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Rescue workers removing a body from the Israel Railway depot in Haifa hit Sunday by a rocket fired from Lebanon. (AP)
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IDF: Residents from Tel Aviv northward to 'be alert'
Rockets strike Afula, Jezreel Valley for first time; Hezbollah: We can hit anywhere
By Yuval Azoulay, Amos Harel and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies

Rocket barrages from Lebanon into northern Israel did not let up on Monday morning, landing across the Eastern and Western Galilee. Six people were lightly injured.

The rockets landed in Kiryat Shmona, Acre, Tiberias, Talal, Julis, Abu Snan, Kafr Yassif and other towns across the north.

Near Acre, a rocket hit a house directly, landing just a few meters away from a couple sleeping in a bedroom. Three family members in the house at the time suffered light injuries.

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Earlier Monday morning, thirteen Israel Defense Forces soldiers were hospitalized in Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya with smoke inhalation from a rocket landing.

A Katyusha barrage landed late Sunday in the lower Galilee's Jezreel Valley for the first time. (Click here for map)

Rockets landed in the city of Afula and the surrounding communities of Upper Nazareth, Migdal Ha'emek and Givat Ela at 11 P.M. At 50 kilometers inland from the northern border, this was the longest range rocket to hit Israel. There were no reports of injuries.

For Home Front Command safety recommendations click here.

Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah may decide to use the longer range missiles in his movement's arsenal against Israel, according to Israel Defense Forces assessments.

IDF sources say that use of such weapons will depend on authorization from Iran, which has equipped Hezbollah with long-range missiles and has played a formative role in shaping the character of the current fighting. If the confrontation continues to escalate, as it appeared to have done Sunday, the chances that Nasrallah's organization will launch such missiles increases.

The army is concerned that Iranian-made Zelzal missiles, whose range is estimated to exceed 200 kilometers, may be used, thus allowing Hezbollah to target the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Intelligence information suggests that the organization has a limited number of these missiles.

The IDF on Sunday told Israelis from Tel Aviv northward to "be alert."

The command said that in the event of a rocket strike, a siren will sound, alerting the public to seek shelter inside in a protected room or an area away from doors, windows and exterior walls.

Those caught outside at the time of the siren should enter a stairwell or get close to wall or shelter and lie down. The Home Front Command also told the public to await further instruction.

Hezbollah still has at its disposal a significant arsenal "of very many rockets of all kinds," Israel Air Force Commander Major General Elyezer Shkedy told reporters at a news briefing on Sunday.

Shkedy said that thus far the IDF has struck part of Hezbollah's array of rockets and that the goal of the military campaign against Lebanon is to "deal seriously with the infrastructure that has been built over the course of years."

The IDF's chief intelligence officer, Brigadier General Yuval Helmish, said that since the end of Operation Grapes of Wrath - the IDF's offensive in south Lebanon in April 1996 - Hezbollah has amassed over 10,000 rockets, some of which have a range of over 70 kilometers, and has dispersed the missiles in towns and villages throughout south Lebanon.

Nasrallah on Sunday said the IDF offensive on Lebanon had not depleted its large stockpile of rockets, and warned that the Islamic group could strike almost anywhere in Israel.

"We will continue. We still have a lot more and we are just at the beginning," Nasrallah said in a taped televised address on Al-Manar. "We promise them surprises in (any) confrontation."

Eight people were killed Sunday morning as rockets fired by Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon struck the northern port city of Haifa.

Nasrallah threatened "direct confrontation" if IDF ground forces entered Lebanon, adding that his guerrillas have "complete strength and power" despite Israel's five-day bombardment.

"As long as the enemy pursues its aggression without limits and red lines we will pursue the confrontation without limits and without red lines," Nasrallah said. "The enemy doesn't know our capabilities or what we have."

The Hezbollah leader said the IDF's offensive in south Lebanon "relied on false information," adding that "all the targets hit in south Lebanon were civilian. There were no bases or Katyushas there."

He urged Arabs and Muslims worldwide to support his guerrillas, saying his group was fighting Israel on behalf of them.

"Today, especially in this sensitive moment and after several military achievements and surprises, Hezbollah is not fighting a battle for Hezbollah or even for Lebanon. We are now fighting a battle for the(Islamic) nation," he said. "The peoples of the Arab and Islamic world have a historic opportunity to score a defeat against the Zionist enemy ... We are providing the example," he added.

