|
Iran Supports Hezbollah
Hezbollah Acknowledges Using Iranian Weaponry
Hezbollah, the Shiite Iranian-backed terrorist organization fired a barrage of rockets from Lebanon into Haifa Sunday morning that killed at least eight people and wounded dozens more. [1] The terrorist organization issued a statement claiming responsibility for the Sunday attack. [2]
After denying responsibility for launching rockets into Haifa Thursday, Hezbollah issued a statement claiming responsibility for the Sunday attack, saying it had used Raad 2 and Raad 3 rockets. [3] Raad missiles are manufactured by Iran.
Hezbollah has fired more than 700 rockets into Israel since Wednesday, [4] and 23 Israelis have died as a result of the attacks.
One rocket struck the Israel Railways depot, near the Israel Electric Corporation on Haifa Bay. [5] Other rockets landed near the city's oil refinery, gas storage tanks and a busy street. [6] Haifa is renowned for its coexistence between Muslims, Christians, and Jews.
Israeli authorities said that at least four of the rockets were Fajr rockets, [7] which are also made by Iran but use a more sophisticated, radar-guided technology and have a longer range.
That was not the first attack in which Hezbollah used long-range Iranian rockets since beginning its offensive against Israel early Wednesday. On Friday night, Hezbollah fired an Iranian-developed, radar-guided C-802 missile at the INS Hanit (Spear), an Israeli Naval warship on the Mediterranean Sea, causing severe damage to the ship and its crew. [8] With a range estimated at 62 miles (100 km), the missile puts a significantly higher percentage of the Israeli population within missile range. Katyusha rockets lack the C-802's more advanced, radar-guided system. [9]
Israeli forces, during counter-attacks on Hezbollah, bombed runways and fuel tanks at Beirut International Airport in an attempt to prevent Hezbollah from bringing in weapons from Iran and Syria. [10]
Third Petty Officer Tal Amgar, 21, was killed in the attack. [11] The bodies of three other sailors, who had been missing, were found Sunday off the coast of Beirut. [12]
"We can confirm that it (the ship) was hit by an Iranian-made missile launched by Hezbollah," Israeli Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan told the Associated Press Sunday. "We see this as a very profound fingerprint of Iranian involvement in Hezbollah." [13]
Additionally, Israeli officials said Hezbollah was being aided by about 100 fighters from Iran's Revolutionary Guard who had helped import and fire the missiles used against the Israeli ship. Iran has denied having any troops in Lebanon. [14]
Senior naval officers were previously unaware that Hezbollah possessed such advanced missile technology. [15]
Hezbollah's Rocket Arsenal
According to Israeli military sources, the majority of the rocket arsenal in Hezbollah's hands is comprised of 122-millimeter [16] Katyusha rockets with a range of about 12 miles. [17] According to a report by The New York Times, the Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 rockets have ranges of 25 and 45 miles and sizes of 240-millimeters and 333-milimeters respectively. [18] According to a report in al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, Iran transferred to Hezbollah 11,500 missiles and rockets, including 40 different types, 400 artillery shells and rocket launchers between 1992 and 2005. [19]
In early 2000, Iran began a joint project with North Korea to develop an advanced version of the C-802. [20]
According to an Iranian army official, Iran transferred to Hezbollah four types of long range missiles and rockets: Fajr missiles (100 km/62 miles), Iran 130 missiles (90-110 km 55.8-68.2 miles), Shahin missiles (150 km/93 miles) and 355 millimeter rockets (150 km/93 miles). [21]
American and Israeli officials have confirmed that Hezbollah is in possession of the Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 missile systems. [22]
According to an Israeli security official, Syria has also begun to provide Hezbollah 222-millimeter rockets with a range of 12-18 miles. [23]
Professor Abbas Milani, chairman of Iranian studies at Stanford University, said: "Would Hezbollah use a sophisticated missile that can hit Haifa without permission from Iran? I doubt it." [24]
On July 13, the Hezbollah-run TV station, al-Manar, showed footage of a Raad 1 missile and claimed it will use it to hit "the strongholds of the Zionist enemy." [25] Raad missiles are reported to have a range of up to about 90 miles (150 km) and their production began in Iran in January of 2004. [26]
Iranian Leaders Warn of "Wrath of Muslim Nations"
Two days before Hezbollah began attacking Israel, bombarding its northern towns with rockets and kidnapping two Israeli soldiers, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, while speaking about Israel on Iran News Network TV, said, "It will not be long before this intense fury will lead to a huge explosion." [27]
Ahmadinejad has made inflammatory statements against Israel since he was elected last year, such as declaring that Israel should be "wiped off the map" and that the Holocaust was a myth.
