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Israel Retaliates for Hezbollah Attack
That didnât take long. EFL.
Israeli warplanes attacked suspected Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon on Sunday, hours after the group shelled northern Israel, killing a 16-year-old and wounding five others, including an infant. The boy was the first civilian killed in an attack by the guerrilla group in the area since Israel pulled out of southern Lebanon in May 2000, officials said. The attacks came amid an increase in border violence following months of calm, raising fears of wider conflict with Syria and Lebanon. Earlier Sunday, Israelâs foreign minister warned those countries to restrain Hezbollah, or "we will have no choice but to defend ourselves."
"And you mutts know what that means!"
Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said, however, that Israel is trying to avoid an escalation and would try to resolve the situation through diplomatic channels.
"Hey Bashir, control your dog or else!"
Also Sunday, Sharon told his Cabinet that the U.S.-backed plan for Palestinian statehood would not move ahead until the Palestinians carry out their pledge to dismantle militant groups. The military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, said later that Palestinian security forces werenât doing enough to stop attacks.
| They'll keep yapping and accusing the Israelis of not carrying out their end of the bargain, rather than attending to what they were supposed to do... |
Early Monday, an Israeli warplane broke the sound barrier over Beirut, triggering a sonic boom that woke sleeping people, police and residents said, a frequent Israeli tactic when tension rises.
"Hi, remember us?"
Palestinian legislator Saeb Erekat said it was Israel, rather than the Palestinians, which was failing to live up to its commitments.
"Hey, that ainât fair! Them Joooos ainât following the roadmap. We gotta excuse, weâre Palestinians!"
The cross-border fighting began this month. On Friday, Hezbollah fired artillery toward Israeli border posts, drawing return fire. It was the first such exchange in eight months. The military said the Israeli aircraft hit Hezbollah artillery positions from which the tank shells had been fired at Shlomi, a working-class town of about 6,000 people close to the border. Hezbollah said the shelling was in retaliation for the Aug. 2 killing of Hezbollah security official Ali Hussein Saleh by a bomb in his car south of Beirut. Israel refused to comment on the claim that it was behind the killing. The guerrilla group also fired anti-aircraft shells Saturday on Kiryat Shemona, but no injuries were reported.
| Israel's got to work on that 'Nope. Wudn't me!' defense. Always deny, even if caught lighting the fuse... |
On Sunday, 16-year-old Haviv Dadon was walking home from a summer job when he was hit by the anti-tank shell fired on the northern town of Shlomi. Five bystanders, including a woman and her 9-month-old son, were lightly injured, hospital officials said. At the teenâs funeral, mourners said they felt abandoned by the government. One shell exploded near a preschool and another hit near a shopping center, said the mayor, Gavriel Naaman. Video footage showed patches of blood left on a concrete staircase. The streets of the town were deserted by nightfall, with residents staying in their homes or in bomb shelters. "We are very afraid," said resident Lara Elhai, 50. "Any moment, they could shoot at us. Itâs the summer holidays, and we canât even send our children to the pool."
| That's because kiddies are prime targets for Islamists... |
The last civilian death in such an attack along the northern Israeli border happened June 24, 1999, when a Hezbollah rocket struck the city hall of Kiryat Shemona, killing two men. In response to the latest death, Israeli warplanes fired at least one missile near the village of Teir Harfa, about two miles from the Lebanese-Israeli border. No casualties were reported. A senior Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the warplanes hit the Hezbollah artillery positions that fired at Shlomi.
| So the Islamic heroes probably won't announce any casualties... |
Israelâs ambassador to the United Nations sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan holding the Syrian and Lebanese governments responsible for Hezbollahâs "acts of terror," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yonatan Peled said. Annan issued a statement piously condemning the shelling and urging "all governments that have influence on Hezbollah" to deter it from further actions that could increase tension. He also urged Israel to exercise "utmost restraint."
| "Yasss... Just let them shoot you up. It's the multilateral thing to do." |
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Sheik Naim Qassem said Sunday that Hezbollah "is fully prepared and ready to respond in the proper manner to any Israel aggression or threat."
"This anti-aircraft fire is fired as a reaction to warplanes that regularly violate Lebanese airspace," he said in an interview with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite station.
"Even though we ainât Lebanese, we defend their airspace! Never mind how the AA guns are aimed â thatâs our bizness!"
Posted by: Steve White 2003-08-11 |
