Rocket kills Arab teen in her home

By DAN IZENBERG
Sixteen-year-old Doa Abbas was killed on Tuesday when a missile fired by Hizbullah crashed through the roof of her home in the Arab village of Mughar, near Tiberias, and landed in her living room. Her sister Hanna was wounded in the blast, while her mother Imtiad and brother Hani suffered from shock. According to witnesses in the mixed Muslim-Christian-Druse town of 18,000, six or seven missiles were fired toward Mughar. Several of them landed in the fields outside town, but at least two hit the built-up area. According to reports, another resident was seriously wounded in the attack. Neighbors said the warning siren went off after the missiles had fallen. It marked the third death of an Israeli Arab since the fighting between Israel and the Hizbullah erupted two weeks ago. Last week two young brothers were killed in a rocket explosion in Nazareth. Doa's mother, sister and brother were rushed to Poriya Hospital in Tiberias. However, they all left a few hours later to attend Doa's funeral, which was to take place at 7 p.m. The young girl's father, Husni, a shepherd, was out in the fields tending his flock when the Katyushas struck. A neighbor, a member of the security forces who asked not to be identified, told The Jerusalem Post that he ran out of his house and up into the empty fields above to see where the rockets had fallen. He saw the rocket that struck the Abbas home and told Husni to hurry back. A red-eyed Abbas reached the house after his family had been whisked away to the hospital. "May God have mercy on my daughter and everyone else," he said, looking overwhelmed. "With God's help, there will be peace and no one else will get hurt." The simple, one-story stucco house looked almost completely intact except for a hole in the roof and a blown-out window. A relative who accompanied the family to the hospital told the Post that after penetrating the roof, the missile landed on the floor, changed direction, and skidded across the room, striking Doa in the stomach. Another part of the rocket flew out the window. The relative said some of the debris from the missile was found 400 meters from the house. A neighbor, Muhammad Abu Shami, refused to blame anyone for the attack. "I want peace, nothing else. I don't like politics. I don't know about Hizbullah. I don't know about Israel. I have three children and I want peace, peace, peace." Asked whether people in Mughar supported Hizbullah, Abu Shami replied, "Don't ask me such questions." The neighbor who refused to identify himself strongly supported Israel. "This is a war against all of Israel," he said. "We must be strong. I live in Israel and I'm proud of it." He said he had not been surprised by Tuesday's attack because many missiles had already fallen around the town.