[Israel] Security cabinet meets to discuss tension on northern border

Ha'aretz ^ | 4-3-02 | Amos Harel, Uri Ash and Daniel Sobelman

[Oldeconomybuyer]

The security cabinet met at 11 P.M. Wednesday, at the request of Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, in order to discuss Israel's responses to the rising tensions on the northern border with Lebanon.

An IDF soldier was moderately wounded Wednesday by fire from the militant Hezbollah group on the IDF post in Har Dov where he was stationed. The soldier was taken to Rebecca Sieff Hospital in Safed.

Hezbollah repeatedly fired anti-tank rockets and missiles at IDF positions in Har Dov throughout Wednesday, the fourth day of such attacks, despite efforts made by the Lebanese government to prevent an escalation in the region.

"The cabinet will meet tonight and we will have to decide
what our steps will be," Ben-Eliezer told reporters. "Up until now we have tried to contain the incidents in order not to bring about an escalation or open a new front."

But he said Israel could "not accept as a daily habit" attacks by Hezbollah, which he said must be acting with the support of its backers in Syria and Iran.

Lebanon tries to calm crisis
Beirut's newspapers Wednesday quoted a government source as saying that the Lebanese leadership had asked Hezbollah to avoid an escalation in the conflict with Israel along the border between the two states.

Hezbollah's Al Manar television station quoted the source as saying that the government had made the request as it believes that it would not be in Lebanon's interest to open a second front with Israel either in the south of the country or in the Har Dov area.

The source also indicated that a Katyusha rocket that fell in northern Israel on Tuesday was not fired from Lebanese territory.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan plans to contact the presidents of Lebanon and Syria following Israeli warnings that Hezbollah's attacks could have "alarming consequences" for the region, a UN spokesman said Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres asked Annan in an urgent letter Tuesday to demand Syria and Lebanon take immediate steps to prevent attacks and said Hezbollah was bringing in more fighters and artillery near the Israel-Lebanon border.

Hezbollah launched anti-tank rockets Tuesday at three IDF positions in the Har Dov region, on the Israel-Lebanon border. No injuries were reported in the attack, the third carried out by Hezbollah in three days.

Israel Air Force jets fired at the southern Lebanese village of Shaaba in response to the rockets. The attacks ended early Wednesday morning.

Reuters reported that IDF artillery units responded to the rocket attacks by firing shells at the edges of the nearby Lebanese border town of Kfar Shouba.

Later Tuesday, Hezbollah said that one of its fighters had been killed "while carrying out his task in the framework of holy war."

Early Tuesday morning, a Katyusha rocket fell in the northern Galilee, the first time a rocket has been fired since Israel's unilateral withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000. The Katyusha landed in open ground, and did not cause any injuries or damage.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

When Sharon meets with his security cabinet he generally is thinking of some arse that needs kicking.

[Thisiswhoweare]

They will also be discussing the shift of Syrian troops and tanks into the Bekaa valley, the stated purpose of which is to avoid confrontation with Israel in southern Lebanon. But I believe they have other intentions...heads up.

Link to UPI story... Syria shifts Lebanon troops toward Israel