On Sunday, the Iranian president made new pronouncements against Israel. According to the Fars News Agency, Ahmadinejad "warned Israel and its supporters that they are intensifying Muslims' anger, stressing that once the wrath of the Muslim nations boils over, it will gust through the whole world." [28]
Ahmadinejad again questioned Israel's validity, saying, "As we have already mentioned, they are faced with a couple of choices, either dismantle the regime by themselves, or practice the slogans that are always chanted, i.e. national sovereignty and the right to decide for one's own fate." [29]
Iran has long been believed to provide major financial backing for Hezbollah, giving the terrorist organization at least $100 million annually. That number is closer to $200 million, according to estimates by Western diplomats and analysts in Lebanon. [30]
Hezbollah also provides funding to other terrorist groups to carry out attacks. Limitless financial and military aid from Iran and Syria has enabled Hezbollah to strengthen Palestinian terrorist groups in the West Bank and Gaza. In 2004 alone, Hezbollah subsidized nearly 70 percent of Palestinian terrorist attacks and offered Fatah and Hamas militants as much as $100,000 to deliver suicide bombers into Israel. [31]
Israel's security establishment recently reported that Hezbollah was plotting to increase attacks against Israel's northern border to divert attention from Syria, where the U.N. is carrying out an investigation into the 2005 death of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. [32]
In May 2005, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech claiming that Hezbollah had in its possession 12,000 rockets. [33] The estimated size of Hezbollah's arsenal is between 10,000 and 13,000 missiles. [34] According to Halutz, "They have enough rockets at this stage to continue firing at Israel." [35]
According to a military official, Iran has granted Hezbollah a "blank check" to cover weapons supplies. In addition, Iran has promised to replace anything destroyed by Israeli action. [36]
According to a senior Iranian army official, Iran's Revolutionary Guard has constructed dozens of advanced missile and rocket bases throughout the Lebanon Valley and Israeli border. [37]
The Sunday rocket attacks on Haifa marked the second time the Israeli port city has been hit since the terrorist group began attacking Israel four days ago. Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, lies 18 miles (30 km) south of the Lebanese border.
On Thursday, a rocket hit the city center, but there were no injuries. Over the weekend, cities across the northern part of the country were hit by about 200 Katyusha rockets. One of those attacks killed a 58-year-old woman and her 7-year-old grandson at Moshav Meron in the Galilee Friday night. [38]
Statement by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, during a government meeting Sunday, said Israel would remain steadfast and continue to fight back against Hezbollah.
"The severe attacks in Haifa join the lethal attacks in other areas of the country," Olmert said. "This is the criminal war of Hizbullah against the nation and its residents. We have no intention of bending to these threats. They will fail. There is no time limit. Our cause is just. Every nation in the world would respond like us." [39]
Hezbollah's attacks against began early Wednesday, bombarding cities on Israel's northern border with rockets. In the midst of the shelling, Hezbollah guerrillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed three more as the soldiers drove along Israel's northern border. On the same day, four other Israeli soldiers who entered Lebanon to search for the abducted men died when their tank hit a land mine, and another soldier died during a search-and-rescue mission.
On Saturday, the city of Tiberias was struck by rockets for the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, wounding at least four people. Tiberias is about 22 miles (35 km) from the Lebanese border, previously thought out of range of rockets Hezbollah has used in the past. [40]
Threat of future attacks
On Sunday, a day after Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz declared martial law in the north, the IDF instructed Israelis from Tel Aviv to the north to be "on alert" [41] and to be prepared to seek shelter in protected rooms. [42]
Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz confirmed that the IDF is aware that Hezbollah has missiles with a range of at least 43 miles (70 km), sufficient to potentially hit the Israeli coastal cities of Hadera and Netanya. [43] Brig. Gen. Rami Shmueli said on Saturday that Hezbollah has "several" missiles that could reach Tel Aviv and other areas in central Israel. [44] Tel Aviv is about 80 miles (130 km) south of the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also warned Israelis from Tel Aviv to the north to "be alert." [45]
Other Attacks Since Wednesday
On Thursday, four Katyusha rockets fell on the northern Israeli town of Nahariya, killing a 40-year-old woman and injuring dozens of others; nine people were treated for shock. Also on Thursday, Katyusha rockets hit Tzfat, a town about 13 miles from the Lebanese border; a 70-year-old woman died of her wounds after being taken to the hospital; at least 17 people were wounded.
Another 28 people were wounded Thursday when Katyusha rockets landed in the northern Israeli towns of Karmiel, Hatzor and Majd el-Kurum.
On Saturday, Hezbollah fired 10 rockets that hit the Galilee city of Tiberias; shrapnel from the rockets wounded three people and a few dozen others were treated for shock. People vacationing in the area were ordered to leave Lake Kinneret and its beaches. [46]
Footnotes
[1] Myre, Greg, "Rocket kills 8 in Haifa as Israel bombs Beirut suburbs," The New York Times, July 16, 2006.
[2] Shahine, Alaa, "Hizbollah rockets Haifa and Israel bombs Beirut," Reuters, July 16, 2006, http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?
type=topNews&storyID=2006-07-16T075852Z_01_L11538533_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST.xml
[3] Ibid.
[4] Azoulay, Yuval, Harel, Amos, & Stern, Yoav, "At least 8 people killed as Hezbollah rockets slam into Haifa," Haaretz, July 16, 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=738747&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
[5] Ibid.
