The Lebanese government has joined the IDF in looking for the source of Thursday morning's rocket attacks into Nahariya, albeit on different sides of the border, as ministers say they are not interested in an escalation of military action against their country.
Northern Israeli citizens, prepared for the eventualities of a replay of the 2006 Second Lebanon War, were nevertheless surprised Thursday morning due to the air raid sirens’ failure to sound.
Although the Home Front has not ordered the closing of schools, the Nahariya and Shlomi municipalities have decided to cancel classes until further clarification of the situation.
Lebanese Rocket Attack Anticipated
Intelligence head Amos Yadlin warned during Sunday’s cabinet meeting that it is anticipated that Lebanese terrorist organizations would engage in a rocket attack against Israel.
At the Cabinet meeting, Brigadier-General Yossi Beidatz, head of the research department for military intelligence, stated, “Hamas has not raised the white flag in the past and wants to remain in power.” Beidatz added, “Nasrallah is in a dilemma. What would Israel do if firing from the northern border would begin? He does not want to enter in a fight with Israel. In contrast to Hizbullah, which is on high alert, there are other extremist organizations in southern Lebanon who are bound to fire towards Israel – and there is a strong concern for Israeli reactions.”
Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah this week sent a threatening message towards Israel from his Beirut stronghold that the 2006 war in Lebanon would be nothing compared to what “awaits Israel if it opens a second front.” In the Hizbullah leader’s videotaped address, Nasrallah mocked the Israeli government and stated, “I say to Olmert, the failed leader who was defeated in Lebanon – you can never beat Hamas and Hizbullah.”
Jacky Sabag: Replay of Second Lebanon War
Nahariya’s mayor, Jacky Sabag, in an interview with Channel 2 news Thursday morning, stated, “We have returned to what happened two years ago. There is a situation of uncertainty.” The Nahariya mayor ordered schoolchildren to be sent home and that the public bomb shelters be opened.
Unlike the schools in Nahariya and Shlomi, Kiryat Shemonah residents are remaining in school. However, southern Lebanese educational authorities are not taking any chances. In anticipation of Israeli military action against Lebanon, school has been canceled in southern Lebanon.
Sources from Hizbullah have emphasized that the rockets are very old and not the type that the guerrilla group would use to attack Israel.
Nahariya police said they had been prepared for the probability of a rocket attack since Operation Cast Lead began. One police officer commented, “It was a miracle that the rocket landed on the roof of the old age home.”
The rocket pierced the roof, causing a meter-diameter opening, and exploded in a bathroom that was unoccupied at the time. Many water pipes were shattered from the explosion. The facility sustained extensive damage, and all its residents are to be evacuated from the building. Two residents of the old age home were lightly injured from the rocket attack.
The security situation in the north remains tense and many residents were sure that the loud noises they heard were the explosions from additional rocket attacks aimed at Israel. Nahariyah residents experienced 600 Katyusha rockets exploding during the 2006 war in their otherwise quiet seaside town.
An air raid siren mid-morning renewed the residents’ fears and reawakened past traumas for many. At least two Galilee residents were treated for shock. Police later reported that the false alarm was a result of supersonic booms from aircraft.