Rocket Barrage in Israel Kills 6 People

The latest attacks by Hizbollah in Israel - Rocket Barrage in Israel Kills 6 People.

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Hezbollah rocket attacks killed six people in northern Israel Thursday and injured many others, Israeli police said. Meanwhile, Hezbollah's chief spokesman said that his group will not agree to a cease-fire until all Israeli troops leave Lebanon.

The six rocket fatalities were the most in a single day since eight people were killed July 16 when a rocket struck a train maintenance depot in Haifa. At least 100 rockets hit northern Israel within several minutes, killing at least two people in Acre and three in Maalot. In Acre, some people came out of their shelters after an initial rocket barrage to see where the missiles fell. A new round of rockets struck the town, killing two people who were standing on their balcony, Mayor Shimon Lankry told Israel's Channel 2 Television. Five other people were injured, one critically and four seriously, he said. At least three people were killed in Maalot when rockets hit an open area, Mayor Shlomo Buhbut told Channel 10 television. Two were killed immediately and a third died on the way to the hospital, he said. ''It is a black day for our community,'' he said. It was not immediately clear where the sixth fatality occurred.

Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahal made his demands about the cease-fire during a live interview with Al-Jazeera television. ''Declaring a cease-fire is not the concern of the people of Lebanon as long as there is one Israeli soldier on Lebanese soil -- even one meter (into Lebanon),'' he said. ''We will not accept any (Israeli) soldier staying on Lebanese territory, and it is the right of every Lebanese to fight until liberation.''

Mr. Rahal should perhaps have thought about that before launching a raid into Israel and kidnapping two Israeli soldiers - if Hizbollah hadn't done that, there wouldn't be any Israeli soldiers on Lebanese soil. Statements like this also really put the lie to those who see Israel as the sole cause of this war, who see Israel as solely intransigent, who somehow see Hizbollah as a purely "resistance" organization. Right. A resistance organization whose main tactic is to try to kill, and then succeed in killing, Israeli civilians.

UPDATE - Jameel reports 8 Israelis dead in Katyusha attacks today - 5 in Akko, 3 in Ma'alot.