NORTHERN ISRAEL, 1999 FEB 6 (AP) --  Hezbollah has launched a massive
rocket strike against northern Israel this afternoon.  The first of
five volleys of Katyusha rockets hit just before 3 PM.  Ambulance
drivers said two Israeli women were slightly wounded by shrapnel.

Four more volleys were fired within an hour.  One rocket landed in a
market in Kiryat Shmona, killing 22 and wounding 76.  Thousands of
people in Kiryat Shmona and another border town, Metulla, took cover
in shelters during the bombardment.  An officer with the U.N.
peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said more than 30 rockets
were fired.

Hezbollah released a statement stating that the rocket attack "was in
retaliation of continued flagrant Israeli miltary action."  They went
on to cite the recent Israeli attack on a civilian car on the
Beirut-Damascus road.  This attack resulted in the death of Hezbollah's
Deputy Chief of Southern Operations, Sa'ad Shazly.

In a press conference about these latest attacks, Israel blasted Syria
for the ability of Hezbollah to launch these rocket assaults: 
"We have warned the Syrians about ... what may happen," the Israeli
Minister of Defense told reporters. "There is a Syrian military
presence in Lebanon ... Whether it wants to or not, Syria must bear
responsibility for these actions."