HA'ARETZ
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Hezbollah trying to provoke Israel; soldier injured in attack on outpost
Israel has been reaching out on the diplomatic front over the past 48 hours trying to get Syria and Lebanon to restrain the Hezbollah, which continued an assault on the Har Dov area yesterday, seriously wounding one IDF soldier. Meanwhile, two Katyusha rockets slammed into Israel near Kiryat Shmona during the past 48 hours.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres appealed by phone to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who promised he would use his influence, while Peres wrote to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, requesting that he ask Syrian and Lebanese authorities to stop Hezbollah guerrillas from amassing arms and troops across the Lebanese border.
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told Channel Two TV last night that "there is no chance the Hezbollah will do something without being sure the Syrians back them. They certainly would not operate all day, without any excuse, without their bosses, the Syrians, knowing exactly what they are doing."
Security sources note the Hezbollah has stepped up its attacks since March 12, when a cell penetrated Israel near Kibbutz Metzuba and killed an IDF officer and five civilians. Since then there have been seven Hezbollah attacks. Until March of this year, there had been about one Hezbollah incident every two months.
The security cabinet met last night, at Ben-Eliezer's request, to discuss the escalation on the northern border. Top defense officials said that "Israel's patience is wearing thin" and that if the diplomatic efforts fail, Israel will have no choice but to respond harshly to the Hezbollah's provocations, including attacks on Syrian targets.
The Peres letter to Annan warned that recent attacks against Israeli civilian and military targets could have "alarming consequences on the stability of the region." The letter requested Annan's "immediate and personal intervention" with the governments of Syria and Lebanon "to prevent any actions by Hezbollah or others against Israel." It was delivered by Israeli UN Ambassador Yehuda Lancry, who told reporters that Annan promised to contact immediately "the leadership of Syria and Lebanon and inform Security Council members."
Peres said Israel had received "alarming information" over the past 48 hours that Hezbollah had "massively reinforced its deployment in close proximity to the blue line in a fashion that clearly indicates preparations are being made for further attacks against Israel."
The "blue line" is a border between Israel and Lebanon marked by the UN a month after Israel ended its occupation of southern Lebanon in May 2000. Both Lebanon and Syria have disputed the line ever since. Annan told a closed session of the UN Security Council earlier this week that the Hezbollah had committed "serious violations" of the blue line, and that the security council's approval of the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000 meant that "no side has the right to violate the blue line." The IDF remains in the Shaba farms area of some 25 square kilometers, which Beirut says is part of Lebanon. But the UN says it belongs to Syria unless the two nations sign a formal pact changing the border.
The Hezbollah began attacking Israeli positions in the Shaba farms area on Tuesday, and Israel responded with artillery and at least four missiles from warplanes at the edges of the nearby Lebanese border town of Kfar Shouba. At this stage, say military sources, Hezbollah is still trying to provoke Israel into a massive retaliation, which Jerusalem is trying to avoid.
The reserve soldier, from the IDF Alpine forces, was wounded at the Astra outpost on the border between Mt. Hermon and Mt. Dov, during a Hezbollah barrage of anti-tank weapons that began around 6:30 P.M. Dozens of anti-tank weapons and mortars were fired at the area over the past two days. The soldier was wounded by shrapnel.
The two Katyushas, one fired on Tuesday morning and the other yesterday morning, were the first since the May 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon. In an Israeli response on Tuesday, a local Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon was killed.
But Israel is not certain that Hezbollah is necessarily responsible for all the attacks of the past two days. it is possible that the Katyushas were fired by Palestinian organizations, which might also be responsible for anti-tank fire at the Levana outpost in Western Galilee earlier this week. Lebanon reports yesterday said that Beirut had arrested a local Fatah commander for the shooting.
By Amos Harel, Aluf Benn and Shlomo Shamir
...kéretik odafigyelni:"
Lebanon reports yesterday said that Beirut had arrested a local Fatah commander for the shooting."
