IAF attacks Palestinian militant base in Lebanon

Haaretz ^ | December 28, 2005 | Eli Ashkenazi and Amos Harel

[West Coast Conservative]

The Israel Air Forces attacked before dawn on Wednesday a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militant base south of Beirut, in retaliation for the barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon at Israel late Tuesday night.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was sending a message to militant groups in Lebanon to cease firing onto Israeli territory.

At least four Katyusha rockets were fired from Lebanon at Israeli communities on the northern border, causing a direct hit on a house in Kiryat Shmona and damaging two others in the town.

Three Katyushas landed in Kiryat Shmona, and three residents were treated for shock. The rockets also wounded a dog in one of three homes hit in the attack.

The rocket fire caused a power outage in the area. Power was restored after half an hour. Municipal officials used megaphones to call on the residents to get into bomb shelters or sealed rooms. Residents were told they could leave the shelters some two hours after the attack.

The fourth rocket apparently landed in the western Galilee town of Shlomi, where a blast was reported.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. The Israel Defense Forces believe Hezbollah to be responsible for the rocket fire, however, do not know whether it carried out the attack directly or issued instructions to a Palestinian terror organization.

The IDF said any attack on the northern border emanating from Lebanon is carried out on the initiative of Hezbollah, which has sole control in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah and Fatah spokesmen in Lebanon have denied any connection to the Katyusha attacks.

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