed a report in the Israeli Haaretz daily that Iran has delivered two types of rockets that can strike Israeli cities from Lebanon. The first is the Fajr-3 240 mm rockets with a range of 43 kilometers and the second is Fajr-5 with a range of 70 kilometers.

Both rockets can be launched from vehicles and can be easily concealed. The sources said the rockets are being kept with Iranian forces in Lebanon for use in any future conflict with Israel.

The Fajr-5 rocket can strike suburbs of the Israeli city of Haifa, the third largest in the country.

Haaretz said that the delivery of the rockets represents a new stage of Iranian involvement in Lebanon and support for the Shi'ite Hizbullah militia. The newspaper said the threat of rocket attacks would force the Israeli government to protect hundreds of thousands of Israelis throughout the north in case of military tension in southern Lebanon.

Until the latest deliveries, which Israeli sources said began several months ago, Hizbullah had access only to the 122 mm Katyusha rocket with a range of 25 kilometers. The sources said Hizbullah has never used the longer-range Katyusha rockets.

Israeli military sources said they have tracked Iranian supply of weapons to Hizbullah. But they said they have not received permission from the government to strike the Iranian convoys.

On Sunday, Israel and Hizbullah continued fighting in southern Lebanon. Hizbullah fired Katyushas and mortars toward Israeli and South Lebanese Army outposts and inside Israel, and Israeli Air Force jets struck at suspected militia strongholds.

In Jerusalem, the Israeli Cabinet began its first formal discussion of the future of Israeli troops in Lebanon. Prime Minister Ehud Barak said he intends to withdraw troops from Lebanon by July.

"Things are not simple, where we can just make a decision and withdraw," Transportation Minister Yitzhak Mordechai said.

Thursday, May 4, 2000

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