Katyusha from Lebanon strikes north Israel; no casualties

[Behind the Aegis]

A Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon exploded in the Upper Galilee on Tuesday evening, the first such incident since last month. Nine Katyushas have struck northern Israel since the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

The rocket hit an open field near Kiryat Shemona and caused no casualties. A Lebanese security official confirmed that the rocket was fired from the Houla village in southern Lebanon, near where the United Nations has investigated Lebanese charges that Israel planted spy devices then subsequently exploded them last week.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the shooting.

The Israel Defense Forces fired artillery rounds at Houla in response to the attack, both IDF and Lebanese officials said. An IDF spokesman said that the army viewed the attack with "utmost severity," adding that Israel was holding Lebanon responsible for the incident.

Hours before the attack, Defense Minister Ehud Barak toured the north and spoke of Israel's desire to maintain the relative quiet in that area of the country.

more...

[T Wolf]

1. And how many children will Israel murder in revenge? How many towns will be destroyed? We'll see.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. Typical hate-filled response.

A mind-reader? No, just someone who knows the "score."

From the Talkback:

Title: Not interesting, as long as Israel don`t respond

Name: Oferf

City: State:


As an Israeli working in Europe, I have no doubt this event will not be noticed by my colleagues, but when the Israeli reponse will eventualy come, there will be wall-to-wall condemnations, as usual.

[T Wolf]

6. Yes. Israel is big on out-of-proportion violence. Because they can.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. Yeah, they should just "lay back and enjoy it."

[clear eye]

10. Firing a rocket over a border is an act of war.

If it happened anywhere else, and the country being fired upon was militarily more powerful than the one doing the firing, the recipient of the rocket would march in force to the other country's capital, take it, and demand surrender. If the defeated gov't refused to accept a peace treaty, continued firing rockets, or otherwise continued attacks, the victor would get an internationally mandated surrender and treaty. This option is not available to Israel, because somehow the int'l community doesn't in this one case see firing rockets over a border as a declaration of war.

Do you think there would be less violence if Israel responded as a country anywhere else in the world would respond?

[Violet_Crumble]

14. That's just a tad simplistic...

In this case there is no govt for Israel to defeat. No-one's claimed responsibility, but it's a safe bet it's Hezbollah who fired the rocket. If a terrorist attack on any country happens, do you support the use of overpowering force in response, especially when those affected are going to be civilians? I strongly opposed the response from the US to terrorist attacks on its soil, and I'd just as strongly oppose it when Israel does it. When it comes to attacks launched by other govts (eg the US attacking Iraq), then I very much support the country that's being attacked striking back...

[LeftishBrit]

19. Only if done by, or with the authorization, of the government

On the basis of past events, it is most likely that this rocket came from Hezbollah, and without any Lebanese government involvement.

[clear eye]

20. Which is why in the case of the Gaza rockets, the UN report calls those responsible

"armed militants" instead of Hamas paramilitary, despite the fact that Hamas rules the area w/ an iron fist. The UN knows that under internationally accepted terms of war, receiving rocket-fire from another country would be an accepted reason to declare all-out war, and to topple the regime that committed or encouraged it.

You're right, the two cases are different, but remember how the U.S. reacted to the infamous Gulf of Tonkin hoax?

Point I'm making is that the normal response of countries to armed attacks on their civilians is to go to war on the offending country until they can get a government in charge that agrees to keep the peace. No one expects the recipient of a missile to carefully modulate their response to match what was done to them, allowing the rocket-firing regime to stay in power and foster further attacks. That is a unique and exceptional expectation.

And, bizarrely, the oddness of the demand is a generally ignored reality in discussions regarding Israel. Generally, people talk about Israel's "out-of-proportion" responses. That remark was what I was responding to.

I don't think the answer is to just let the region blow sky high. I think in a sane world, the UN would treat the attacks as the suicidal invitation to war that they are, send in peacekeepers in force demanding that gov'ts on both sides accept a treaty like the Oslo accords or something similar, act as occupiers of Gaza removing all Israelis from the area, and enable the formation of a gov't in all Palestinian areas that agreed to keep the peace, as the U.S. and the Soviets did to the Axis powers after WWII (minus the semi-annexation of some countries the Soviets committed).

[Violet_Crumble]

13. The person who wrote that didn't read the article coz Israel did respond...

'but when the Israeli response will eventually come, there will be wall-to-wall condemnations'

From the article: 'The Israel Defense Forces fired artillery rounds at Houla in response to the attack, both IDF and Lebanese officials said.'

[Warpy]

3. Both sides are wedded to stupid violence

The Palestinian Arabs in southern Lebanon will continue to poke sticks into the eyes of Israelis until the Israelis counterattack. The counterattack will create an insatiable desire for revenge in southern Lebanon.

Until at least one side produces a leader with the ethics and political savvy of Gandhi, it's going to continue this way.

And there's nothing you or I can do about it.

[imdjh]

4. Perhaps the Jordanians should stop hiding bombs under children.

[T Wolf]

5. Perhaps the Israelis should leave the occupied territories and stop killing their neighbors.

[imdjh]

8. Israel is occupying Lebanon?

[Fozzledick]

11. They did, this is the result.

[Violet_Crumble]

16. In what alternate universe did Israel end the occupation & stop killing Palestinians?

It's probably the same alternate universe that gave birth to this rather bizarre subthread in the first place. I thought this thread was about a rocket attack on Israel launched from inside Lebanon, so I'm not sure what Jordanians, Palestinians and the occupation have to do with it..

[proteus_lives]

12. Their neighbors have been attacking them since day 1.

It's a two-way street.

[LeftishBrit]

18. I agree. But perhaps some of their neighbours should also stop trying to kill Israeli civilians.

[azurnoir]

9. OMG do even know WTF you're talking about

imdjh Tue Oct-27-09 03:58 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. Perhaps the Jordanians should stop hiding bombs under children.


an Arabs an Arab right?

[Violet_Crumble]

15. Jordanians hide bombs under children? Tell us more!

Just a hint, but if yr going to go out on a limb with nasty negative stereotypes of a group of people, it does help to get the group yr talking about right. But I guess they're all just a buncha Arabs to some people, and one's the same as the other, right? ;)

[LeftishBrit]

17. The Jordanians? What have they to do with this?

[xc8mip]

21. Rockets fired from area of Israeli infiltration

Lack of any casualties are self explanatory.I guess Middle East is the only place on earth where guerrillas haven't learn to aim right?