The Shi’ite fundamentalist Hezbollah, retaliating for the assassination Sunday of its leader, Sheik Abbas Musawi, has hurled a barrage of Katyusha rocket fire at northern Israel and the Israeli-controlled security zone in southern Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Force and its allied South Lebanon Army have responded with a hail of artillery shells aimed at the rocket-launching sites.
About 40 rockets fell in Upper Galilee and the security zone Sunday night, and scores more followed Monday night and early Tuesday.
Many residents were forced to spend the night in bomb shelters. But no injuries were reported and property damage was minor.
Schools opened late Tuesday because many youngsters had a sleepless night, but no classes were canceled.
Two major salvos fell at 4:40 and 7:15 a.m. local time Tuesday. Fragments indicated they were 122 mm rockets, which have a range of about 12 miles.
Another salvo fired at noon Tuesday fell short of Israel and landed in the security zone. Hezbollah sources in Lebanon claimed 65 Katyushas were fired.
One landed a few feet from a post manned by Norwegian soldiers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. But it did not cause any casualties, according to a report from UNIFIL headquarters in southern Lebanon to the United Nations in New York.
The Katyusha rocket strikes by Hezbollah had been expected following the killing of Musawi on Sunday in a precision attack mounted by Israeli helicopter gunships.
Israel acknowledged publicly that the attack was a carefully planned operation intended to get rid of the Shi’ite fundamentalist leader, whom it held responsible for most anti-Israel guerrilla action in southern Lebanon and attempts to disrupt the Middle East peace process.
Experts in Arab affairs and anti-terrorist specialists have warned that Hezbollah may not confine its response to the dangerous but largely inaccurate Katyushas.
These experts predicted more numerous and violent incursions along Israel’s borders and retaliatory strikes against Israeli and Western targets in Europe and elsewhere abroad.
Israel has been bracing for such attacks, stepping up security on the borders and on the so-called Green Line dividing the administered territories from Israel proper.
The IDF chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Ehud Barak, warned “those on the other side” Monday that they would pay a heavy price if the Katyusha attacks continued.
Barak said the IDF would not confine itself to defensive measures, but he did not elaborate.
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