Here's some more on those longer-range Hezbollah rockets mentioned in today's Rapid Fire:
Hezbollah called the rockets the Khaibar-1. They fell more than 30 miles south of the Lebanese border. A few other rockets have traveled this far, but it was still unusual, according to the Israeli military and police.
The rockets are capable of carrying more than 200 pounds of explosives, making them much more powerful than the Katyusha rockets that Hezbollah has been firing most of the time, Israeli authorities said.
American and Israeli officials believe that the rocket Hezbollah referred to as a "Khaibar-1" appears to be an upgraded version of the Fajr-3, a rocket that Iran has supplied to the terrorist network and that Hezbollah has used often during the conflict. The rocket fired today has an estimated range of 90 kilometers, which makes it the longest range rocket fired thus far. Officials said that it is still unclear whether the rocket is actually a Fajr-5 which Iran has also given to Hezbollah or a new model altogether. [The Jerusalem Post and Ynetnews both argue differently -- ed.] Hezbollahs leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, said earlier in the week that his Shiite group would strike beyond Haifa, about 20 miles inside Israel, which has been the southernmost city to come under regular attack.
One thing the weapon was not, according to Israeli authorities, was "an Iranian-made 'Zilzal' rocket, which has a range of about 210 km (130 miles) and would have put the Israeli commercial capital Tel Aviv within reach."
That honeymoon is looking less and less likely, all of the time...
(Big ups: SOI)
