LEBANESE MINISTERS PUSH FOR CRACKDOWN ON HIZBULLAH
Several Lebanese ministers have called for an end to Hizbullah’s two-decade reign over southern Lebanon. The proposal was made during an emergency meeting of the Lebanese cabinet in Beirut on Thursday night.
The ministers reportedly said Hizbullah has gone too far in its battle with Israel. Hizbullah has had freedom to operate throughout the Shi’ite-dominated southern Lebanon under Syrian and Iranian sponsorship since the PLO fled the region in the 1980s.
Dozens of people have been killed and wounded in clashes between Israeli forces and the Lebanon-based Hizbullah, according to reports from both sides.
Israeli aircraft bombed the international airport in Beirut on Thursday morning in what some analysts are saying is the start of a war between Israel and Lebanon. At least 27 Lebanese were killed in the attack. Beirut said at least 55 people have been killed since Wednesday.
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This is the most extensive Israeli attack on Lebanon since the 1982 war.
Two Israelis were killed and scores wounded as Hizbullah continued bombarding towns in northern Israel with Katyusha rockets from southern Lebanon. Residents living near Israel’s northern border were instructed to go down to their shelters on Wednesday and Thursday. By Thursday evening Hizbullah showed it was true to its word and fired rockets at Israel’s third city, Haifa. However, in the minutes after the attack on Haifa, a Hizbullah spokesman denied his organization was behind that strike.
Israeli police forces are on high alert for fear of terror attacks in Israel. The Israeli army is also preparing to recruit reservists, and several units have been called up.
Israel wants to put pressure on the Lebanese government to clamp down on Hizbullah terrorists after eight Israeli soldiers were killed, and two were abducted in an operation on the Israeli-Lebanese border on Wednesday morning.
In the initial attack at 9:05 am, three soldiers were killed, three were injured and two were captured. Later, an Israeli tank entered Lebanese territory to seek out the captured soldiers, and was blown up with its occupants. An additional soldier was killed in the crossfire.
Israel withdrew its forces from Lebanon in May 2000 in a move that was praised by the international community. There have been several skirmishes on the border since then, but it has largely remained quiet.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday’s attack was “an assault of a sovereign country on Israel, without any provocation.” Israel is holding the Lebanese government responsible for Wednesday’s attack and for the fate of the two abducted soldiers, whose names have not been publicized.
Hizbullah Secretary-General Hasan Na’srallah called the operation and the kidnapping of the soldiers “our natural right” and said this is the only way to secure the release of Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Regarding the kidnapped soldiers, Na’srallah said they are in a “safe and faraway place.” He said they will only return home with a prisoner swap, which should take place through indirect negotiations.
The Lebanese government has announced it had no knowledge of Wednesday’s attack. The government refuses to take responsibility for the attack and for the kidnapping of the soldiers.
By The Media Line Staff on Thursday, July 13, 2006
