WHAT
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=98710
what the hell? I note that the article does not speculate that Israel could be trying to create and excuse to attack Lebanon...but I'm speculating.
banese Army defuses rockets pointed at Israel
UNIFIL, LAF step up border patrols
By Andrew Wander
Daily Star staff
Saturday, December 27, 2008
BEIRUT: UN and Lebanese military patrols along the Israeli border have been stepped up following the discovery of eight rockets connected to timers that were just hours from firing into Israel on Thursday.
Lebanese soldiers on a routine patrol discovered the Katyusha and Grad rockets after being alerted by a farmer who had found them armed and pointing toward Israel in Hammoul, northeast of Naqoura, military officials told The Daily Star on Friday.
If the rockets had been successfully fired, the attack could have represented a serious breach of the cease-fire agreement that ended the 2006 war. Israeli officials have reportedly warned that if the attack had not been thwarted, it would have caused "friction and fighting" on the Lebanese border.
The UN peacekeeping force in South Lebanon, UNIFIL, dispatched a team to assist the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in defusing the rockets, which military experts say would have launched themselves within seven hours of their timers being armed.
Yasmina Bouziane, a UNIFIL spokesperson, said that the incident had prompted a heightened security presence along the border. "Both UNIFIL and the LAF have deployed additional troops in the area to carry out patrols," she said. "The force commander is in contact with senior LAF and [Israeli military] officials regarding this."
She emphasized that the investigation into incident was being led by the LAF with UNIFIL assisting in a support capacity.
There has been no claim of responsibility and officials say it is too early to say who set up the rockets, but the area in which they were found is a known Hizbullah stronghold. In 2005, the resistance group launched their first unmanned drone nearby and during the 2006 war the following year the area was fiercely defended against invading Israeli soldiers.
The occasional cross-border rocket attacks that have occurred since the war ended have been blamed on Palestinian militant groups rather than Hizbullah. Hizbullah officials contacted by The Daily Star had no comment to make on the discovery of the rockets.
Experts who have seen photographs of the rockets say that they appear to be too outdated to be from Hizbullah's current stockpiles. "It's a very old model, maybe 30 or 40 years old, and with a short range. It doesn't look like a model that Hizbullah has in stock," said Timur Goksel, a Beirut-based academic who served with UNIFIL for more than 20 years.
He said that the modus operandi of those responsible did not match Hizbullah's usual tactics. "Firing rockets with timers is not Hizbullah's style," he said. "Why wait seven hours to fire a rocket when you can do it in 15 minutes? It doesn't signal a great deal of professionalism."
Goksel said that the rockets could have been set up by an unknown militant group trying to attract attention or an established Palestinian group trying to send a "message of solidarity" to inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, where a six month cease-fire between Hamas and Israel expired last week.
LAF officials warned that had the rockets fired, they would have constituted a "threat" to security. "Now they have been found they are more of a message," the official said. He refused to speculate over whether the rockets were part of a serious attempt to attack Israel, or were intended to be found before they were launched.
The discovery comes after a spike in tension between Israel and Lebanon following the capture of two farmers by Israeli troops near the border last week. The brothers say that they were on the Lebanese side of the border when Israeli troops crossed, tying them up and taking them to Israel. They were handed over to UNIFIL a day later apparently suffering from dog bites. The Israeli military say the two men had crossed the border and were interrogated as a result.
An investigation has been launched by both the LAF and UNIFIL to establish where the two men were when they were captured. The incident prompted condemnation from across the political spectrum in Lebanon. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora described the Israelis' behavior as a "violation," and Hizbullah issued a statement demanding to know how the UN Security Council would respond. - With additional reporting by Mohammed Zaatari
what the hell? I note that the article does not speculate that Israel could be trying to create and excuse to attack Lebanon...but I'm speculating.
banese Army defuses rockets pointed at Israel
UNIFIL, LAF step up border patrols
By Andrew Wander
Daily Star staff
Saturday, December 27, 2008
BEIRUT: UN and Lebanese military patrols along the Israeli border have been stepped up following the discovery of eight rockets connected to timers that were just hours from firing into Israel on Thursday.
Lebanese soldiers on a routine patrol discovered the Katyusha and Grad rockets after being alerted by a farmer who had found them armed and pointing toward Israel in Hammoul, northeast of Naqoura, military officials told The Daily Star on Friday.
If the rockets had been successfully fired, the attack could have represented a serious breach of the cease-fire agreement that ended the 2006 war. Israeli officials have reportedly warned that if the attack had not been thwarted, it would have caused "friction and fighting" on the Lebanese border.
The UN peacekeeping force in South Lebanon, UNIFIL, dispatched a team to assist the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in defusing the rockets, which military experts say would have launched themselves within seven hours of their timers being armed.
Yasmina Bouziane, a UNIFIL spokesperson, said that the incident had prompted a heightened security presence along the border. "Both UNIFIL and the LAF have deployed additional troops in the area to carry out patrols," she said. "The force commander is in contact with senior LAF and [Israeli military] officials regarding this."
She emphasized that the investigation into incident was being led by the LAF with UNIFIL assisting in a support capacity.
There has been no claim of responsibility and officials say it is too early to say who set up the rockets, but the area in which they were found is a known Hizbullah stronghold. In 2005, the resistance group launched their first unmanned drone nearby and during the 2006 war the following year the area was fiercely defended against invading Israeli soldiers.
The occasional cross-border rocket attacks that have occurred since the war ended have been blamed on Palestinian militant groups rather than Hizbullah. Hizbullah officials contacted by The Daily Star had no comment to make on the discovery of the rockets.
Experts who have seen photographs of the rockets say that they appear to be too outdated to be from Hizbullah's current stockpiles. "It's a very old model, maybe 30 or 40 years old, and with a short range. It doesn't look like a model that Hizbullah has in stock," said Timur Goksel, a Beirut-based academic who served with UNIFIL for more than 20 years.
He said that the modus operandi of those responsible did not match Hizbullah's usual tactics. "Firing rockets with timers is not Hizbullah's style," he said. "Why wait seven hours to fire a rocket when you can do it in 15 minutes? It doesn't signal a great deal of professionalism."
Goksel said that the rockets could have been set up by an unknown militant group trying to attract attention or an established Palestinian group trying to send a "message of solidarity" to inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, where a six month cease-fire between Hamas and Israel expired last week.
LAF officials warned that had the rockets fired, they would have constituted a "threat" to security. "Now they have been found they are more of a message," the official said. He refused to speculate over whether the rockets were part of a serious attempt to attack Israel, or were intended to be found before they were launched.
The discovery comes after a spike in tension between Israel and Lebanon following the capture of two farmers by Israeli troops near the border last week. The brothers say that they were on the Lebanese side of the border when Israeli troops crossed, tying them up and taking them to Israel. They were handed over to UNIFIL a day later apparently suffering from dog bites. The Israeli military say the two men had crossed the border and were interrogated as a result.
An investigation has been launched by both the LAF and UNIFIL to establish where the two men were when they were captured. The incident prompted condemnation from across the political spectrum in Lebanon. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora described the Israelis' behavior as a "violation," and Hizbullah issued a statement demanding to know how the UN Security Council would respond. - With additional reporting by Mohammed Zaatari