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Lebanese
Flare-Up
Israeli
aircraft raid Hizballah targets in south Lebanon
after a Hizballah rocket kills one IDF soldier and wounds another.
Gen.(Ret.)
Amos Gilad:
"Air Strike Shows Hizballah, Terror Does Not Pay!"
Broadcast
January
20, 2004 on IsraCast.com
Transcript
Hizballah
has sparked new violence along the Lebanese-Israeli frontier.
It was a carefully planned trap. Hizballah first planted a series
of powerful land mines along the Israeli border. The explosives
were detected by the Israel Defense Forces which informed UNIFIL,
the U.N. monitors in South Lebanon. UNIFIL replied that it was
Israel's problem. The IDF first tried to detonate the mines
from a distance by firing live ammunition at them. However,
this did not work. An armoured bull dozer was then sent in to
do the job. In order to reach the mines, the bull-dozer apparently
drove some meters inside Lebanese territory to manoever into
position. It was then that Hizballah fired a rocket which they
filmed (see photo). One Israeli soldier was killed in the massive
explosion and another was critically wounded.
Twenty-four hours later,
Israeli aircraft carried out a twenty minute air strike on Hizballah
training bases and positions in
Southern Lebanon. Hizballah enjoys
free rein there. After Israel's total withdrawl from Lebanon more than three
years ago, a U.N. resolution obligated the Lebanese government
in Beirut to send the Lebanese Army down south to enforce peace
and quiet along the frontier.
This has never happened; on the contrary, Syria which dominates
Lebanon arms and equips Hizballah with Iranian weapons to attack
Israel. Israeli officials again made clear that Damascus
bears responsibility for the Hizballah attacks. Israel's Defense Minister Shaul
Mofaz warned that although Jerusalem is interested in keeping
the border quiet, the IDF will do what is necessary in the face
of the Hizballah provocations. The Israeli air strike appears to be in line
with this approach. It
was limited in scope. Last October, Israel carried out an air
strike on a terrorist training base near Damascus from where a
terror group planned a suicide bombing on the Maxim restaurant in Haifa which murdered
many Israeli civilians including a number of children. This air strike was a serious wake-
up call to Syrian President Bashaar Assad. Nonetheless, although the
new Syrian leader has called for new peace talks with Israel,
the Syrian transports he recently sent to Iran, flew back to Damascus loaded with a cargo of weapons for Hizballah.
Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who favors taking
up Assad's offer of peace talks, says the Syrian leader's peace
overtures do not mix with the latest Hizballah attack.Retired
IDF General Amos Gilad, now a defense ministry official, revealed
that this is the fifth time that Hizballah has planted the land
mines which threaten Israeli vehicles in the border area.
Gilad says Hizballah is trying to change the rules of the
game, but Israel will not put up with the terrorism.
Israel's air strike was to show Hizballah that terror does
not pay. In any case, Israel has apparently sent Hizballah a carefully calibrated
message, without a major escalation. That Israel will hit back, and its now Hizballah's
call; whether to back off,
or face the consequences.
David
Essing, Israel Hotline, Jerusalem
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