 |
 |
 |
|
|
Israel's army chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said Hezbollah has rockets that can reach as far as 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) or more, which would bring more Israeli cities, such as Hadera, within range. (AP)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By israelinsider staff and partners July 15, 2006 |
|
| |
In response to an IDF strike on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, the terror organization struck back at Israeli warships off the Lebanese coast. After hitting an Israeli warship with a rocket, Hezbollah fired a barrage that struck a civilian ship.
Searches were under way to find four Israeli sailors who disappeared in the attack, Israeli military officials said. One sailor was recovered. He was identified as Staff Sergeant Tal Amgar, 21, from Ashdod.
The three missing soldiers have been named as Sergeant Yoni Hershkovitz, 21, from Haifa; Corporal Shai Atias, 19, from Rishon Letzion and First Staff Sergeant Dov Shteinshos, 37, from Carmiel.
The Army confirmed Saturday that an Iran-manufactured C-802 missile hit the ship. Initially, the army was not certain whether a missile or explosives-laden drone had struck the vessel.
The warship, which suffered heavy damage and was set on fire, was towed back to the Israeli port of Haifa.
After the fire was extinguished, it became clear that four soldiers were missing. Their families were notified soon thereafter.
Israel Defense Forces teams, with the help of planes, helicopters and additional vessels, were searching for the missing troops at the site of the blast. The ship was towed back to Israel.
The incident occurred at around 8:30 P.M., causing a fire close to the helicopter landing pad onboard, Haaretz reported. The ship's steering mechanism also sustained some damage.
Several hours after the vessel was hit, an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman acknowledged that the damage was worse than originally thought.
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah claimed earlier Friday that the militant organization had sunk an Israel Navy ship off the Lebanese coast. "Now in the middle of the sea, facing Beirut, the Israeli warship that has attacked the infrastructure, people's homes and civilians - look at it burning," Nasrallah said in remarks broadcast live shortly after an Israel Air Force strike on Hezbollah's Beirut headquarters.
Hezbollah's strike came after Israeli warplanes smashed Lebanon's links to the world one by one and destroyed the headquarters of Hezbollah's leader on Friday.
"You wanted an open war and we are ready for an open war," Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said in a taped statement. He vowed to hit even deeper into Israel with rockets.
According to Israeli reports Saturday, the terror group's leader are reported fleeing the Lebanese capital.
On Friday, Israel again bombarded Lebanon's airport and main roads in the most intensive offensive against the country in 24 years. For the first time it struck the crowded Shiite neighborhood of south Beirut around Hezbollah's headquarters, toppling overpasses and sheering facades off apartment buildings. Concrete from balconies smashed into parked cars, and car alarms set off by the blasts blared for hours.
The toll in four days of clashes rose to 73 killed in Lebanon and at least 12 Israelis, as international alarm grew over the fighting and oil prices had risen to above $78 a barrel by Friday. The U.N. Security Council held an emergency session on the violence, and Lebanon accused Israel of launching "a widespread barbaric aggression."
Despite fears the assault could bring down the Western-backed, anti-Syrian government of Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has vowed the campaign would continue until Hezbollah guerrillas, who are backed by Syria and Iran, lose their near-control of southern Lebanon bordering Israel.
Olmert has agreed with U.N. chief Kofi Annan to allow U.N. mediation for a cease-fire -- but only if the terms include the disarming of Hezbollah and the return of two Israeli soldiers whose capture by the Muslim guerrillas Wednesday triggered the fighting.
Hezbollah has rained dozens of rockets on towns in northern Israel. One rocket hit a home in Meron, killing a woman and her grandson. Some 220,000 people in northern towns hunkered down in bomb shelters.
Nasrallah and his family were not hurt after the Israeli missiles demolished his headquarters among two buildings in Beirut's southern neighborhoods, the militant group said. Three people died in the airstrikes.
The attack on the warship on Friday was apparently timed to coincide with Nasrallah's message on the militant group's television station. "The surprises that I have promised you will start now. Now in the middle of the sea, facing Beirut, the Israeli warship ... look at it burning," Nasrallah boasted.
Israeli military officials said the drone apparently was developed by Hezbollah. The Lebanese guerrilla group has managed to fly unmanned spy drones over northern Israel at least twice in recent years.
"If they kill us all, we will still not give them back the prisoners," said one resident, Nasser Ali Nasser, as palls of smoke rose from fuel depots hit farther south. "We have nothing left to lose except our dignity. We sacrifice ourselves for Sheik Nasrallah," he said.
U.S. President George W. Bush, who has backed Israel's right to defend itself, spoke by phone with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora from a G-8 summit in Russia on Friday and "reiterated his position" that the Israeli attacks should limit any impact on civilians, White House spokesman Tony Snow said.
But the promise fell short of the Lebanese leader's request for pressure for a cease-fire.
Israel's campaign appeared to have a two-pronged goal. One was to batter Hezbollah and end its near control of the south on Israel's borders.
"We know it's going to be a long and continuous campaign and operation, but it's very clear. We need to put Hezbollah out of business," Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan told The Associated Press.
Israel's army chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said Hezbollah has rockets that can reach as far as 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) or more, which would bring more Israeli cities, such as Hadera, within range.
The other goal was to seal off Lebanon by repeatedly striking its airport and main roads -- including the coastal highway from north to south and the Beirut-Damascus highway, Lebanon's main land link to the outside world. At the same time, Israel was gradually escalating the damage to the country's infrastructure, painstakingly rebuilt since the civil war ended in 1990.
Israel holds Lebanon responsible for the capture of its two soldiers in a surprise Hezbollah raid; the Lebanese government insists it had nothing to do with the attack. However, Israel wants it to rein in the guerrillas, a move Lebanon has long resisted.
The level of damage inflicted by Israel appeared finely calibrated. For example, a missile punched a hole in a major suspension bridge on the Beirut-Damascus road but did not destroy it, unlike less expensive bridges on the road that were brought down. An Israeli strike hit fuel depots at one of Beirut's two power stations -- sending massive fireballs and smoke into the sky -- but avoided the station itself.
Throughout the morning Friday, Israeli fighter-bombers pounded runways at Beirut's airport for a second time, apparently trying to ensure its closure after the Lebanese national carrier, Middle East Airlines, managed to evacuate its last five planes to Jordan. One bomb hit close to the terminal building.
Civilian casualties were mounting faster than during Israel's last major offensive in Lebanon, in 1996, an assault also sparked by Hezbollah attacks. In that campaign, 165 people were killed over 17 days, including 100 in the shelling of a U.N. base.
"We are on the right and we shall avenge every attack we endure," said Fadi Haidar, an American-Lebanese who swept up the shattered glass outside his store in south Beirut. "I have huge debts and now my store is damaged.... But as time goes by, they will all realize that Sayyed Nasrallah is right and is working in the interest of Muslims."
There was some resentment that Hezbollah had dragged the Lebanese into another bloody fight with Israel. "As long as Hezbollah has its weapons and acts according to its leader's whims, there is pretext for Israel to keep on destroying Lebanon," said Ibrahim al-Hajj, a Christian shop owner in the southern village of Qleia.
The AP contributed to this report.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
