Hezbollah fires mortor rounds, katyusha rockets at Israeli outposts

Hezbollah guerrillas opened fire on Israeli outposts in the disputed Har Dov area Tuesday evening, drawing retaliatory strikes from the IDF. It was the ninth straight day that the Iranian-backed group bombarded Israeli positions.

Witnesses said the guerrillas fired mortar rounds, anti-tank artillery as well as 10 Katyusha rockets on the Har Dov area and the Golan Heights. The rockets did not appear to have fallen in northern Israel.

Israel retaliated with three air raids, firing at least five missiles at suspected guerrilla hide-outs. Israeli artillery gunners also shelled the Lebanese village of Kfar Chouba near the Sheba Farms area, damaging a house, villagers said. There was no immediate word on casualties.

Israeli warplanes and helicopters also flew over Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh in the city of Sidon on the Mediterranean coast. The Lebanese army and Palestinians fired at the aircraft, but no casualties or further attacks were reported.

After a brief interlude of just a few hours, around 10 P.M. Tuesday, Hezbollah fired anti-aircraft artillery on the town of Shlomi in the Western Galilee.

The fresh violence came in spite of assurances that the Lebanese government was not interested in opening up a new front with Israel at a time Israeli troops were engaged in incursions against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Hezbollah spiritual leader, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, said Monday that if Israel attacks Lebanon, Hezbollah will respond by firing Katyusha missiles that can reach Haifa.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah also turned up the rhetoric, warning of a wider confrontation if Israel caused a mass migration of Palestinian refugees. "There are people waiting for the front to expand from the sea to Mt. Hermon," Nasrallah said.

Nasrallah described the recent escalation as "serious," but said that Hezbollah and other Palestinian organizations would not make use of all the means at their disposal, unless Prime Minister Ariel Sharon left them no choice.