Israel Matzav

IDF controls village in South Lebanon but rockets continue

The IDF now controls the village of Maroun Ras in South Lebanon where four soldiers were killed last Thursday.

On Saturday, the IDF carried out operations in the town to detect rocket launchers and underground bunkers where Hezbullah terrorists are hiding.

In Marjayun today, about five miles (8 km) from the Israel - Lebanon border, cars packed with people waving white flags sped north fearing that fighting will intensify.

Earlier Saturday, IDF troops urged residents of around thirteen villages in southern Lebanon to leave ahead of planned air strikes against suspected Hezbollah guerrillas, military sources said. The message, delivered via Arabic news agencies and local sources, said that those who did not leave were endangering their lives and those of their families. It also stated that Hezbullah tends to use civilians as 'human shields'.

"In tackling the terrorists, we have two choices - either to send in troops or to bomb their infrastructure from the air. Clearly the latter is preferable, but we want to give the civilians time to leave," a military source said.

There was no immediate word on how many people were believed to be in the villages after 10 days of fighting in the region.

YNet reports that Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsch talked about the battle of Maroun Ras in a press briefing today.

"It was clear that the initial fight would require a great deal of effort, since it is a fight of deterrence. We hit many terrorists and very few civilians remained in the area. We found two civilian families, whom we are helping."

"We took over wide shoulders of land in Yarun and Avivim, where terrorists had been launching missiles at Safed, Tiberias, Carmiel, Meron and other areas," said Hirsch, explaining the significance of the takeover. "We took over the Jaladin ridge and Maroun al-Ras, where there was short-range fighting, and additional joint fighting with forces from the engineer corps. We brought bulldozers into the territory and destroyed Hizbullah outposts along the border."

Despite the IDF's success, more Katyusha rockets were shot into Israel today. Two people were seriously wounded in Katyusha barrages this evening - one in Tsfat (Safed) and one in Carmiel (just north of Haifa). In Tsfat, a 40 year-old woman was seriously injured when a rocket directly hit her home. One of the woman's children sustained moderate wounds, while her husband and second child were 'lightly' injured.

A Carmiel resident sustained serious injuries after rockets fell on the town. A barrage of ten rockets within five minutes hit Nahariya. One person was moderately injured and a girl sustained light injuries. At least 11 other people were treated for shock. Other rockets this evening hit Rosh Pina and Hatzor HaGlilit.

In the Carmiel attack, one of the Katyushas directly hit a vehicle. It is unclear at the moment whether the local man hurt in the attack was in the car at the time the rocket struck, or if he was nearby and hurt by shrapnel. A Magen David Adom team evacuated the man to the Nahariya hospital.

MDA Director-General Eli Bin, who arrived at the place shortly after the strike, said: "It appears as if the car sustained a direct hit, the entire vehicle is in pieces. The teams that were dispatched to the place provided assistance in this and in other scenes."

Here's YNet's summary of the 150 rocket attacks on northern Israel today:

Some 150 rockets landed in Israel throughout Saturday in massive barrages targeting many northern communities. The last rocket barrage landed in and around Nahariya at about 6:45 p.m. another barrage hit Safed. At the same time, sirens were activated in Haifa, across the Western Galilee, in Afula, Nazareth and Migdal Haemek.

Earlier rockets landed in the Nahariya and Shlomi region. A barrage was fired at about 4:45 p.m. at communities in the eastern area of the northern border, while earlier rockets landed in Haifa. No injuries were reported in the attacks.

Since Saturday morning, sirens were activated several times in Haifa, with no corresponding rocket attacks in the area until 3 p.m.. After a rocket-less night, Hizbullah began launching its Saturday barrage at approximately 10 a.m., covering the entire Galilee area with volleys of rockets. The areas of Kiryat Shmona, Nahariya, Carmiel, Safed and Ma'alot were hardest hit, fortunately resulting in few casualties.

As of 1 p.m., 66 rockets had landed and only 18 people were injured, one of them moderately, the rest sustaining light injuries or shock. Police in the Galilee district reported 26 rocket hits Kiryat Shmona, 2 in Yesod HaMa'aleh, 13 in Carmiel and 14 in Nahariya. Likewise, one rocket landed in the Golan, another one in Safed and eight in Ma'alot.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:02 AM