Kindgo
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Jun. 24, 2002
IDF: Conflict on northern border 'unavoidable'
By ARIEH O'SULLIVAN
A major conflagration along the northern border, sparked by Hizbullah and quickly spreading to an Israeli retaliation against Syrian forces in Lebanon, is "unavoidable," a senior military officer said yesterday.
His comments came after Hizbullah again fired 57mm anti-aircraft shells at the Galilee Panhandle yesterday. One shell hit a house in Kfar Yuval and caused moderate damage. It failed to explode, but shattered a plateglass door. Shrapnel from other shells also damaged nearby homes. There were no casualties, the army said.
"The air force actions in the North are drawing Hizbullah anti-aircraft fire. This fire is not directed at IAF aircraft. This is directed at the State of Israel," OC Air Force Maj.-Gen. Dan Halutz told military reporters in Tel Aviv yesterday.
Lebanese security sources said the Hizbullah fire was directed at IAF aircraft conducting overflights in Lebanon. They said jets broke the sound barrier over Lebanon's Bekaa Valley and carried out mock raids over southern towns and villages.
IAF commanders said the aircraft did not cross the border, adding that when they do it is only on reconnaissance missions.
Israel has repeatedly passed on warnings to Lebanon and Syria that it would not tolerate the continued shelling. Senior IAF commanders have said that Hizbullah is firing the artillery directly at Israeli villages and that the shelling has nothing to do with Israeli flights.
Yesterday afternoon, a number of observers from UNIFIL in Lebanon came to Kfar Yuval to inspect the damage. OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Beni Ganz toured the scene and passed on a sharp message through the UNIFIL contingent saying Hizbullah was deliberately harassing residents in the North.
Last week, Hizbullah anti-aircraft shells set off a brush fire. Yesterday's attack was the third in a week.
Hizbullah has accumulated more than 8,000 Katyusha rockets and longer-range Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 rockets capable of reaching Haifa and its bayside suburbs. Israel has repeatedly passed on warnings to Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon, to rein in Hizbullah or face the consequences.
This sort of tension has been building for months and top IDF commanders do not expect it to be contained much longer.
"It's unavoidable. In school, we learned that if there was a pistol in Act 1 there would be a murder in Act 3," said a senior commander.
The conventional assessment in the IDF is that Hizbullah is laying "ambushes" that will force the IDF to retaliate, thus risking opening a second front involving Lebanon and Syria.
According to some military commanders, Hizbullah's steadily increasing arsenal will entice it to actually initiate a conflagration. The expectation is that even if the IDF retaliates against Syrian forces in Lebanon, Hizbullah will strike back hard at Israel with its massive arsenal.
In a related matter, Halutz said the IAF has modified its preparations to better protect Israeli skies from an airborne attack. He said new directives have been issued to anti-aircraft units, and the IAF is quicker to scramble jets to intercept suspicious incoming aircraft.
"Our finger is lighter on the trigger," Halutz said.
He added that aircraft are scrambled at least once a week to answer suspicious calls. Last year, the air force shot down a light plane piloted by a Lebanese man after he penetrated Israeli airspace from Lebanon and ignored orders to turn back.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satell...d=1023716540510
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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