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Hizbullah missiles impact near strategic facilities in Haifa

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, July 24, 2006

TEL AVIV — Hizbullah has targeted Israeli strategic facilities.

Officials said Hizbullah has fired Iranian-origin rockets toward strategic facilities in the northern city of Haifa.

On Sunday, two rockets fell into a strategic facility complex near the Haifa port. Officials would not identify the facility but said damage was caused.

Haifa contains a petrochemical plant, oil refinery and naval base, Middle East Newsline reported.

"It could have been a lot worse, but we've been expecting this attack for at least a week," a government source said.

On Monday, thousands of Israeli troops, backed by Merkava Mk-4 main battle tanks and attack helicopters, engaged in heavy fighting with Hizbullah around Bint Jbail in southern Lebanon. Bint Jbail has been regarded as Hizbullah headquarters in the area, and the military reported that at least nine soldiers were injured.

One of the helicopters, an AH-64A Apache, fell near the Lebanese border, the second helicopter crash in less than a week. At the same time, Hizbullah reported the destruction of four Israeli main battle tanks.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Hizbullah has fired more than 2,200 rockets since July 12, or more than 180 per day. Peretz envisioned the continuation of Israeli military operations bolstered by international efforts to restore Lebanese government control over areas controlled by Hizbullah.

"The goals we set for ourselves will be achieved," Peretz said. "We certainly see a combination of a military operation that is fulfilling its role plus broad international activity to complete the process."

Officials said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz has launched a tougher retaliation policy to Hizbullah strikes. They said Halutz ordered the air force to destroy 10 buildings in the Beirut neighborhood of Dahya for every Hizbullah rocket attack on Israel. Dahya was said to contain Hizbullah's command and control center.

At the same time, Israel has been bracing for longer-range Hizbullah rocket attacks that could reach the Tel Aviv area. On Sunday, the military sounded sirens of an imminent rocket strike in the towns of Binyamina and Zichron Yaakov about 75 kilometers from the Lebanese border.

No landings were reported. Later, senior military and police commanders met to discuss the prospect of Hizbullah rocket strikes in the Tel Aviv area. Halutz said Hizbullah has deployed rockets with a range of 200 kilometers.

The air force was reported to have struck 40 Hizbullah targets, including nine Syrian-origin rocket launchers. Military sources said the medium-range rocket launchers had been aimed at the Israeli city of Haifa.

"We have made some changes in our tactics," a senior military source said.

So far, the military has refrained from ground operations along the Lebanese-Syrian border in an effort to avoid widening the Hizbullah war. Officials said the air force has sought to conduct precise strikes against Hizbullah strongholds in the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border.

At a Cabinet meeting, Israeli military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin said Hizbullah was prepared for a long war with Israel. Yadlin said Hizbullah received $100 million per year from Iran.

[Res.] Brig. Gen. Rafi Noy, former chief of staff of Northern Command, said Hizbullah has withstood heavy Israeli air strikes. Noy said Israel's military responded slowly and weakly to the Hizbullah threat.

"It is clear that we don't have all the time in the world," Noy said. "We have to take the entire military and do what we have to do. Because right now, we are not effective."


Copyright © 2006 East West Services, Inc.

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