WarSclerotic

UNIFIL to deploy extra troops, patrols in Leba… JPost – Defense.

    The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said late Tuesday morning that it will deploy extra troops and patrols in southern Lebanon. The UN body also called for restraint from both sides: “This is a serious incident in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701 and is clearly directed at undermining stability in the area.”

IDF artillery cannons pounded Lebanese targets early Tuesday morning in response to four Katyusha rockets fired into northern Israel.

Four 122 millimeter rockets fired from within Lebanon, just north of the border, landed in the Western Galilee shortly after midnight. No injuries were reported in the attacks.

The rockets landed close to the Lebanese border, causing some damage to a chicken coop and a propane gas tank. Firefighting crews were called in to cool down the gas tank.

Searches after the incident by the Lebanese army found the rocket launchers in the Rumaysh area of south Lebanon.

Lebanese security sources confirmed that four Katyusha rockets were fired into Israel from an area between the villages of Aita Shaab and Rumaysh, about 2 km from the border.

The IDF assessment is that it is not Hezbollah, but rather al-Qaida or Palestinian terror groups who operate inside Lebanon that were behind the rocket fire, as has been the case in the past with isolated attacks.

Israel holds the government of Lebanon responsible for keeping the peace along the border. Homefront Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said Tuesday that “the Lebanese government is responsible for everything that happens in Lebanon and everything that exits from its border.”

The IDF has planned to file an official complaint with UNIFIL over the attacks, and the IDF Northern Command went on full alert and was holding continuous evaluations in light of the events.

The Western Galilee was the target of Hezbollah rocket attacks during the 2006 Lebanon War, but the front has been largely quiet for the past several years. A small number of isolated rocket attacks struck northern Israel in the years following the Second Lebanon War, but no attacks have been reported in the last two years.

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