Did Iran order Hezbullah to shell northern Israel yesterday?
A Katyusha barrage was fired Thursday at the Nahariya area in the Western Galilee. Police reported that two people were lightly wounded and evacuated to the local hospital. Several residents were treated for shock.
[…] Residents rushed to take cover in shelters and fortified areas, as children throughout the town were making their way to school.
It’s a typical terrorist tactic. They deliberately aim to kill as many children as possible.
Israel returned fire.
The IDF shelled the areas in southern Lebanon from which Katyusha rockets were fired at Israel’s north Thursday morning. There were no initial reports of injuries.
Military sources estimated that the attack was carried out by a Palestinian organization and not by Hizbullah, in light of the type of rockets used.
It could easily have been Iran’s orders. Hezbullah doesn’t sneeze without asking the mullahs’ permission. And Iranian orders were given yesterday.
A senior Iranian politician met Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Damascus on Wednesday as the Palestinian Islamist group considered an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Ali Larijani, speaker of parliament and one of the major figures in the Islamic Republic, met Mashaal and several high level officials from Hamas at the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital, witnesses said.
The meeting stretched into the early hours of Thursday, with no details emerging from the deliberations. Larijani earlier met leaders of Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian group with close links to Iran.
Iran thinks it’s time to up the ante for Israel, since Hamas hasn’t been able to do much against the IDF. It’s not too difficult to make the rocket attack look like it isn’t Hezbullah. But both UNIFIL and the Lebanese army increased border patrols. Yes, there was that incident in December where the Lebanese army defused eight rockets ready to launch at Israel. But I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out that this is Hezbullah.
Time will tell.
Hmmm…should I be worried or encouraged? I mean, I’d like Israel to take out Hezbollah along with Hamas, and eventually take out Iran too, but it’s probably going to be a bumpy ride. This is going to be a very interesting year.
I don’t know if Israel has cruise missles with conventional warheads like the US does. If it did, and if Hezbollah started a rocket bombardment of Northern Israel again, on Iran’s orders, a deadly stroke against Iran would be to take out Iran’s one (1) gasoline refinery. Iran already imports most of its gasoline and is in economic trouble. Cutting 40 percent of its gasoline supply, which would have to be replaced by imports, would exacerbate this trouble. It’s probably too far away for aircraft from Israel to hit, but very accurate cruise missiles like the US Tomahawk could do the job. It would make plain to Iran that if Iran makes war on Israel, by proxy, Israel can make war directly on Iran.
And if the US wanted to bring the arrogant Iranian Pharaohs down a peg or two, providing such munitions to Israel would be a way to do it. “You brag about wanting war, Gorilla Boy. You’d better learn to be careful what you wish for, you might get it. We have not put forth a tithe of our power yet. This was a gentle warning. The next time we won’t be so gentle.”