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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scoobah who wrote (1471)	1/23/2002 12:57:50 PM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Respond to of 32591

(17:25) Hizbullah missiles pound northern IDF outposts By David Rudge and The Jerusalem Post Internet Staff Hizbullah forces began pounding IDF forward guard positions along the United Nations-designated international border between Israel and Lebanon around 5:00 p.m. today. In response, IAF fighter jets attacked Hizbullah positions in southern Lebanon. Israeli outposts in the Mount Dov area began receiving heavy incoming fire from dozens of Hizbullah-fired mortar shells and anti-tank missiles late this afternoon. International news agencies reported Hizbullah forces also fired Katyusha rockets at Israeli targets. The IDF confirmed there are no Israeli casualties at this time. Today's Hizbullah shellings are much heavier than previous cross-border attacks which have followed Israel's withdrawal from the security zone in May 2000. Lebanese security officials, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, confirmed Hizbullah forces shelled three Israeli positions in the Shaba Farms. It was not immediately clear whether any positions were hit, but witnesses reported heavy smoke billowing from the posts. IAF fighter planes subsequently attacked Hizbullah positions in southern Lebanon. Witnesses in Marjayoun, Lebanon, said an Israeli jet swooped over a hill in the Shaba Farms area, firing at least one air-to-surface missile. IDF artillery and tank units also responded to the Hizbullah attacks by firing some 30 shells at the guerillas' positions near the Lebanese village of Halta located along the international border. There was no immediate word of casualties on the Lebanese side. The IDF Spokesman has not yet issued a statement on the unfolding events. Earlier today, Hizbullah anti-aircraft gunners targeted an Israeli pilotless surveillance plane flying along the northern border with Lebanon. The anti-aircraft fire was aimed at the plane as it flew over Kibbutz Manara. The plane was not hit and there was no evidence falling shrapnel caused any damage within Israel, Israel Radio reported. Loud explosions were heard in nearby Kiryat Shmona and extra police forces patrolled the city's streets in an effort to calm down residents. Hizbullah forces last opened fire on IDF positions in the Mount Dov area on October 22, 2001. Over the past several weeks, Hizbullah has been preparing the Lebanese public and media for a renewed military confrontation with Israel. Hizbullah plans to create a new flashpoint along the northern border, in addition to the disputed Shaba Farms in the Mount Dov region, in order to have a pretext for continuing hostilities against Israel, the organization's leader in south Lebanon, Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, said last week. "The decision of the Islamic Resistance (Hizbullah's fighting arm) is that the Lebanese-Palestinian (Israel) borders should remain a cause of anxiety and pain for the Zionist enemy," Kaouk was quoted as telling the Beirut English-language newspaper The Daily Star. The aim is to undermine the legitimacy of the line demarcated by UN cartographers as the point beyond which the IDF had to withdraw when it pulled out of Lebanon in May 2000, in order to comply with Security Council resolution 425. In an effort to maintain international and domestic Lebanese legitimacy for armed confrontation with Israel, Hizbullah on Sunday said it had new evidence showing the Shaba Farms belongs to Lebanon, not Syria. Its proof consists of maps and documents purporting to show Lebanon once controlled land southeast of the "blue line" border with Israel delineated by the UN. The US is increasing pressure on Hizbullah. According to some reports, the US has placed it second on its list of terrorist organizations after Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida. Additionally, the US is pressuring the Lebanese and Syrian governments to curb the organization, which is still allegedly involved in terrorist activities abroad, apart from its attacks on Israel across the northern border. There is also growing discontent in Lebanon with Hizbullah's role, according to newspaper reports, and it appears to be losing popular support it garnered through what was previously seen as its legitimate fight against Israel's occupation of south Lebanon. (The Associated Press contributed to this report)