Syrian rebel rocket attacks from inside Lebanon on Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut were the most explosive signs yet that another civil war will blow up in Lebanon and leave with Israel with an unstable and uncertain enemy from the Mediterranean Sea to the Golan Heights.

Several people were wounded, including at least three Syrians, according to Lebanese media.

Free Syrian Army commander Ammar al-Wawi warned that the rocket attacks were only warning signals of a more devastating offensive if the Lebanese government does not stop Hezbollah from fighting alongside loyalists to the Syrian regime in the civil war.

The rocket attacks, the first in Beirut since the two-year-old civil war began in Syria, came only hours after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said, “I say to all the honorable people, to the mujahedeen, to the heroes: I have always promised you a victory and now I pledge to you a new one” in Syria.

“The attack is a notice of a big upcoming explosion that can throw Lebanon into the painful events in the Arab region,” warned Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabban, according to the Beirut Daily Star.

“Launching Grad rockets from one Lebanese area to another is surprising and shocking and holds dangerous signs for Lebanon,” he added.

Marwan Charbel, Lebanese Interior Minister stated, “God willing, the events in Syria will not spill over into Lebanon, and we hope that we will have more men with more reason because we just went over 40 years of civil war.

Lebanese has not been stable for decades. After a devastating 15-year civil war in the 1970s and 80s, Syria in effect ran the country, where it stationed thousands of troops.

The United Nations fingered Syrians being behind the bloody car bomb assassination of former anti-Syrian Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005.

Western pressure forced Assad to pull out of Syria as a new government offered faint hope for a more stable future, but Hezbollah’s strong presence in southern Lebanon gave it  a power base totally with pro-Syrian elements.

The civil war in Syria has already spilled over into the Golan Heights, where mortar shells and gunfire have become almost daily events.

The Galilee faces the same danger if the civil war spreads eastward.

Rada, an Israeli company, is gearing up for production of its new tactical radar that the U.S. Army and the IDF may use to pinpoint the source of mortar fire and rocket fire.

Rada has successfully tested its Multi-mission Hemispheric Radar (MHR), the independent Israel Defense website reported.

The U.S. Army asked Rada to carry out the test in the Negev last November, and the radar identified a mortar and a rocket, allowing rapid identification of the source, which then could be fired on immediately.

The radar tracks the trajectory of the fire and can locate the source of enemy fire and ground incursions.

Gaza terrorists attacked the western Negev with two rockets or mortar shells around 11 p.m. (4 p.m. EDT) Thursday, causing no injuries or damage.

The Color Red early warning siren of 15-20 seconds was not activated.

The latest violation of the Pillar of Defense ceasefire last November followed by 24 hours missile attacks on Eilat, which were probably lunched from the Sinai, officially under Egyptian rule but infested by Hamas and other terrorist gangs.

Terrorist in Hamas-controlled Gaza have attacked southern Israel with rockets or land mines at least three times the past month, and as usual, the government has said it won’t tolerate the challenge to Israel’s sovereignty. And, as usual, the IDF has responded “proportionately,” meaning hitting a couple of weapon factories and terrorist tunnels that are known to exist but are strafed only as an after-the-fact retaliation.

“We will not tolerate such incidents and will retaliate,” said Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, echoing statements made by his predecessor Ehud Barak.

Less than two weeks ago, Gaza terrorists detonated a bomb designed to blow up an army vehicle patrolling on the Gaza security road. No one was injured, but the vehicle sustained light damage.

Hamas has denied it arrested Salafist terrorists for rocket attacks on Israel two consecutive days earlier this month.

No matter who is in charge, the expected resumption of rocket attacks is a fact and marks yet another round of escalation of terror that follows every ceasefire, either by a few hours, days or weeks.

The government and the IDF repeatedly have gone along with Hamas’ game, agreeing to a ceasefire while openly stating that it won’t last.

Hamas is sitting on a huge stockpile of weapons, many of them far more advanced than mortar shells or rockets. Given its raison d’être of destroying Israel, every military officer knows full well that it is only a matter of time before Hamas uses the weapons against Israel.

After the Operation Cast Lead and Pillar of Defense counterterrorist operations four years ago and six months ago respectively, the IDF is ready for the next encounter, sooner or later.

