Attack on Israel may threaten second front
Militants fire rockets from Lebanon
By IBRAHIM BARZAK and
STEVE WEIZMAN
Associated Press
Thursday, January 8, 2009 10:34 AM PST
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| Israeli soldiers sleep next to the Israeli Gaza border, early today. Lebanese militants fired at least three rockets into northern Israel early today, ripping through a crowded nursing home and threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with an offensive in the Gaza Strip. |
JERUSALEM — Militants in Lebanon fired at least three rockets into Israel early today, threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with a bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 700 people. Israel responded with mortar shells.
The rockets raised the specter of renewed hostilities on Israel’s northern frontier, just 21⁄2 years after Israel battled the Hezbollah guerrilla group to a 34-day stalemate. War broke out between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 as Israel battled Palestinian militants in Gaza, on Israel’s southern borders.
No group claimed responsibility. Lebanon’s government condemned the attack, and Hezbollah — which now plays an integral role in Lebanon’s government — denied any responsibility for the rocket fire, which lightly injured two Israelis.
For a second straight day, Israel said it suspended its Gaza military operation for three hours to allow in humanitarian supplies. Shortly before the pause took effect, however, the U.N. said one of its aid trucks came under Israeli fire, killing the driver. U.N. spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said the U.N. coordinated the delivery with Israel, and the vehicle was marked with a U.N. flag and insignia when it was shot in northern Gaza. The Israeli army said it was investigating.
The allegation was sure to raise tensions with the United Nations, which has already demanded an investigation into Israel’s shelling of a U.N. school in Gaza that killed nearly 40 people. At the time, Israel said it opened fire after militants hiding in the crowd shot mortar shells at Israeli troops.
