Rockets fired at northern Israel

January 8, 2009

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Katyusha rockets fired on northern Israel caused Israelis to worry that a second front had been opened in its conflict with Hamas.

One of at least three rockets fired Thursday morning on the border community of Nahariya crashed through the roof of an old-age home. It landed in the kitchen as 25 residents were eating in the dining hall next door. Two elderly Israelis were injured.

Ynet quoted an Israeli army spokesman in the area as saying that the attacks were carried out by Palestinian factions in Lebanon that want to force Israel into war. Some 400,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces retaliated by shelling the area from where the Katyushas were fired.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora condemned the attack on Israel and Israel's response.

Hezbollah, the terrorist organization with whom Israel fought a monthlong war in 2006, has denied any connection with the attack, according to Lebanese information minister Tarek Mitri.

The missiles were fired from the same southern Lebanon town where last month the Lebanese army found eight Katyusha rockets set on timers to be fired at Israel. Those rockets were defused.

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