Other communities in the north also came under attack from the rockets Sunday. Residents across the north were instructed to take cover in bomb shelters and secure areas.

All of those killed were in an Israel Railways depot located near an Israel Electric Corporation installation on Haifa Bay, according to the head of Magen David Adom rescue service.

The fatalities in the attack have been identified as Rafi Hazan, 30, of Haifa; Shlomi Mansura, 35, of Nahariya; Nissim Elharar, 47, of Kiryat Ata; David Feldman, 28, of Kiryat Yam; Shmuel Ben Shimon, 41; Dennis Lapidos, 24, of Kiryat Yam; Rafael Damati, 39, of Kiryat Yam; and Reuven Levi, 46, of Kiryat Ata.

Some 30 Israel Railways employees were in the depot at the time. At least 17 people were wounded in the strike, six seriously and four moderately. The wounded in the depot were taken to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.

Police reported a total of 53 injuries in Haifa and its immediate surroundings.

Following the rocket strike, authorities closed the Haifa port and diverted ships to the Ashdod port.

Israeli security officials said Sunday that Hezbollah hit Haifa with Syrian-produced Fagr missiles, which have a range of 40 kilometers.

Two salvos of rockets hit Ahuza, a central residential and business district of Haifa, and the border town of Nahariya. A rocket also struck Kiryat Haim, on the outskirts of Haifa, Channel 2 television reported.

Channel 10 television reported that rockets also hit the Checkpost business district on the Haifa-Nahyaria highway.

A subsequent attack hit a major street in Haifa, causing further injuries, police said.

Hezbollah warned that if the Israel Air Force continues its strikes on Beirut strikes, it would target petrochemical plants in Haifa.

The group said it intentionally avoided hitting petrochemical installations in Haifa, which houses Israel's major oil refinery, according to a statement read on Al-Manar.

"But the next time, it [Hezbollah] will not spare anything in Haifa and its surroundings," the statement said.

