ariweiner
06-08-2004, 02:19 PM
Hizbollah Attacks Israeli Posts in Shebaa Farms
Tue Jun 8, 2004 12:53 PM ET
By Afif Diab
KFAR SHOUBA, Lebanon (*******) - Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrillas attacked Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms area Tuesday, one day after Israeli warplanes raided a Palestinian base near Beirut.
Israeli military sources in Jerusalem said one Israeli soldier was lightly wounded in the attack involving anti-tank missiles and mortar shells.
Residents in Kfar Shouba village on Lebanon's border with Israel said Israel responded with artillery fire on nearby villages. Israeli warplanes also flew over the area and were fired on by Hizbollah guerrillas using shoulder-mounted anti-aircraft missiles, witnesses said.
Hizbollah said it was retaliating for an Israeli attack deep inside Lebanese soil Monday, itself a response to rocket fire at an Israeli navy ship in the Mediterranean earlier that day.
"Responding to the recent Israeli attacks, Hizbollah attacked two enemy Israeli positions at 3.05 p.m. (1205 GMT)," the Iranian and Syrian-backed group said in a statement.
Despite the violence, the head of Israel's northern command, said Israel did not want a flare-up with Lebanon.
"We have no interest in escalation; we want the north to remain quiet. On the other hand, we cannot allow (the peace) to be broken," Maj. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazy told Israel radio.
Hizbollah, which controls the Lebanese border area with Israel, says Shebaa Farms is occupied Lebanese territory, while the United Nations describes it as Israeli-occupied Syrian land.
An Israeli military source confirmed Israeli positions were attacked with anti-tank missiles and mortar shells.
"There was an attack on several IDF (Israeli army) posts in the area of Har Dov. We are still checking the situation," one source said.
Monday's Israeli air raid on the village of Naameh, 20 km (12 miles) south of Beirut, was the closest air raid to Beirut since Israeli troops withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000 after 22 years of occupation.
Security sources said Naameh was used by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). The group said the base was used as a medical center.
Ashkenazy said the air attack was "a signal to Lebanon and Syria that we cannot permit a situation...whereby Hizbollah or Palestinian groups fire at our forces or at our communities in the north."
Lebanon complained about the air raid to the U.N. Security Council. The United Nations called on both Lebanon and Israel to try to prevent further violence.
"Yesterday witnessed a number of serious and worrisome incidents across the Blue Line that carried a potential for escalation," Staffan de Mistura, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's representative in southern Lebanon said in a statement.
Tue Jun 8, 2004 12:53 PM ET
By Afif Diab
KFAR SHOUBA, Lebanon (*******) - Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrillas attacked Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms area Tuesday, one day after Israeli warplanes raided a Palestinian base near Beirut.
Israeli military sources in Jerusalem said one Israeli soldier was lightly wounded in the attack involving anti-tank missiles and mortar shells.
Residents in Kfar Shouba village on Lebanon's border with Israel said Israel responded with artillery fire on nearby villages. Israeli warplanes also flew over the area and were fired on by Hizbollah guerrillas using shoulder-mounted anti-aircraft missiles, witnesses said.
Hizbollah said it was retaliating for an Israeli attack deep inside Lebanese soil Monday, itself a response to rocket fire at an Israeli navy ship in the Mediterranean earlier that day.
"Responding to the recent Israeli attacks, Hizbollah attacked two enemy Israeli positions at 3.05 p.m. (1205 GMT)," the Iranian and Syrian-backed group said in a statement.
Despite the violence, the head of Israel's northern command, said Israel did not want a flare-up with Lebanon.
"We have no interest in escalation; we want the north to remain quiet. On the other hand, we cannot allow (the peace) to be broken," Maj. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazy told Israel radio.
Hizbollah, which controls the Lebanese border area with Israel, says Shebaa Farms is occupied Lebanese territory, while the United Nations describes it as Israeli-occupied Syrian land.
An Israeli military source confirmed Israeli positions were attacked with anti-tank missiles and mortar shells.
"There was an attack on several IDF (Israeli army) posts in the area of Har Dov. We are still checking the situation," one source said.
Monday's Israeli air raid on the village of Naameh, 20 km (12 miles) south of Beirut, was the closest air raid to Beirut since Israeli troops withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000 after 22 years of occupation.
Security sources said Naameh was used by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). The group said the base was used as a medical center.
Ashkenazy said the air attack was "a signal to Lebanon and Syria that we cannot permit a situation...whereby Hizbollah or Palestinian groups fire at our forces or at our communities in the north."
Lebanon complained about the air raid to the U.N. Security Council. The United Nations called on both Lebanon and Israel to try to prevent further violence.
"Yesterday witnessed a number of serious and worrisome incidents across the Blue Line that carried a potential for escalation," Staffan de Mistura, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's representative in southern Lebanon said in a statement.