Hezbollah fires rockets, mortar shell at Har Dov, Mount Hermon

The militant Lebanese-based Hezbollah organization fired six rockets and a mortar shell at IDF outposts on Har Dov, near the Israeli-Lebanese border, Friday evening. Rockets were also launched at an IDF position on Mount Hermon.

In response, IDF artillery and IAF helicopters fired at the source of the rockets.

Earlier Friday, Hezbollah launched anti-aircraft missiles close to the Israeli-Lebanese border. Shrapnel landed in the Upper Galilee towns of Shlomi and Kiryat Shmona. There were no injuries reported in the incidents.

"The air defense unit of the Islamic resistance... challenged Israeli warplanes that violated Lebanese airspace," Hezbollah said in a faxed statement.

The Lebanese army in the Bekaa region Friday arrested six members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, Israel Radio reported. The six were charged with possession of surface-to-surface missiles and actually had a missile with them at the time of their arrest.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday accused Ahmed Jibril, the head of the PFLP-GC, of being behind the firing of Katyusha rockets into northern Galilee over the last two days.

According to the prime minister, Jibril's organization, which is based in Damascus, receives aid from Syria. Sharon said Damascus also had to be held responsible for the escalation on the northern border.

A number of missiles have been fired into Israel from Lebanese territory over the past week, believed to be the work of Hezbollah. The militant group, however, denied Thursday night reports that it had resumed firing rockets at IDF outposts near Har Dov and Mount Hermon.

"It is known that the Palestinians are responsible for what has happened in the past two days, and this is no secret," said Lebanese Information Minister Ghazi al-Aridi.

Anti-tank shells were fired Thursday afternoon at IDF outposts along the northern border. Artillery fire was directed at the sources of the shooting in response. No injuries were reported.

That was the the first time that IDF positions on the Hermon have come under fire since shelling of Israeli positions along the northern border began several days ago. IDF artillery units returned fire.

Sharon, who was touring the the northern command, emphasized that Hezbollah was operating against Israel on the northern border, with Iranian backing and encouragement, and that he also viewed Teheran as responsible for the growing tension.

Sharon's remarks also indicated that no definite decision had been taken at the security cabinet meeting Wednesday night regarding Israel's response to the attacks along its northern border in recent days.

While the ministers agreed that Israel should respond to Hezbollah's provocations, Jerusalem tread carefully and utilize diplomatic channels to defuse the situation, in an effort to prevent the opening of a second front.

The prime minister's remarks did not fully correspond to those made earlier Thursday by Interior Minister Eli Yishai. Yishai, speaking after a meeting of the security cabinet, that Israel would react harshly and with the "utmost severity" to recent Hezbollah attacks.

Yishai, speaking to Israel Radio, dismissed suggestions that Israel would be unable to contend with a second front in the north, while fighting raged in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. "Israel, with the Almighty's help, can operate here and here and also there," Yishai said.

Hezbollah guerrillas attack unarmed UN observers
Hezbollah guerrillas beat up four UN observers in southern Lebanon on Thursday, injuring one seriously, the head of the UN military force in Lebanon said.

"They were stopped by some Hezbollah people and beaten up," Major General Lalit Tewari told reporters at the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL. "An Irish officer suffered heavy injuries and the other three had fractures," he said, adding that a patrol of Indian UN troops had intervened to rescue the observers.

Witnesses said Hezbollah men beat the observers with sticks and their fists, but a UN official in New York said they had also used rifle butts in the assault. Tewari said the three less seriously injured observers were two Norwegians and a Frenchman. They were taken to a hospital in northern Israel for treatment, the United Nations said in New York.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan "strongly condemns the deliberate assault this morning by Hezbollah elements on unarmed UN military observers," UN chief spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

The United Nations had received a "profound apology from Hezbollah, along with assurances that this will never happen again," Eckhard said. The Lebanese government had also expressed full support for the work of the UN peacekeepers," he said, adding that UNIFIL had requested an investigation of the incident "at the highest level."

Secretary-General Kofi Annan "strongly condemns the deliberate assault this morning by Hezbollah elements on unarmed UN military observers," UN chief spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

I'd be shaking in my boots too if Kofi was mad at me !

UNIFIL?...NOt to be confused with UNIFIB , The UN Interim Force in Bosnia.!

SEMPER FI
Norm

Hezbollah guerrillas beat up four UN observers in southern Lebanon on Thursday, injuring one seriously, the head of the UN military force in Lebanon said.

Maybe we can hire this group to get the UN out of NYC.

The United Nations had received a "profound apology from Hezbollah, along with assurances that this will never happen again," Eckhard said. The Lebanese government had also expressed full support for the work of the UN peacekeepers," he said, adding that UNIFIL had requested an investigation of the incident "at the highest level."

Wait a minute.....here we have an organization who is meaningless and powerless accepting an apology and a promise from another organization that is incapable of telling the truth. That's just like having x-42 promise he won't stain your dress. Again.

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