Comments (0)Rockets Aimed at Israel Found in S. Lebanon
October 31, 2009Jerusalem
JTA Wire Service
Lebanese soldiers dismantled four rockets in southern Lebanon aimed at Israel the day after a Katyusha fired from the same area struck northern Israel.
The rockets were found Wednesday resting on wooden launchers with timing devices set to detonate, Reuters reported. Reportedly they were placed in a house under construction that is owned by the mayor of Hula, the same village where Israeli spy equipment reportedly was found and destroyed earlier this month.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations filed a complaint Wednesday with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over Tuesday’s rocket attack. The complaint also expressed alarm over the rise in hostile activity on Israel’s northern border.
On Tuesday evening, a Katyusha rocket fired from southern Lebanon landed near Kiryat Shemona, setting fire to an empty field. The attack did not cause any injuries or damage, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The IDF said it responded with artillery fire at the source of the launch.
It was the ninth rocket to strike Israel from Lebanon since the 2006 Second Lebanon War. Two Katyushas struck northern Israel last month.
The rocket struck several hours after Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited the area, where he spoke about the nine years of calm on the northern border, interrupted only by the monthlong war in 2006.
Livni: Iran Dialogue ‘Can’t Go on Forever’
Tzipi Livni on a visit to Russia said dialogue with Iran “cannot go on forever.”
Livni, Israel’s opposition leader and head of the Kadima party, in a meeting Wednesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Western countries should learn from Iran’s behavior in the past and “understand that it doesn’t act with transparency, honesty or openness toward the international community,” according to reports.
Livni criticized a draft agreement being considered by Iran under which most of its enriched uranium would be sent abroad for processing into fuel rods for use in a medical research facility. Iran has said it will respond to the plan Thursday, but with “important changes.”
The plan, she said, does not solve the problem but “only delays it.”
“Dialogue with Iran cannot go on forever, and today, more than ever, it’s clear that Iran’s aim is to attain nuclear weapons, and that to accomplish this goal it will use various ways of trying to avoid arrangements that don’t enable it to continue its nuclear program,” Livni said.
The former foreign minister encouraged the Western powers to “leave all options on the table,” likely referring to the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities.
Livni met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the day before she left for Russia, in part to coordinate positions on Iran before the visit.
Bahrain Bill Would Outlaw Contacts with Israel
Lawmakers in Bahrain passed a bill that would outlaw any contact with Israel, including travel and business relationships.
The lower house of the parliament on Tuesday approved the bill, which includes jail terms of three to seven years and a $27,000 fine for “any contact or relations with Israel” or “the establishment of diplomatic or consular representation,” the French news agency AFP reported.
Israel and Bahrain do not have official diplomatic ties.
The bill still must pass through the upper house of the Parliament, which is appointed by the king.
Bahrain has a close relationship with the United States and has been urging other Arab countries to initiate contact with Israel. In July, Bahrain’s Crown Prince Sheik Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post saying that the Arab world had not done enough to establish contact with Israel.
This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.