The Israel Defense Forces said over the weekend that more than 700 rockets have been fired at Israel since the start of the military operation in Lebanon, prompted by the Hezbollah abduction of two IDF soldiers last Wednesday.
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Ahead of Yom Kippur, one can see a growing trend of apologizing on the Internet.
Black and white sketch
Instead of a full portrait, the articles in this journal only give us part of the story.
  1.   Who to blame for killing civilians? 03:12  |  palestinian 16/07/06
  2.   Iranians are in Lebanon firing the rockets at Israel. 09:33  |  Joel Meyers 16/07/06
  3.   so what??? 09:47  |  charbel 16/07/06
  4.   1.Hizbollah and Hamas are to blame 09:54  |  KUTW 16/07/06
  5.   We all lose! 09:59  |  Diana 16/07/06
  6.   Attcking TA 10:00  |  JOJO 16/07/06
  7.   If Lebanon attacks Hizb, we can turn to Iran/Syria 10:02  |  Michelle 16/07/06
  8.   RE: Who to blaim for killing civilians 10:03  |  Daniel 16/07/06
  9.   don`t complain 10:04  |  giorgio 16/07/06
  10.   This is just the Beginning You will Get lot more Israel. 10:05  |  aaaaaaaaaa 16/07/06
  11.   Where is the Israeli People "STOP" 10:07  |  Nabulsian 16/07/06
  12.   Katyusha rockets hit three cities along northern coast 10:11  |  Muhammad Rashed 16/07/06
  13.   If you don`t like that Iranians in Lebanon so attack Iran 10:15  |  Palestinian 16/07/06
  14.   Perhaps the region needs to go to the brink 10:15  |  Raed 16/07/06
  15.   No for 2 states only ONE SATET PALESTINE 10:18  |  Palestinian 16/07/06
  16.   Who are to be blamed 10:19  |  a third party 16/07/06
  17.   #2 and #3 10:19  |  American sm 16/07/06
  18.   israel deserves it 10:20  |  tiziano 16/07/06
  19.   The real Nazi Beast is still in action 10:23  |  Sallam 16/07/06
  20.   Hezbollah asks the Civilians to leave Haifa 10:26  |  Palestinian 16/07/06
  21.   Haifa Burn ,ASSAD laugh 10:27  |  geo 16/07/06
  22.   Wake Up (stupid) Israelis - it`s Wartime! 10:28  |  Ilan 16/07/06
  23.   With us or against us 10:29  |  Father Christmas 16/07/06
  24.   All`italiano antisemita #18 10:29  |  Israeliano 16/07/06
  25.   Time for Israel to TALK peace 10:29  |  rosemary`s baby 16/07/06
  26.   With us or against us 10:29  |  Father Christmas 16/07/06
  27.   With us or against us 10:29  |  Father Christmas 16/07/06
  28.   whom to blame? 10:31  |  David Fisher 16/07/06
  29.   ShockandAwe 10:31  |  Houssam 16/07/06
  30.   Iranian? 10:33  |  Chris 16/07/06
  31.   no one wins 10:34  |  lebanese 16/07/06
  32.   Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should pay 10:35  |  George 16/07/06
  33.   to ISA GAT in LAX 10:36  |  Hussam 16/07/06
  34.   JOJO is an idiot 10:41  |  Christine 16/07/06
  35.   Zionists wanted to prove they were "tough" 10:41  |  The Russian 16/07/06
  36.   Must stop this 10:41  |  Tangier 16/07/06
  37.   who to blame 10:42  |  Avi 16/07/06
  38.   Target all Hizbollah leaders NOW 10:43  |  Dan Livni 16/07/06
  39.   why sensormy post 10:43  |  dov 16/07/06
  40.   Terrorists 10:44  |  Dan 16/07/06
  41.   I`m not so crazy after all 10:45  |  Yonatan 16/07/06
  42.   Peace! 10:46  |  Peter 16/07/06
  43.   Israel in ruins 10:48  |  Hussam 16/07/06
  44.   Fatalities in Israel this morning 10:50  |  Philip Rolle 16/07/06
  45.   Time to end this 10:51  |  JB 16/07/06
  46.   Arise Lebanon, kick out Hezbolah! 10:52  |  FOX 16/07/06
  47.   Not a good day for the Perles and Wolfowitzs of this world! 10:53  |  Dino 16/07/06
  48.   Israel = military state 10:53  |  16/07/06
  49.   canada 10:54  |  can 16/07/06
  50.   war is not the answer 10:57  |  eli 16/07/06
  51.   BRING GRAL. MOSHE YALON or BENJAMIN NETANYAHU as DEFENSE MINISTER 10:57  |  Arthur 16/07/06
  52.   symbol 10:59  |  walter 16/07/06
  53.   The big question is what is Israel Defense Forces are waiting for 11:00  |  Markusha 16/07/06
  54.   Palestinian state completely demilitarized and separated from the 11:06  |  Noura 16/07/06
  55.   Charbel 11:07  |  Asher 16/07/06
  56.   Thx God 11:07  |  khaled 16/07/06
  57.   israel will burn 11:07  |  adam 16/07/06
  58.   it is just the beginning 11:08  |  yohan 16/07/06
  59.   RE: Who to blaim for killing civilians 11:08  |  John 16/07/06
  60.   Apology for Europe 11:08  |  David 16/07/06
  61.   An explaination of why this is happening, and how to stop it 11:10  |  Shoshanat Yaakov 16/07/06
  62.   The true face of the ennemy 11:10  |  T 16/07/06
  63.   A weak leader is a magnetfor attacks 11:11  |  Raphael 16/07/06
  64.   What comes around, gets around 11:12  |  Jens 16/07/06
  65.   Civilians killed 11:15  |  Victor 16/07/06
  66.   Haaretz: technical problems with your talkback! 11:16  |  Nechama 16/07/06
  67.   Al MANAR is on air without any problem 11:17  |  Palestinian 16/07/06
  68.   gideon levy 11:20  |  zadok the priest 16/07/06
  69.   Zion shall be redeemed with justice &returnees with righteousness 11:24  |  Solly 16/07/06
  70.   An explaination of why this is happening, and how to stop it #2 11:25  |  Shoshanat Yaakov 16/07/06
  71.   Israel is at the last phase of its existence 11:31  |  Yusuf 16/07/06
  72.   Smart move Olmert, soldiers still captive and now dead Israeli`s. 11:40  |  Joe 16/07/06
  73.   World Tacitly Approves of Israeli Actions 11:49  |  Bootsy 16/07/06
  74.   America inviting more September 11s 11:50  |  Hussam 16/07/06
  75.   israel vs lebanon 11:50  |  ben yamin abraham 16/07/06
  76.   #66 technical problems with Haaretz talkback 11:51  |  Peter Vos 16/07/06
  77.   time to Raze Gaza and Lebanon 11:51  |  Steve