More Information On The Israel-Lebanon Fracas

I'm having a hard time deriving information from mainstream media as to some of the technical details of the conflict in the Middle East, so I've taken some time to round more up. Israel's military capabilities are well documented, but Hezbollah's capabilities are harder to ascertain.

Non-technical but very important, Israel has reportedly given Syria 72 hours to stop Hezbollah and bring about the relase of the captured IDF troops. Threats of attacks in Syria apparently were attached.

Hezbollah launched more than 75 rockets¹ into Northern Israel on Saturday. This seems to be the same pace they have maintained for the last few days. These are reportedly katyusha rockets. Hezbollah have reportedly begun firing Fajr 5 rockets.². For those that think Hezbollah is just a ragtag organization, Israel claims that Iran has bolstered Hezbollah's rocket inventory to over 10,000 units.³ The Fajr 5 is worrisome for Israel because it's 200-lb warhead has a range of 45 miles. This could threaten targets south of Haifa. This places a third of Israel's population, half of it's industry and it's main oil refinery under the gun. (see #3 again for references).

The attacks on Israel's navy drew blood from the INS Hanit, a Sa'ar 5 missile boat Friday at 20:15 while it was shelling Beirut Int'l Airport. It was struck by one of two C-802 'Silkworm' missiles launched.⁴ The Hanit is protected by a Barak SAM system. The first missile (which was adjusted to land amidships from above) missed and detonated in the water. The second (set to skim the water) hit at the helictoper deck at the stern. From what I can tell, there have been reports that the attack was carried out by 'unmanned vehicles' packed with explosives. This is reportedly a ruse meant to make it harder to see that Iran is directly involved in the conflict and to make Hezbollah look like McGyver or something. (this is mentioned at the bottom of reference #4)

• 1 - CNN.com - Siniora: Lebanon is a 'disaster zone'


• 2 - Wikinews: Hezbollah-Israel conflict continues, Israel ultimatum to Syria


• 3 - Hezbollah's Strategic Rocket Arsenal


• 4 - Hizballah Brings Out Iranian Silkworm to Hit Irsael Navy Corvette

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[...] If you are having a hard time keeping up with the conflict with Israel and Lebanon Hezbollah Iran, then you might want to check out Cory Watson's recent post. He is interested in military weaponry and is looking at the weapons being used in the conflict and what those weapons mean about allegiances. Very informative. [...]