Pulling Extra Duty

Note: Readers of Today in Iraq are interested in developments in the Levant, but we just can't add any more weight to TiI. Whisker has sent the following links on the Lebanon-Israel-Palestine war, which for today only I am posting here for lack of an alternative.

1: Lebanese guerillas fired a relentless barrage of rockets into the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Sunday, killing eight people at a train station and wounding seven others in a dramatic escalation of a five-day-old conflict that has shattered Mideast peace. At least 20 rockets slammed into Haifa on Sunday, and one of them hit a section of the train depot where crews perform maintenance on the trains, tearing a huge hole in the roof and killing eight people. One body was covered in a white bag and placed on a stretcher on the ground.

#2: Soon after the Haifa attack, Israeli warplanes hit the south Beirut stronghold of Hezbollah with at least six airstrikes, shaking the Lebanese capital and sending a cloud of thick smoke rising over the neighborhood. The airstrikes in Beirut reduced an entire apartment building to rubble and knocked out electricity in swaths of the capital. Hezbollah's Al-Manar television station briefly went off the air

#3: Israeli troops, tanks and helicopter gunships re-entered northern Gaza on Sunday, firing missiles and exchanging gunfire with armed Palestinians in a raid that killed three militants.

#4: Hezbollah guerillas said they hit Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, with Raad-2 and Raad-3 missiles. The attack came after Israeli warplanes bombed a major power station south of Beirut and other targets in Lebanon. But it was certain to invite a far harsher Israeli retaliation.

#5: Rockets fired by Lebanese militants also hit Acco, Nahariya and several other northern towns, and residents of the region were told to head to bomb shelters. Israeli rescue teams said 20 people were injured in Haifa and Acco, four of them seriously.

Hours later, Hizbullah launched a new onslaught of rockets at Haifa and other communities across northern Israel, causing more injuries, authorities said. Rockets hit Kiryat Motzkim and Kiryat Haim, north of Haifa, and the northern towns of Acco and Nahariya. Area residents were told to head to bomb shelters.

#6: The IDF identified the bodies of three of the sailors who were killed Friday when their ship, the Hanit was hit by an Iranian-made missile fired by Hizbullah operatives. The three sailors' names were released for publication Saturday. They are: L.-Rtg. Shai Atias, 19, from Rishon Lezion; Fourth Petty Officer Yaniv Hershkovitz, 21, from Haifa; and First Petty Officer Dov Shtierenshos, 37, from Karmiel. Third Petty Officer Tal Amgar, 21, from Ashdod, whose body was recovered earlier, will be laid rest at 4 p.m. in his hometown.

#7: Hizbullah General-Secretary Hasan Na'srallah survived Israel's heavy bombing on the southern suburb of Beirut, a senior Hizbullah source told Al-Jazeera TV network. The source denied a report by Israel's Channel 2 early Sunday morning according to which Na'srallah was wounded during the aerial attack.

#8: Director General of Syrian Ports Brigadier Mohsen Hassan ruled out Sunday that the missile that targeted "Noor Light" ship, manned by 12 Egyptian sailors, had been launched from Lebanon. Speaking to Syrian Television, he said that the ship -- which had been 80 kilometers off the Lebanese shores and flying the Cambodian flag -- was more likely to have been hit by a missile launched from one of the Israeli warships or planes that were besieging Israel. He added that what indicated this attack took place with the knowledge of the Israeli marine forces was that it was they who contacted the ship that rescued the sailors. Israel had denied it had launched its missiles at the ship, and accused Hezbollah of having staged the attack.


#9: About 18 powerful explosions rocked southern Beirut _where Hizbullah is headquartered — for more than two hours after midnight Sunday. A day earlier, the Israeli air force hit Hizbullah strongholds, bombed central Beirut for the first time, and pounded seaports and a key bridge.

#10: The death toll in the four-day-old conflict rose above 100 in Lebanon, and stood at 24 in Israel. Hizbullah denied Israeli media reports that its leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, was hurt in an air strike Sunday, Al-Jazeera TV network said.

Post by Whisker