Word: katyushas
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Lebanon's traditionally volatile border with Israel reprised its role as a bellwether of Israeli-Arab tensions Thursday morning as unknown militants fired at least three Katyusha rockets into Israel. It was the third such attack since the end of Israel's 2006 Lebanon war. The first two attacks involved a number of 107-mm Katyusha rockets, which have a range of seven miles, but were poorly executed - some did not explode, one did not make it across the border, and one did not even leave the launcher...
...intention appears to be to keep Israel on edge along its northern border without eliciting a disproportionate reaction. Indeed, Israel's response to the Katyusha attack - firing a few artillery shells into a deserted valley in southern Lebanon - neatly fits within the finely calibrated rules that define violence and retaliation along the border, rules tacitly observed by both Israel and Hizballah, the radical Shi'ite group that dominates much of Lebanon. Israel's artillery shelling was a step up from no response at all - which was how Israel greeted the two earlier rocket attacks. But it was sufficiently limited...
Still, the prospect of rogue attacks along the border has spurred the Lebanese army to cancel all leave and step up patrols in south Lebanon alongside UNIFIL peacekeepers. The heightened security measures occurred after eight Katyusha rockets were discovered by a farmer on Thursday in a valley two miles north of the border with Israel. The rockets, a mix of 120mm and 107mm calibers, were fitted with timers and set for launching late on Thursday night. Lebanese security sources suspect the presence of the rockets was intended as a "message" to Israel rather than an actual attack. They note that...
...Rice, who is accompanying President George W. Bush on a visit to celebrate Israel's 60 years of independence, declined. Routine diplomatic security would preclude a top U.S. official being placed in harm's way, and the presence of the Secretary of State within in range of their Katyusha rockets could tempt the militants to fire again...
...Rescue workers who crawled through the debris of the second-story clinic reported that 15 Israelis had been wounded in the attack, three of them seriously. Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli forces killed four suspected Palestinian militants in Gaza. But the militants' use of the medium-range Katyusha rocket was not an act of revenge as much as a warning to Olmert...