Two missiles have hit Eilat today – at least two others seem to have hit the Jordanian city of Aqaba, though the Jordanians are denying it at this time. Early reports said two missiles hit Eilat – and two hit Aqaba…then it was changed to three, and back to two hitting Eilat. Jordan is apparently still in denial.

No injuries though it hit in the same residential areas where my husband and I vacationed just a few months ago. Israel has closed the airport in/out of Eilat lest the next potential missile target a plane with dozens aboard.

Eilat…

Eilat is a special place – removed from Israel in so many ways. It is a long distance between Eilat and the center of Israel, both in physical space and in mindset. We go to Eilat to forget the pressures of every day life – to remember the beauty that God has put on this earth.

Gorgeous desert views… Mountains to climb… Salt water fish in colors the mind can barely grasp… Tourist sites to entertain – some with Biblical references, like the theme park called Kings City; cruises, an ice skating mall…and so much more…

People go there to get away from it all – but today, the trouble came to them. To Eilat.

Visit A Soldier’s Mother.

In today’s Middle East, radical forces, which thrive on chaos, are on the rise; and those who rule the Arab states are here today and gone tomorrow.

Independence Day in Israel, which this evening starts celebrations for the 65th year of Israel’s Independence, takes place deliberately right after Memorial Day, dedicated to honoring Israel’s fallen soldiers, so the Israeli public remains keenly aware that independence is possible only due to the sacrifices made by the fallen.

This year, however, looks set to be decisive – when the world finds out whether the international community’s policy of engaging Tehran diplomatically, while applying biting economic sanctions, will work or not. Should the policy fail, military action remains a serious possibility.

Since Israel’s founding in 1948, Israelis have sought peace and seized upon opportunities to make it when they arose, such as Israel’s return of the Sinai Peninsula in 1979 in exchange for peace with Egypt, as well as departure from Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

“Despite everything,” said newly appointed Defense Minister, Moshe Ya’alon, “despite so many elements that wanted to prevent this country’s founding, and who continue to invest so much every day to destroy us – they arise here in our intelligence assessments, Iran, Hezbollah — nevertheless, there is no doubt, that what stands between independence and a lack of independence is the shield of the IDF. ”

“We have the great privilege of defending Israel and protecting its independence,” Israel Defense Force Chief of Staff Benny Gantz concurred this week at IDF General Headquarters in Tel Aviv. “I wish us a successful year of independence, in the face of the challenges that are emerging before us. I am sure we will know how to carry out our missions.”

While Ya’alon and Gantz have been studying the intelligence on the upheavals and multiple asymmetric threats developing on Israel’s borders, Iran and its nuclear program remain at the top of the security agenda.

Although a collapsing Syria no longer remains a conventional military threat to Israel — the Syrian army is engaged in fighting the rebels, while steadily losing its power — the crumbling Middle Eastern old order is allowing for a plethora of terrorist organizations to grow on Israel’s borders.

Hizballah, for example, an Iranian-backed Shi’ite terrorist group, remains with its estimated 80,000 rockets – an unprecedented number of projectiles – pointed at Israel.

Should Hezbollah initiate a future round of hostilities, the IDF has prepared a large-scale ground operation into Lebanon, aimed at extinguishing rocket attacks on the Israeli home front.

The Israel Air Force has also been busy preparing surprises for future conflicts. New technologies allow fighter jets to strike as many as 1500 targets in 24 hours. Israel’s reply to Hizballah aggression would be devastating.

Both Iran and Hezbollah are in the process of setting up a militia in war-torn Syria. This militia, made up of 50,000 fighters, will remain active in Syria even if the Assad regime is toppled.

Also in Syria, Al-Qaeda is planning to raise the flag of radical Sunni Islam, as its Syrian and Iraqi forces announce a merger.

In Israel’s south, near the Gaza strip, the IDF is also closely monitoring Hamas, which, at least for the time being, has remained deterred by Israel. Next door, however, the Sinai Peninsula is filled with Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadi fighters, who are planning their next cross-border attack.

The IDF is closely studying this complex map of threats, and making sure it is ready for the future. Today, with Israel’s military is at its strongest, the country is capable of dealing with its highly chaotic and dangerous environment.

