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Last update - 15:08 02/11/2009
Lebanon army dismantles 4 rockets aimed at Israel
By Anshel Pfeffer and Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondents, and The Associated Press
Tags: Haaretz TV, Katyusha 

Lebanese troops found and dismantled four rockets ready for launching near the border with Israel on Wednesday, said a senior Lebanese army official.

The discovery comes one day after a Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon exploded in the Upper Galilee, marking the first such incident since last month.

The attack on Tuesday drew a rapid response from Israeli artillery in a brief flare-up across the border that caused no casualties.
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The Lebanese official said the rockets were discovered Wednesday, placed in a building under construction in the Houla area from where Tuesday's rocket was launched.

He says three of the four Katyusha rockets found were ready to be fired. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.

Opposition leader and Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni said on Wednesday morning that "Lebanon is responsible for everything that takes place in its territory." Livni told Israel Radio that Israel must send an unequivocal message that it will not accept rocket fire along its northern front.

Nine Katyushas have struck northern Israel since the Second Lebanon War in 2006, however the Lebanon-Israel border has been largely quiet since Israel and the militant Hezbollah group fought a bitter war in 2006.

The rocket which was fired on Tuesday 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.

"We have nine years of quiet in the north that were interrupted for a number of painful weeks for the Second Lebanon War," the defense minister said, referring to the month-long war against Hezbollah guerillas. "We are preparing for all other possibilities, including the possibility that they will subject the towns of the north to another test."

Kiryat Shmona resident, Avishay Sabti, said he heard a loud explosion at around 6:45 P.M on Tuesday evening. "As someone who has lived in Kiryat Shmona, I have experience in these instances," Sabti said. "I immediately took cover, but I understood after a few minutes that this was just a lone [rocket] fired."

Sabti said a siren was heard before the rocket exploded. He added that the town continues to function as it would on a normal day. There are people in the streets and the residents have not been instructed to take cover in shelters, Sabti said.

Last month, two Katyushas struck the Western Galilee, leading Israel to file a complaint with the United Nations. The Israel Defense Forces fired retaliatory artillery at southern Lebanon in reponse to the rocket fire in September, as well.

The incident in September was the first time since February that rockets had been fired from Lebanon into Israel, raising tensions along a border that remains volatile three years after a war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

Israel believes that Hezbollah has been stockpiling its weapons cache at an enormous rate since the 2006 war. Israeli estimates have put the cache between 40,000 and 80,000.


Earlier this month, a shell exploded at the home of a senior Hezbollah official. Hezbollah denied reports that the official had been killed in the blast, which Israel said proved the guerilla group to be in violation of a United Nations-brokered truce.

Not long after, a United Nations investigation into the explosions indicated that Israel may have planted spy devices on Lebanese land in what a senior UN official said would be a violation of a cease-fire agreement.

The UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Lebanon said its preliminary probe into
two explosions in the south showed they had been caused by the detonation of underground sensor devices.

The units were apparently buried by Israel Defense Forces troops during the 2006 war with the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah, it said.

