Hizbollah fires new long-range rocket into Israel

JERUSALEM - Hizbollah fired scores of rockets into Israel today, including at least one that the Lebanese guerrilla group said was a new long-range missile, wounding at least 13 people, police and the army said.

The longer-range rocket landed in an open area near the town of Afula, about 50 km from the Lebanese border. It matched the furthest distance that Hizbollah rockets had landed inside Israel since the conflict began on July 12.

Hizbollah said it had fired a volley of "Khaibar 1" rockets at Afula, apparently a new type of armament.

An army spokeswoman said seven rockets landed in the Afula area, two of which had landed inside the town. The other five landed in open areas near Afula, which is about 35 km southeast of Israel's third largest city, Haifa.

Commenting on one of the rockets that landed in an open area, a police spokesman said: "Based on the damage at the site, police can confirm one rocket had around 100 kg of explosives."

"Police bomb disposal experts can confirm it was a new type of rocket that was fired. What it is has still not been identified," he said, adding that no one was wounded.

He said it was not an Iranian-made Zilzal rocket, which has a range of about 210 km and would have put the Israeli commercial capital Tel Aviv within reach.

Displaying the burned remains of one of the rockets, northern police chief, Dan Ronen, told reporters in Afula: "We are speaking about a rocket carrying more explosives and a range of plus or minus 100 km".

"They (Hizbollah) are waging war on the home front."

Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to take the war deeper into Israel, hinting there could be strikes further south of Haifa. The use of longer-range missiles is likely to trigger massive Israeli retaliation.

Israeli officials have said Hizbollah has received Syrian- and Iranian-made weapons. The group has said it has about 13,000 rockets, with ranges of up to 100 km.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said aircraft had hit a launch site in a south Lebanese village from which Hizbollah fired rockets at Afula today.

Around 105 rockets were fired into Israel, police said, hitting at least six towns in the north. The army said at least 13 people were wounded, two of them were soldiers who were hurt slightly from rocket fire in northern Israel.

An ambulance station was hit by one of the rockets in the town of Safed but there were no injuries, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said. The towns of Kiryat Shemona, Nahariya, Rosh Pina and Karmiel were also hit.

A rocket hit a hospital in Nahariya, causing damage but no injuries, Israeli media reported.

Hizbollah has fired more than 1500 rockets into Israel since the conflict erupted following a cross-border raid on July 12 into Israel by the Shi'ite militia.

Israel's offensive against Hizbollah has killed at least 459 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians. A total of 51 Israelis have died in the conflict, including 18 civilians.

- REUTERS