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I was in middle of blitz (UK reporter in Israel narrowly misses death in rocket attack)
The Sun (U.K.) ^ | July 19, 2006 | OLIVER HARVEY

Posted on 07/19/2006 2:32:40 AM PDT by Stoat

I was in middle of blitz

Terror ... Sun's Harvey yesterday
Terror ... Sun's Harvey yesterday
 
 

From OLIVER HARVEY
Chief Feature Writer
in Nahariya, Israel

 IT began with a dull thud on our left followed by a second, stronger blast that shook our car.

Then, just 50ft away, the roof of a family home burst into a ball of flames as a Katyusha rocket ploughed into it.

A mother of three, her hands clutching her face, ran screaming into the debris-strewn street as flames licked through the shattered suburban home.

A little girl of six dashed from her nearby bomb shelter clutching her dolly, her eyes streaming tears.

Sun photographer Phil Hannaford and I had been caught up in a terrifying Hezbollah missile attack on the frontline town of Nahariya in northern Israel yesterday.

This was no surgical strike, no precision bombing raid.

Rockets rained down willy-nilly on families and the elderly. One man was left dead and 20 injured in indiscriminate blasts which have become a daily reality for the seaside town — population 33,000.

We witnessed the terror as we drove through Nahariya in our hired Chevrolet. The guerilla group’s latest attack was announced with the wailing of sirens above pretty eucalyptus-lined streets. The force of the strike on the family home sent twisted metal hurtling 30ft.

A middle-aged neighbour, blood pouring from leg wounds, pointed at the burning building and said: “The Lettice family live there but they have gone. The only reason many people weren’t killed is because we were all deep in the ground in our bomb shelters.”

Weeping mum-of-three Rachel Friedman, 34, said: “I am so terrified for my children.

“We have been attacked for seven days now but this was the worst. You can’t stay in a shelter 24 hours a day.” Mercifully, no one was killed.

But in another blast in the once-sleepy town, a dead man was pulled from the tangled mass of steel and masonry. He had ventured from his bomb shelter after leading his family to safety.

A neighbour said: “For some reason he decided to come out.

“As he ran out he was hit by the missile. It’s a tragedy.”

The death brought the seven-day toll in Israel to at least 25. In Lebanon, at least 227 people have been killed.

Russian-designed Katyushas have a range of about 13 miles but are notoriously inaccurate. Hezbollah has fired hundreds into northern Israel since the latest conflict began last week.

A British couple have been caught up in the fighting. Engineering worker Chris Bale, from Liverpool, said: “I thought the whole thing would blow over quickly. Most of the time you forget about it but two rockets landed very close by and that quickly reminds you.”

Wife Carol, who arrived for a visit on Friday, said: “I haven’t left the hotel since I got here.”

Nahariya is the home of Ehud Goldwasser, one of the Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah, which sparked the current conflict.

The Holy Land town — just six miles from Hezbollah’s launch pads over the border in Lebanon — was a popular seaside resort before last week.

Last night, three-quarters of the inhabitants had fled south.

The golden beaches and nearby funfair bordering the Mediterranean were deserted.

But security guard Euginy Rubin, 25, vowed to stay.

He said: “I’m not going anywhere. This is my home. I’m not scared by Hezbollah.”

Like many here, he supports Israel’s revenge attacks.

He added: “We are under attack, of course I want us to respond. Are we supposed to ignore our people being killed?”

Above the sound of the seagulls last night was the roar of Israeli war planes.

The F16s were streaming into Lebanon on bombing sorties — as the deadly cycle of blood and mayhem continued.



TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 2006israelwar; israel; terror; terrorism; terrorists; waronterror; wot
My Prayers for a swift and DECISIVE Israeli victory

GO ISRAEL!!

img97/9590/israeli_tank.jpg

 

 

img205/4250/israelitank2sl6.jpg

1 posted on 07/19/2006 2:32:45 AM PDT by Stoat
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To: Stoat

Go IDF Go! See you next year in Damascus.


2 posted on 07/19/2006 2:37:19 AM PDT by ChadGore (VISUALIZE 62,041,268 Bush fans. We Vote.)
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To: Stoat
Then, just 50ft away, the roof of a family home burst into a ball of flames as a Katyusha rocket ploughed into it. A mother of three, her hands clutching her face, ran screaming into the debris-strewn street as flames licked through the shattered suburban home.

How much warning time do the inhabitants get that a rocket is headed for their region?

3 posted on 07/19/2006 2:40:55 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
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To: ChadGore
Go IDF Go! See you next year in Damascus.

I wonder if Assad will have a Syrian "Baghdad Bob" spin the news for the Syrian people as Israeli tanks roll through downtown Damascus?  :-)

4 posted on 07/19/2006 2:43:07 AM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat

Unmentioned, of course, is the lack of any consideration of a valid military target in the attack. Were Israel to target wholesale residential towns, the media would be out there condemning the actions immediately. But no such critical viewpoints exist among the vast majority of the western press.

Deadly cycle of violence? Only one party is taking action to actually put that violence to an end.


5 posted on 07/19/2006 2:44:51 AM PDT by kingu (Yeah, I'll vote in 2006, just as soon as a party comes along who listens.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
How much warning time do the inhabitants get that a rocket is headed for their region?

I know that air raid sirens are used when possible, but in this case the distances are so small that I don't think that there's time for warnings...that's why everyone is living in bunkers 24/7.

6 posted on 07/19/2006 2:45:32 AM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
How much warning time do the inhabitants get that a rocket is headed for their region?

In Iraq, we've always gotten exactly...none. You know when it hits and shakes the living daylights out of everything around you.