[6] "Hezbollah fires rocket barrage at Israel," The New York Times, July 16, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Israel-Rockets.html
[7] Ibid.
[8] Katz, Yaakov, "Sailor killed, three missing as Hizbullah, helped by Iran, fires missile at Israeli ship," The Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2006.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Rubin, Barry, "Analysis: Meeting the missile challenge," The Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2006, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150886010
036&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[11] Katz, Yaakov, "Sailor killed, three missing as Hizbullah, helped by Iran, fires missile at Israeli ship," The Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2006.
[12] Greenberg, Hanan, "Bodies of missing sailors found," Ynetnews, July 16, 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3276681,00.html
[13] Plushnick-Masti, Ramit, "Israeli intelligence: Iranian troops helped Hezbollah attack Israeli warship," Associated Press, July 15, 2006.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Katz, Yaakov, "Sailor killed, three missing as Hizbullah, helped by Iran, fires missile at Israeli ship," The Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2006.
[16] "Katyusha rocket," GlobalSecurity.org, accessed July 16, 2006, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/katyusha.htm
[17] Gordon, Michael, "Militants Are Said to Amass Missiles in South Lebanon," The New York Times, July 16, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/weekinreview/16isra.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
[18] Ibid.
[19] Nahmias, Roee, "Report: Hezbollah has 150 kilometer range missiles," Ynetnews, July 16, 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3276451,00.html
[20] Ibid.
[21] Nahmias, Roee, "Report: Hezbollah has 150 kilometer range missiles," Ynetnews, July 16, 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3276451,00.html
[22] Gordon, Michael, "Militants Are Said to Amass Missiles in South Lebanon," The New York Times, July 16, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/weekinreview/16isra.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
[23] Ibid.
[24] MacFarquhar, Neil, & Fattah, Hassan M., "At crossroads, Hezbollah goes on the attack," The New York Times, July 16, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/wor
ld/middleeast/16hezbollah.html
[25] Raved, Ahiya, "2 million Israelis under threat," Ynetnews, July 14, 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3275358,00.html
[26] Roggio, Bill, "Iranian manufactured Raad 1 missiles launched at Haifa," Counterterrorism Blog, July 14, 2006, http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/07/iranian_manufactured_raad_1_mi.php/
[27] "Ahmadinejad calling on Islamic countries to mobilize against Israel," Agence France-Presse in Iran Press News, July 8, 2006, http://www.iranpressnews.com/english/source/014483.html
[28] "Ahmadinejad Warns Israel About Global Wrath," Fars News Agency, July 16, 2006, http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8504250236
[29] President Praises EU's Stance on Zionists' Crimes," Fars News Agency, July 16, 2006, http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8504250356
[30] Levitt, Matthew A., "Iranian State Sponsorship of Terror: Threatening U.S. Security, Global Stability, and Regional Peace," The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Feb. 16, 2005, www.washingtoninstitute.org/html/pdf/Iran-Testimony-2-16-05.pdf, p. 3
[31] Karmon, Ely, "The double game of Hizballah," The Institute for Counter-Terrorism, April 1, 2005, http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=531
[32] Alon, Gideon, Benn, Aluf, & Harel, Amos, "Hezbollah said planning widespread attacks along northern border," Haaretz, Nov. 20, 2005, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/647682.html
[33] MacFarquhar, Neil, & M. Fattah, Hassan, "At crossroads, Hezbollah goes on the attack," The New York Times, July 16, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/world/middleeast/16hezbollah.html
[34] Mizroch, Amir, "IDF warns 'Lebanon can be shut down for years'" The Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2006, print ed. P. 2.
[35] Ibid.
[36] Ibid.
[37] Nahmias, Roee, "Report: Hezbollah has 150 kilometer range missiles," Ynetnews, July 16, 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3276451,00.html
[38] Azoulay, Yuval, "Tiberias tastes first Katyushas as north is bombarded again," Haaretz, July 16, 2006.
[39] "Statement by PM Olmert after attack on Haifa," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, July 16, 2006, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2006
/Statement+by+PM+Olmert+after+attack+on+Haifa+16-Jul-2006.htm
[40] Krieger, Hilary Leila, "Katyusha barrages shatter Shabbat peace in Tiberias," The Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2006.
[41] Azoulay, Yuval, Harel, Amos, Stern, Yoav, Haaretz Service & Agencies, "At least 8 people killed as Hezbollah rockets slam into Haifa," Haaretz, July 16, 2006,
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=738747&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
[42] Ibid.
[43] Mizroch, Amir, "IDF warns 'Lebanon can be shut down for years'" The Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2006.
[44] Katz, Yaakov, & Mizroch, Amir, "IDF tells a million residents to stay home on Sunday, deploys Patriots in Haifa," The Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2006.
[45] Azoulay, Yuval, Harel, Amos, Stern, Yoav, Haaretz Service & Agencies, "At least 8 people killed as Hezbollah rockets slam into Haifa," Haaretz, July 16, 2006, http://www.haar
etz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=738747&contrassID=1&su
bContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
[46] Ibid.
|
