Israel: Rocket was Aimed at Kiryat Shmona, Hizbullah Playing with Fire
Israeli security sources on Monday noted that the trajectory of the rocket fired overnight from the southern town of Majdal Selem into the nearby town of Houla “indicates that it was aimed at the (northern Israeli) town of Kiryat Shmona,” warning that “Hizbullah’s continuous playing with fire may lead to a security deterioration.”
Israel’s public radio quoted the sources as saying that the incident was part of a spate of attacks “in which the Hizbullah organization has a hand, including the firing of rockets into the western Galilee two weeks ago and the targeting of the members of the French UNIFIL unit in the Tyre region last weekend.”
Hizbullah on Monday slammed recent accusations by French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who claimed Sunday that the party had a hand in the latest attack on French U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.
“Juppe made blatant accusations against Syria and Hizbullah and he himself acknowledged that he had no proof to substantiate his allegations,” Hizbullah said in a statement.
“Hizbullah deplores this condemned behavior, which was inappropriate coming from the foreign minister of an important nation such as France,” the party added.
It called on the top French diplomat to “correct his stance and realize the gravity of such type of accusations, which represent major injustice.”
Five French members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were wounded on Friday when a bomb targeted their patrol on the outskirts of the coastal city of Tyre. Two passers-by were also wounded.
Juppe said on Sunday that Syria was "undoubtedly" behind the bombing, adding however that so far he had no proof to back his claim. He also claimed that Syria had used Hizbullah for such attacks in the past, describing the party as "Syria's armed wing" in Lebanon.
The Israeli sources suggested that the latest wave of security incidents in southern Lebanon was most likely linked to “the hardship Hizbullah is going through these days, in light of the waning position of its ally, the Damascus regime, and its attempt to aid this regime by creating tensions on Lebanon’s southern border to deviate attention from the events in the Syrian arena.”
“Hizbullah does not want a real escalation of the situations, but its continuous playing with fire may lead to a security deterioration that would pose a threat to the residents of south Lebanon and all the Lebanese,” the sources noted.
A woman was injured overnight in southern Lebanon when a rocket apparently fired towards Israel landed instead in a Lebanese border village, a senior security official told Agence France Presse early Monday.
The Katyusha rocket, fired from the southern region of Bint Jbeil, landed in the village of Houla, near the border with Israel, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The incident took place amid a number of security incidents in recent weeks that have heightened tension that the nine-month uprising in neighboring Syria could spill over and destabilize Lebanon.
On November 29, a series of rockets were fired from the border area into Israel, prompting a retaliatory strike by the Jewish state.
A Lebanese website initially said an obscure al-Qaida-linked group calling itself the Brigades of Abdullah Azzam claimed responsibility for the November attack in an email message.
But the Brigades later denied the claim, laying the blame instead on a group linked to Hizbullah and Syria.
And on Friday, a roadside bomb wounded five French U.N. peacekeepers on the outskirts of the southern coastal town of Tyre.
France and the Lebanese opposition have blamed the embattled regime in Damascus for the attack on the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), saying it was carried out with the help of Hizbullah.
The Shiite party in 2006 fought a devastating war with Israel that destroyed much of Lebanon's infrastructure and killed more than 1,200 Lebanese -- mainly civilians -- and 160 Israelis, mainly soldiers.
The border region had since been largely quiet.
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