7 posted on 07/19/2006 2:46:52 AM PDT by Allegra (FReeping LIVE! from suddenly one of the safer places in the Middle East)
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To: kingu
The press, as usual, is too lazy to point out that rockets have been stockpiled in huge numbers by Hezbollah. It's not as if they have tanks and APCs, and a marching army. Since Hezbollah chooses to launch the rockets from homes and businesses, Israel has no choice but to target those sites. (On another post someone noted that the NYT printed an article in 2002 detailing Hezbollah's stockpiling of 10,000 rockets.) And (sarcasm here) the U.S. intelligence services have been caught off guard about the amount of rockets Hezbollah obtained.
8 posted on 07/19/2006 2:55:48 AM PDT by Enterprise (Let's not enforce laws that are already on the books, let's just write new laws we won't enforce.)
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To: Allegra

"How much warning time do the inhabitants get that a rocket is headed for their region?"

"In Iraq, we've always gotten exactly...none."

In Balad, the first BOOM signaled that we were under attack, and 15 seconds of silence usually signaled that it was over.

The Israelis seem to occasionally get a few seconds warning, but that's only because the rockets are in the air so long (10 miles transit) and because the Iraelis seems to have decent local radar systems.

One news clip I saw, the locals were running for shelter under siren, when the first one hit and the folks still had about 50 yards to go. Fortunately the first strike was about 200 or 300 yards away, so they made it to the shelter safely.


9 posted on 07/19/2006 3:01:26 AM PDT by angkor
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To: kingu

The Katyushas sound like a good "terrorist" missile but little more, if, as stated, they can't be steered worth a hoot. The carnage in Israel has thankfully been very low in proportion to the number of missiles lobbed. A blind man could probably hit more people.


10 posted on 07/19/2006 3:06:34 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
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To: angkor
In Balad, the first BOOM signaled that we were under attack, and 15 seconds of silence usually signaled that it was over.

Yep. When I was on the coalition bases at Victory and Taji, mortar attacks were almost always three to four hits. They figured they could get that many off before anyone vectored in on them.

Here in central Baghdad, single shots are more common because the area is too populous and congested. They just launch and run in this area.

11 posted on 07/19/2006 3:07:49 AM PDT by Allegra (FReeping LIVE! from suddenly one of the safer places in the Middle East)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
The Katyushas sound like a good "terrorist" missile but little more, if, as stated, they can't be steered worth a hoot. The carnage in Israel has thankfully been very low in proportion to the number of missiles lobbed. A blind man could probably hit more people.

The credit for the few casualties has to go to the people and government of Israel. First for the people building and maintaining hardened rooms and bomb shelters to seek safety in, and second to the Israeli government for using audible alerts as well as SMS notification to help it's citizens seek shelter in the event of an attack. Final recognition goes to the Israeli military who typically responds to any attack of this form with a violent barrage of counter battery fire.
12 posted on 07/19/2006 3:18:23 AM PDT by kingu (Yeah, I'll vote in 2006, just as soon as a party comes along who listens.)
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To: Stoat

It's high time to move on syria.


13 posted on 07/19/2006 3:32:37 AM PDT by gotribe (It's not a religion.)
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To: Stoat
This was no surgical strike, no precision bombing raid.

Of course not, who thought it was?? The Muslims are not about strategic attacks for military victories, they are strictly about wanton acts of murder - PARTICULARLY against innocent women and children.
14 posted on 07/19/2006 3:50:24 AM PDT by DustyMoment (FloriDUH - proud inventors of pregnant/hanging chads and judicide!!)
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To: ChadGore
re :Go IDF Go! See you next year in Damascus.

While Israel can beat the Syrian Army, she has neither the man power or resources to occupy Syria and deal with the insurgency that will come in the aftermath.

This has always been the main reason for Israel hitting her enemy then withdrawing back to defensive lines.

15 posted on 07/19/2006 4:09:54 AM PDT by tonycavanagh
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To: DustyMoment

"The Muslims are not about strategic attacks for military victories, they are strictly about wanton acts of murder - PARTICULARLY against innocent women and children."

Hezbollah has said exactly that in this current war. They don't care if they win or lose, how many of their own are killed, or the depth or breadth of their own caualties.

They just want to kill as many Jews (men, women, and children, and grandmothers) as is possible.


16 posted on 07/19/2006 4:22:48 AM PDT by angkor
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel.

also Keywords 2006israelwar or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------

The administration needs to talk to the terrorists

In a situation like this, you do not want to create undue carnage with civilians. It has been part and parcel of U.S. doctrine in Iraq where you use highly targeted munitions and you try to be as precise as possible. And it is one of the horrible side effects that civilians do get injured and killed, and that is one of the lamentable things. But when you talk about restraint what you're talking about is to try to hit to the greatest extent practical only military targets

17 posted on 07/19/2006 5:41:01 AM PDT by SJackson (The Pilgrims—Doing the jobs Native Americans wouldn’t do!)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
How much warning time do the inhabitants get that a rocket is headed for their region?
The only warning for the first rocket is the whine as it descends.
It takes less than a minute for a Katushka to crash somewhere within its "target" area.
18 posted on 07/19/2006 6:24:28 PM PDT by rmlew (I'm a Goldwater Republican... Don Goldwater 2006!)
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To: SJackson

I'd say the Israeli's will have demonstrated admirable restraint if they cease hostilities after the destruction of Hizbullah in Lebanon. Until then, I urge them to continue apace.


19 posted on 07/19/2006 6:27:02 PM PDT by jwalsh07
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