Lebanon, Israel target water infrastructure in attacks

Hezbollah rockets damage a wastewater plant in Israel. Israeli counter-attacks damage water systems throughout southern Lebanon, including tanks, pipes, pumping stations, and facilities along the Litani River.Hezbollah in fighting Israel aimed at getting each reservoir Hezbollah continued to fire more than 1900 Katyusha rockets and other rockets into northern Israel's towns and cities, including Nahariya, Safed, Hatzor HaGlilit, Rosh Pina, Kiryat Shmona, and Karmiel, and numerous small agricultural villages.

Hezbollah attacks have penetrated as far south as Hadera in central Israel, as well as Israel's third largest city Haifa, and Atlit and the Jezreel Valley cities of Nazareth and Afula. Al-Manar has reported that the Hezbollah attack included a Fajr-3 and a Ra'ad 1 liquid-fuel missiles, developed by Iran.One of the attacks hit a railr = oad repair depot, killing eight workers; Hezbollah claimed that this attack was aimed at a large Israeli fuel storage plant adjacent to the railway facility. The plant has not been hit to date.

Haifa is home to many strategically valuable facilities such as shipyards and oil refineries, and their targeting by Hezbollah is seen as an escalation.

CNN reported that many of the rockets that missed hitting cities or populated areas often caused forest fires inside Northern Israel.

By July 23, Israeli Magen David Adom emergency teams have been called to 505 rocket landing sites in which they have treated and evacuated 976 casualties (36 fatalities, 19 severely, 39 moderately and 278 lightly injured, and 604 anxiety attacks).

On 25 July Nasrallah announced the beginning of the "second phase of our struggle" in which Hezbollah long-range rockets would "go beyond Haifa," Israel's third-largest city. Israeli officials have been bracing for possible rocket attacks on Tel Aviv, which would mark a major escalation in the conflict.

The threat has not been carried out to date, but on 26 July 2006, 60 Iranian volunteers and Basijis set off to join in what they termed a holy war against Israel in Lebanon. The 60 men prayed near Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum next to Hezbollah flags prior to departing. The Iranian government has said that it won't deploy regular military personnel.

On 27 July Hezbollah launched 12 Khaibar-1 rockets (Hezbollah designation) at the Israeli town of Afula, which was already hit before. The Khaibar-1 rocket is estimated as having 4 times the power and range of the Katyusha rockets Hezbollah had, up to that point, used. The IDF claim that the Khaibar-1 is a modified Iranian Fajr-5.

30 July reportedly saw over 140 rockets fired from Hezbollah positions into Israel- the most fired on a single day since IDF Operation Change of Direction began.

Other sources put the figure of rocket attacks as 146.Commentators in Israeli newspaper Haaretz gave their analysis of what Hezbollah's rocket campaign strategy might be:

"Hezbollah's goals are simple, perhaps even attainable. Continuing the rocket fire, preventing Lebanon from becoming a step in the American vision for a new Middle East, and preventing its own disarmament. The group has no intention of renouncing its weapons in any cease-fire.