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      1.   Israel should learn from Russia 20:12  |  Jon 27/10/09
      2.   Not interesting, as long as Israel don`t respond 20:56  |  Oferf 27/10/09
      3.   Who is firing rockets and why? 21:02  |  Bloodyscot 27/10/09
      4.   Time to bomb another one of a thousand tunn 21:03  |  Josiah J. Ben David 27/10/09
      5.   Israel wants to go to the Litani River 21:08  |  Marc Leb 27/10/09
      6.   To #2 - Daniel 21:22  |  Col [Res] Cohen 27/10/09
      7.   Israel wants a war, please let this not happen 21:40  |  lebnaniye 27/10/09
      8.   #2 Exactly 21:58  |  syrian opinion 27/10/09
      9.   Hizb will investigate it`s war crime 22:24  |  fo realz :) 27/10/09
      10.   Exactly #2 22:28  |  DR 27/10/09
      11.   Fancy one of these in your garden Mr Linthwaite, Durson et al 22:49  |  H 27/10/09
      12.   Typical 23:02  |  Sean 27/10/09
      13.   Where are Peacemaker ??? 23:34  |  Mario 27/10/09
      14.   Lebanese government is hostage 23:34  |  Moshe 27/10/09
      15.   UNIFIL is "observing".UN is living up to its useless self 00:00  |  PETER SM 28/10/09
      16.   #1 Jon Israel tried it in 2006 00:15  |  takin 28/10/09
      17.   Fortunately - or perhaps intentionally 04:49  |  Mark Lincoln 28/10/09
      18.   Hezbanon is bombing Israeli civilians and is guilty of war crimes 05:39  |  Dan 28/10/09
      19.   Hello UNIFIL, UN, UNHRC, Goldy? Is anybody there? Hello? Hello? 05:41  |  Dan 28/10/09
      20.   UN chief says Hezbollah in Lebanon must be immediately disbanded 05:48  |  FYI haters and co 28/10/09
      21.   Maybe I`m wrong, but... 06:17  |  Colin Wright 28/10/09
      22.   Destroy another tunnel. That will show em ! 06:18  |  Josiah J. Ben David 28/10/09
      23.   Imagine an opposite scenario 08:19  |  David G 28/10/09
      24.   #5 FyI 08:34  |  MR 28/10/09
      25.   IF THEY CANNOT CONTROL THEIR LAND... 11:08  |  Maria Rita 28/10/09
      26.   Trivial incident. 11:51  |  ClearCut 28/10/09
      27.   I agree wuith Dan 12:38  |  Tzipi 28/10/09
      28.   #7 Colin Wright 13:02  |  Joe W 28/10/09
      29.   QUITE WRONG, MR WRIGHT 13:02  |  Brant 28/10/09
      30.   Good for the Lebanese Army 14:20  |  JO 28/10/09
      31.   Lebaneese want to live in peace 15:40  |  Canadian 28/10/09
      32.   clear cut is clearly mistaken 16:24  |  ross 28/10/09
      33.   when they found the israeli `spy device` on the border 16:33  |  Dave 28/10/09
      34.   Lebanese Army response was quick and effective 16:55  |  Mark Lincoln 28/10/09
      35.   #26 ClearCut - Those are HEZBOLLAH ROCKETS 16:59  |  *BEN JABO 28/10/09
      36.   blah blah blah 17:00  |  joe 28/10/09
      37.   Mark L. YES- someone is trying to make trouble 17:38  |  David Israel 28/10/09
      38.   Lebanese government is not responsible. 17:44  |  Catarin 28/10/09
      39.   Why is UNIFIL lying? 17:56  |  Gee 28/10/09
      40.   Colin Wright #21 no maybe about it 17:58  |  Gee 28/10/09
      41.   Catarin - here is the problem with your theory 19:18  |  David Israel 28/10/09
      42.   David Israel 20:23  |  Mark Lincoln 28/10/09
      43.   #21 Not right 20:28  |  Addition to #29-40 28/10/09
      44.   Ross and Benjabo 20:28  |  ClearCut 28/10/09
      45.   Gee, but no whiz 20:52  |  Mark Lincoln 28/10/09
      46.   Mark Lincoln - Do you sincerely believe that 20:59  |  David Israel 28/10/09
      47.   ClearCut 21:15  |  Vespasiano 28/10/09
      48.   OK - How about Israeli warplanes breaking Lebanon Airspace? 21:48  |  Marc Leb 28/10/09
      49.   IDF is responsable for those rockets. 22:10  |  Najeeb 28/10/09
      50.   Dismantling 4 rockets but... 22:18  |  Brod 28/10/09
      51.   15 Peter SM - What It`s Supposed to Do 22:39  |  Mark of Lewiston 28/10/09
      52.   Mark Lincoln #45 2nd try 22:43  |  Gee 28/10/09
      53.   #49 Neejah 22:57  |  H 28/10/09
      54.   bloody whatever -3 23:01  |  sani 28/10/09
      55.   Mark of Lewiston #51 what are you smoking 23:07  |  Gee 28/10/09
      56.   David Israel 23:08  |  Mark Lincoln 28/10/09
      57.   NAJEEB 23:12  |  Ricardo Ibrahim 28/10/09
      58.   By way of deception... 23:13  |  sharpinchitown 28/10/09
      59.   lebaniye 23:14  |  sani 28/10/09
      60.   Najeeb, find a new conspiracy theory 23:17  |  Mark Lincoln 28/10/09
      61.   #44 Clear Cut - So what you`re saying is 00:40  |  *BEN JABO 29/10/09
      62.   re: Catarin - "Lebanese government is not responsible" 00:42  |  jk 29/10/09
      63.   #34 Mark Lincoln - Leb Army made a show 00:45  |  *BEN JABO 29/10/09
      64.   Mark Lincoln #45 3rd try 00:54  |  Gee 29/10/09
      65.   Define `democracy` Marc Leb? 01:52  |  Mark Lincoln 29/10/09
      66.   M.Of Lewiston UN should act on UNIFIL observations UN did nothing 02:00  |  PETER SM 29/10/09
      67.   katiushas 03:57  |  Michelle 29/10/09
      68.   oil money 04:27  |  Michelle 29/10/09
      69.   THE "ROCKET" RACKET... 05:31  |  PADDY 29/10/09
      70.   rockets 08:19  |  zoe 29/10/09
      71.   #53 PADDY - You`ve got a problem with your guess 15:35  |  *BEN JABO 29/10/09
      72.   #49 Najeeb - The rockets were inside a building 15:38  |  *BEN JABO 29/10/09
      73.   #48 Marc Leb 16:08  |  *BEN JABO 29/10/09
      74.   #48 Marc Leb - Feel free to talk 16:13  |  *BEN JABO 29/10/09
      75.   #38 Catarin good Idea! 18:27  |  Roger Abdelmassih 29/10/09
      76.   BEN JABO No one has invaded israel. EVER 18:29  |  CJ 29/10/09
      77.   The whole so called Lebanon should go to a metnal asylum 22:17  |  Dan 29/10/09
      78.   #71 *BEN JABO - You really are not thinking! 05:12  |  PADDY 30/10/09
      79.   Russia 12:22  |  Samuel 30/10/09
      80.   nothing new 12:26  |  Samuel 30/10/09
      81.   no.9 12:39  |  Samuel 30/10/09
      82.   39 12:50  |  Samuel 30/10/09
      83.   no.44 12:54  |  Samuel 30/10/09
      84.   2nd TRY PADDY - I`ve given it more thought 19:37  |  *BEN JABO 31/10/09
      85.   *BEN JABO - FOLLOW-UP... 07:59  |  PADDY 01/11/09
      86.   #85 PADDY - Let`s just say that I`m more 00:33  |  *BEN JABO 02/11/09
      87.   #85 PADDY - You have been watching too much 17:00  |  *BEN JABO 02/11/09
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