Police Confirm Twin Katyusha Strike on Northern Israel

by Hana Levi Julian
January 8, 2008

Katyusha rocket launcher - file photo

(IsraelNN.com) Israel Police confirmed Tuesday morning that a pair of Katyusha rockets were fired at northern Israel overnight by unidentified terrorists in southern Lebanon.

Both of the 122-mm missiles hit the northwestern Israeli community of Shlomi, near Rosh HaNikra, damaging a home and an electricity pole. Shlomi is located close to the Lebanese border.

Parts of one of the short-range Katyushas were found on the balcony of an apartment in the town, according to the HNN news service.

Katyusha rocket - file photo

Shlomi town council head Gabi Na'aman told IDF Army Radio in an interview that several residents thought the noise they heard at approximately 2:00 a.m. was thunder. Rain poured down in the north overnight.

"This morning, we woke up and discovered they were Katyushas," said Na'aman.

Israel Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld confirmed that the rockets were fired into Israel from Lebanon but did not say where the missile parts may have been produced.

A similar rocket was fired from northern Gaza at Ashkelon last Thursday, the fifth Katyusha to be launched at the southern coastal city in recent years. IDF sources said that the Katyusha was apparently Iranian-made.