Posted on 01/07/2009 11:54:46 PM PST by bruinbirdman
At least four rockets fired from Lebanon exploded in northern Israel on Thursday, wounding two people, police and medics said, in an attack likely linked to Israel’s offensive against Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip.
Israel fired artillery at Lebanon on Thursday in response to rockets fired at northern Israel, the Israeli army said.
A military spokesman said Israel aimed ”a pinpoint response at the source of fire.” An Israeli security source said Israel had fired five artillery shells.
A Lebanese security source also said Israel had fired.
It was not immediately clear whether Lebanon’s Hezbollah guerrillas, against whom Israel fought a 2006 war, or Palestinians fired the rockets in an attack that presented a new challenge to Israeli leaders waging a 13-day-old Gaza campaign.
Israeli forces have been on high alert in the north fearing that Hezbollah could send rocket salvoes into northern Israel as they did in the 2006 conflict and lend support to Hamas and the Gaza Strip’s 1.5 million inhabitants.
Shi’ite Hezbollah has not opened fire in the 13 days since Israeli forces started bombarding the Gaza Strip to the south of Israel with the declared aim of halting rocket attacks from the Hamas-ruled territory.
Palestinian groups in Lebanon have also been known to fire rockets. The rockets launched on Thursday hit the Israeli resort town of Nahariya and three other locations and officials ordered schools closed and advised residents to stay in shelters.
In June 2007, Palestinians in Lebanon fired two rockets that hit near the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.
Senior officials from Israel and Egypt will hold negotiations on Thursday on the details of a ceasefire initiative aimed at ending Israel’s 12-day offensive against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
In the first sign that Israel might be yielding to mounting international pressure, an Israeli delegation is due in Cairo to discuss a French-backed Egyptian initiative that calls for a temporary ceasefire followed by talks on how to control the Gaza-Egypt border and prevent Hamas from re-arming, as well as how to achieve reconciliation among rival Palestinian factions.
Diplomats said it was too early to say whether the talks on a plan that remains vague but has gained international support would be successful, but one Israeli official added: “We are working on this very hard with Egypt.”
While exploring diplomatic avenues, Israel halted attacks on Gaza for three hours to allow humanitarian supplies for the embattled civilian population. The move followed the worst loss of civilian life in the strip since the war started, when an Israeli attack on a United Nations-run school in northern Gaza killed at least 40 Palestinians on Tuesday.
But after the lull Hamas fighters were involved in clashes late in the afternoon and Israel intensified its offensive in southern Gaza. Israeli tanks entered the territory early this morning and aircraft struck suspected tunnels in the Egyptian border city of Rafah, witnesses told AFP.
Dozens of tanks, supported by helicopters, entered Gaza at the Kisufim border crossing and headed towards Khan Yunis, witnesses said.
The Israeli assault has claimed at least 700 Palestinian lives since the outbreak of hostilities, including 300 civilians, according to reports from Gaza.
Israel has lost seven soldiers and four civilians, mainly to “friendly fire” incidents and to Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks.
The Israeli cabinet on Wednesday postponed a decision on whether to push ahead with a further escalation of the ground assault, which would involve sending Israeli soldiers deeper into urban areas.
The negotiations in Cairo are expected to be led by Shalom Turgeman, a top adviser to Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, and Amos Gilad, a senior defence official and close aide to Ehud Barak, the defence minister, officials said.
It is far from clear, however, whether the Egyptian initiative will progress, and lead to even a temporary ceasefire.
The Israeli government is adamant that it will not halt its military offensive unless Hamas militants stop firing rockets on Israel and a way is found to stop the Islamist group from re-arming once the war is over.
That leaves a potentially decisive gap between the Egyptian-French proposal and Israel’s demands.
Hamas stressed again on Wednesday that it would agree to a ceasefire only if it involved the reopening of border crossings between Gaza and the outside world.
Both Israel and Egypt have sealed their borders to all but the most basic humanitarian supplies and they keep tight restrictions on who can enter and leave the territory.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, was quick to claim credit on Wednesday for what his officials called a “step forward” in the crisis after a whirlwind tour of the Middle East earlier this week.
Blast ‘Em!
From now bad time for Hezbollah guerrillas
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