Israel Matzav

Hamas rockets reach just south of Haifa

The picture is from the Carmel forest fire a few years ago and not from today. But it's a scenario that could God forbid repeat itself at any time. Unconfirmed reports indicate that three Hamas rockets reached the Haifa area in the last hour. One reached Zichron Yaakov, which is about 45 kilometers south of Haifa, while the other two reached the Hof HaCarmel area on Haifa's southern edge. Haifa is 165 kilometers (102 miles) from Gaza. The rockets involved are likely Syrian-made M-302 rockets.

Rocket alert sirens sounded in Zichron Yaakov on Wednesday, some 120 km north of the Gaza Strip.

Channel  2 reported that two rockets had fallen in open areas of Zichron Yaakov , lightly injuring one person, while Channel 10 reported that 2 rockets had fallen in the Hof Hacarmel region south of Haifa.

The IDF has not yet confirmed that rockets fell in the area. A Code Red siren sounded in nearby Binyamina on Tuesday, but that proved to be a false alarm.

Channel 2 suggested that the rockets may have been the Syrian-made M-302 type rocket, which was used to target Hadera on Wednesday.

Arutz Sheva adds:

Sirens sounded near Haifa in Hadera, Zikhron Ya'akov, Caesarea and Hof HaBonim on Wednesday afternoon - at least 45 kilometers (almost 30 miles) north of Tel Aviv, and the farthest attack recorded from Gaza in the ongoing rocket barrage. 

Two rockets landed in the sea near Haifa, reports AFP, noting the city is 165 kilometers (102 miles) away from the Hamas stronghold of Gaza.

...

Hamas has taken responsibility for the rocket fire close to Haifa, according to Walla!, stating that the rockets fired were of the R-160 model.

The IDF needs to finish this off quickly. If people feel that they have to flee to the north and Hezbullah gets involved (which is what happened in 2006 when we had a skirmish with Hamas and then Hezbullah got involved), we could God forbid be in big trouble.

In other news, Iran, Hamas's arms supplier, has condemned Israel's 'savage aggression' against Hamas. And the UN has not gotten involved yet, so we must not be winning yet. What could go wrong?

Labels: Fajr-5 rockets, Haifa, Hamas, Hamas rockets, Hezbullah, Iran, M-302 rockets, R-160 rockets, Syria

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:15 PM