DEBKAfileÂ’s military sources report that Palestinian Jihad Islami, Ahmed JibrilÂ’s PFLP-General Command and Palestinian crime gangs based in S. LebanonÂ’s Burj Shimali east of Tyre are leading the rocket offensive against Nahariya and coastal Galilee. Early Wednesday, an Israeli air raid struck a village house in this sector east of Tyre, causing 10 deaths, according to Lebanese officials.
DEBKAfile further discloses that the rocket fire against the eastern town of Safed emanates from the Maronite Christian village of Rumeish, while the Galilee panhandle villages and the town of Kiryat Shemona are being attacked from the Christian villages of Marjayoun and Kleia in central-south Lebanon. One difficulty in halting HizballahÂ’s rocket barrage in the east has been IsraelÂ’s reluctance to attack Christian targets, except for pinpointing launch teams. Israeli negotiators are in contact with the village heads on terms for their evacuation so that Hizballah sites can be smashed.
Hizballah is using Lebanese Christians as human shields for its attacks and their towns and villages as supply centers to pump ordnance to the launch teams in forward positions. The Israeli air force therefore attacked Hizballah targets sheltering near the Maronite town of Zahleh Tuesday and is taking out every container truck heading west from the Beqaa Valley on the Syrian border. Eighteen such trucks were blown up Tuesday. |