"Israel" deploys Patriot missiles fearing Hizbullah strike

Source: Haaretz, 18-02-2008
"Israel" has deployed a battery of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles near the northern port city of Haifa as part of precautions against a possible attack by Hizbullah in response to the assassination last week of the group's top commander Imad Moghnieh, "Israeli" security officials said Monday.
The officials said the battery was put on standby Sunday for the first time since "Israel's" month-long war with Hizbullah in the summer of 2006, when the Lebanese guerrillas fired nearly 4,000 rockets into northern "Israel".
Patriot batteries were first deployed in "Israel" during the 1991 Gulf War, but they failed to stop most of the 39 Scud missiles launched by Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
They were originally designed to intercept aircraft, and "Israeli" media reported their role in the current situation would be to shoot down bomb-laden pilotless planes as well as rockets.
The "Israeli" Military Forces said it was not its policy to comment on what a spokesman called operational readiness.
Defense (War) Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday he anticipated Hizbullah would try to retaliate for the assassination, possibly with help from Syria and Iran, and added that "Israel" was prepared on all fronts for an attack.
Hizbullah blamed "Israel" for last week's assassination of Hizbullah second-in-command, Moghnieh, in Damascus.
"Israel" has denied involvement, but is widely believed to have carried out similarly daring, complex and deadly strikes against other terror masterminds in the past.
Following the Moghnieh assassination, Hizbullah vowed to hit Jewish (Zionist) targets outside "Israel" in retaliation.
On Sunday, the Hizbullah head of the southern Lebanon region Sheikh Nabil Kauk said "It won't be long before the conceited Zionists realize that Imad Moghnieh's blood is extremely costly."