Israel Air Raids Target Palestinians in Lebanon, Gaza

28/12/2005| IslamWeb

Israeli warplanes have bombed Palestinian targets near Beirut and in the Gaza Strip in response to a series of rocket attacks in the north and south of the Jewish state.

At least two members of the PFLP-GC, a radical pro-Syrian faction headed by the veteran Ahmed Jibril, were wounded in the air strikes to the south of the Lebanese capital although there were no reported casualties in Gaza.

Both were injured in a missile strike "which blew a hole in a concrete armoured protection wall in Noueyma," south of Beirut, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command spokesman Anur Raja told AFP.

The air strikes on Lebanon came in response to the firing of a series of Katyusha rockets into the north of Israel that went unclaimed.

Israeli security sources said at least three Katyusha rockets had been fired at the town of Kiryat Shmona, hitting the roofs of two houses.

Electricity supplies were also cut in the attacks as locals were ordered to take cover in bomb shelters.

Several people were treated for shock but no one was wounded in the attacks, said medical sources.

Military sources said it was the first time that Kiryat Shmona, which lies around eight kilometers (five miles) south of the Lebanese border, had come under attack since the withdrawal of Israeli troops more than five years ago.

Lebanese police said that a total of seven rockets had been fired from the border region, targeting Kiryat Shmona.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Palestinian factions based in Lebanon.

"Israel wants to blame us for the rocket attacks to provoke a hostile reaction against us in Lebanon," said the PFLP-GC's Raja. "We say to our Lebanese brothers that we were in no way implicated."

General Udi Adam, head of Israel's northern regional command, said the army knew who was responsible for the attacks.

As warplanes conducted their raids over Lebanon, air strikes were also carried out in Gaza.

Residents in Gaza City said they had been unable to sleep as jets consistenly broke the sound barrier during sorties that began shortly after midnight and were wrapped up around daybreak.

Palestinian security sources said the air strikes had targeted roads around the towns of Beit Hanun and Beit Lahiya in the north of the territory and close to the border into southern Israel.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The army, which has already declared a part of northern Gaza a security zone, said the roads were being used by militants to reach areas on the edge of the border into southern Israel.

PHOTO CAPTION

Lebanese officers look through their binoculars at the Israeli border in 2002. (AFP)