Originally published at the Gatestone Institute.

See, this is a really good example of what is wrong with the world – or, at very least, what is wrong with the UK’s Express site (see image below).

Israel and Gaza attack each other? Excuse me? They fired rockets at us yesterday; they fired rockets at us today. They fired five rockets at us when Obama was here; and mortars have been flying too. And yes, early this morning, the IDF “struck targets in the Gaza Strip.”

But, I have several problems with this:

1. Gaza clearly “attacked” us first – and so putting Israel first isn’t very honest.
2. Attack each other implies there is no clear aggressor (note THEY fire at our CITIES, we fire at their military targets and rocket launchers).

Additionally, a Nov. 15 Telegraph Live Blog post on the Gaza war included this passage:

Jihad Misharawi, who is employed by BBC Arabic, lost his 11-month-old baby Omar. His brother was also seriously injured when his house was struck in the Israeli operation and his sister-in-law was killed.

Corrections: None.

Daily Mail. On Nov. 15, the Daily Mail published a sensationalist piece by David Williams, titled ‘What did my son do to die like this?’Anguish of BBC journalist as he cradles the body of his baby son who died in Israeli rocket attack on Gaza‘, which included multiple photos of Misharawi with his baby and the following passages:

“Tiny Omar…died after an Israeli airstrike on Hamas militants in Gaza.

Masharawi had arrived at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital after Omar suffered severe burns in an airstrike that sent shrapnel tearing into his home killing a woman and leaving his brother and uncle critically injured.

Corrections: None.

Spectator. David Blackburn published a piece titled ‘Israel’s public relations problem‘ which included the image of Misharawi with his baby, as well as the following passage:

The front page of today’s Washington Post shows a picture of the BBC’s Jihad Masharawi holding his dead 11-month-old son, an innocent victim of Israeli action against Hamas’ paramilitary targets following months of indiscriminate rocket attacks against civilians in southern Israel*

Corrections: The piece has now been updated, per the asterisk, and includes the following at the bottom:

*Since this article was published, a United Nations investigation has found that the incident described by the Washington Post was caused by the shortfall of a rocket fired by Palestinian militants at targets in Israel.

The Sun. On Nov. 15 The Sun published ‘The Innocents: Beeb journalist’s son dead, another hurt..babies hit as Gaza war looms,’ by Nick Parker, which included a photo of Misharawi and his baby, and this passage:

Omar was one of at least 15 Palestinians killed in air strikes as Israel retaliated over the Hamas missiles.

Corrections: None.

Turns out that GRAD rocket about which we reported this past Tuesday morning was intended to hit the Israel Electric Corp.’s power plant in Ashkelon on Israel’s southern coast. And as happens frequently there are competing claims of ‘credit’ for the failed attack:

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade initially claimed responsibility for firing the rocket, saying it was retaliation for Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jaradat’s death in an Israeli prison on Saturday. The terrorist group, associated with Fatah, had published a leaflet on Monday urging a harsh response against Israel for Jaradat’s death. On Thursday, though, Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack — a claim Israeli officials said was more credible. [IDF Chief of Staff Benny] Gantz, speaking Thursday with high school students in Rosh Haayin, said that Israel knew who was behind the shooting. He added that the IDF was working tirelessly to prevent further such attacks. “More information about our deterrence methods exists, but cannot be revealed,” he said. He said there was a possibility of more clashes with Gaza in the future, but rejected suggestions that Israel was facing a third Intifada. “I do not think we see such a thing unfolding before our eyes,” he said, referring to the recent upsurge of violence in the West Bank. “But the conflict level may rise, so we are prepared and we are convinced that we will know how to contain such events properly.” [Source: Times of Israel]

A November 2012 report said Israel was supplying 125 megawatts of electricity to the Gaza Strip from that same power station in Ashkelon, the one that has come under repeated rocket fire over the past six years. There is a power shortfall in Gaza, chiefly because the Hamas regime which rules Gaza has, as a matter of deliberate and very cynical policy, refused to allow the import of fuel from Israel, resulting in its one and only power station operating at 20% capacity.

Visit This Ongoing War.