Nasrallah, Still in Hiding: "We'll Get Israel"

Hillel Fendel

Israel continues to be attacked or threatened on three fronts: Rockets from Gaza, rock attacks in Samaria, and warnings of vengeance from Hizbullah.

Trouble from Gaza
Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired five mortar shells early this afternoon (Tuesday) and three Kassam rockets this morning, hitting open areas in the western Negev. Another Kassam was fired last night, as well as at least one mortar shell. No damage or casualties were caused. Earlier this morning, Palestinian terrorists fired at an IDF patrol near the northern Gaza border fence. The soldiers returned fire; no injuries were reported. Also on the Gaza border, a bomb was detonated as an IDF patrol passed by on Monday; no one was hurt. Grenades and Rocks in Shomron
In northern Samaria (Shomron), an Arab was found to be carrying two homemade grenades. He aroused the suspicion of IDF soldiers when he arrived at a checkpoint near Shechem; they checked him and found the weapons. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who plans to arrive in the region at the end of this week, has been consistent in demanding that Israel remove many of these checkpoints.

Near Karnei Shomron, an Israeli vehicle was stoned on Monday afternoon, and two Molotov cocktails were thrown at another car on Tuesday morning. No one was hurt. Rock throwing incidents against Israeli cars and buses have increased in recent weeks in the northern Shomron, Kiryat Arba-Hevron region, and even in the Galilee.

IDF forces arrested seven wanted terrorists over the night in Judea and Samaria.

Hizbullah Chief Threatens While Hiding
Meanwhile, Hizbullah chieftain Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah continues to hide for fear of Israeli reprisals - yet threatens Israel with revenge attacks for the recent assassination of Imad Mughniyeh. In a recorded video speech in honor of the 40th day after the assassination, Nasrallah said, "Can Israel be erased? Yes! 1,000 times yes! ... We will get back at Israel for the killing at a time and place of our choosing" - language often used by Israeli officials.

Despite this, Nasrallah said that negotiations for the release of kidnapped IDF reservists Elad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, in exchange for hundreds of Arab terrorist prisoners, would continue. At least one of the two is believed to be dead, but Hizbullah refuses to divulge any information about them. The kidnapping of the soldiers in July 2006, which kicked off the Second Lebanon War, was apparently organized by Mughniyeh.

Not only has Israel denied killing Mughniyeh, many indications point to Syrian organization involvement. Even his widow originally blamed Syria, though she later backtracked.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday that Hizbullah's threats should not be taken lightly.

Mughniyeh's Blood-Filled History
Mughniyeh, Hizbullah's #2 man, masterminded nearly all of Hizbullah’s terror attacks, and paid for it twice: He was forced to live in hiding for many years, yet in the end was finally murdered nevertheless. He organized the kidnapping/killing of IDF soldiers Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Souad in 2001, and was also behind the 1994 attack on the Jewish-Argentine Mutual Association (AMIA) Community Center in Buenos Aires, in which 85 people were murdered and 300 others wounded.

Mughniyeh was on the US government’s Most Wanted List for having organized a carbomb attack on a US Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 in which 241 American military personnel were killed. He was also indicted in the US for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA flight; many of the passengers were held hostage for two weeks at the Beirut airport and in which a US Navy diver was killed.