Two-Front War Rages--Northern Israel Under Hizbollah Rocket Attack

One person was killed and 28 people wounded when Hizbollah launched four Katyusha rockets at the Northern Israeli town of Nahariya on Thursday morning, Israel time. The fatality occurred when a Katyusha rocket struck the roof of an apartment building (see photo at left), killing a woman who had been sitting on her balcony. As reported in the Jerusalem Post, more than 50 rockets launched from Lebanon fell on northern Israeli cities and towns on Thursday morning. The Post story notes:

"Katyushas also fell on Thursday morning in Kfar Nasi in the Galilee and in Kibbutz Mahanayim, signifying an increase in the range of Katyusha rockets to 20-25 kilometers. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the attacks. Hizbullah said that in some of its attacks it was using a rocket called "Thunder 1" for the first time, which may have a longer range than older Katyushas.

"So far on Thursday morning alone, there have been confirmed Katyusha attacks on Nahariya, Rosh Pina, Kibbutz Hagoshrim, Kibbutz Mishmar Hayarden, Gadot, Kfar Nasi, Beit Hillel, Kibbutz Mahanayim, Kibbutz Kabri, Mount Hermon, Netiv Haasarah, Mount Meron, Shlomi, Zar'it."

Instead of backing off, Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has doubled down. It is characteristic of tyrants and dictators that they underestimate the strength of will of democracies, mistaking a democratic people's reluctance to go to war for weakness. As the Japanese discovered on December 8, 1941, and the Taliban and al Qaida discovered on September 12, 2oo1, at some point, attacks on a democracy awaken a sleeping giant. Israel has been asleep since its withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000, or even, some would say, since entering into the Oslo Accords in September 1993. I believe, I hope, I pray that the attacks launched by Hamas in the South and Hizbollah in the North have finally awakened the Israeli people and their leaders. In any case, I place my faith on the Guardian of Israel, who never sleeps or slumbers.