2 Arab Israeli Boys Killed By

2 Arab-Israeli Boys Killed by Hezbollah in Nazareth
Chemical Stores Moved from Haifa

Hizbullah fired many katyusha rockets into Israel again on Wednesday, killing two Arab-Israeli boys in Nazareth and lightly wounding 9 others with shrapnel.

Hizbullah’s katyushas are extremely imprecise, so that in firing them at Israel the fighters are engaging in indiscriminate fire on civilian populations, which is a war crime.

Al-Bawaba says, “Katyushas also hit Nahariya in the late afternoon. Some 70 Katyushas were fired at Israel within the space of an hour. Earlier Wednesday, two rockets hit Haifa and others fell in the Western Galilee.”

Most of the katyushas appear to produce few casualties and do little damage, though some have hit buildings.

Xinhua reports, “Haifa, Tiberias, Karmiel, Acre as well as a number of communities in the Galilee in northern Israel were pounded by a salvo of rockets, which totalled about 70 within an hour, said the reports, adding residents were instructed to stay inside. According to the reports, injuries were reported in Tiberias . . . Meanwhile, four people were also wounded, one seriously, when a Katyusha rocket landed near Safed on Wednesday afternoon. “

In Haifa, a katyusha hit a bus and lightly wounded the driver, and another damaged the home of an Arab Israeli family. Some residents of Haifa seem to be blaming the Olmert government for its all-out war on Lebanon. Hezbollah did not fire its rockets until Israel began bombarding Lebanon. Haifa is known for having a significant Arab population and for relatively good Arab-Israeli relations in the city.

Reports say that Haifa as a city is paralyzed and its commerce has ground to a halt, with streets deserted and shops closed up. An Israeli in Canada described the situation of her elderly parents in Haifa: ‘ “They’re forced to dash to a local grocery store and then dash back and must stay shut into their apartment all day watching television, “which isn’t easy,” she said. “There hasn’t been much damage to the city physically, but there’s been huge damage spiritually. Everything has changed now that they’re living in war.” ‘

The Israeli Army has removed most of the dangerous chemicals from Haifa Port. The chemicals had become a hazard once Haifa began taking rocket fire. On Sunday, Hizbullah leader Shaikh Hasan Nasrallah said that he could have hit the chemical stores with rockets if he had wanted to, and implied that he could yet take this [monstrous] step.

Although the conflict is costing Israel an estimated $112 million per day, mainly in lost tourism and lost factory time, economists do not expect it to have a substantial economic impact. Israel’s economy has been experiencing robust growth, and the fighting is not forecast to detract from it in a major way.