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Israeli officials: Hezbollah moving rockets among civilians inside south Lebanon villages
JERUSALEM (AP) - Hezbollah guerrillas have moved most of their rockets in south Lebanon among civilians in villages, an apparent attempt to avoid detection by Israel and U.N. troops, Israeli military officials said Sunday.The new moves are part of Hezbollah's reorganization after last summer's war, the officials said. During that 34-day conflict, Hezbollah fired almost 4,000 rockets at Israeli population centers, and Israeli land and air assaults caused heavy damage to Lebanese towns and neighborhoods. Lebanon criticized Israel for targeting civilian areas, while Israel said Hezbollah was to blame for operating among civilians and putting them at risk. Last summer, many of Hezbollah's rocket batteries were located in unpopulated rural areas, where the guerrillas dug networks of tunnels and fortifications, the officials said. But the army's new intelligence indicates that those positions have now largely been abandoned in favor of populated villages, which provide better cover for the group's activities. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject. The U.N.-brokered cease-fire that ended the war expanded UNIFIL, the international peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, to 13,000 troops, entrusting it with ensuring that Hezbollah is not rearming near the Lebanon-Israel border. Yasmina Bouziane, a UNIFIL spokesman in Lebanon, refused to comment on the Israeli charges. A Hezbollah official in Beirut also refused to comment on the allegations. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, said only that in the past Hezbollah guerrillas fired rockets at Israel from valleys and mountainous areas and not from inside villages. "Who are you gonna believe, me, or your own lying eyes?" The Israeli officials said Hezbollah's postwar efforts also include the construction of new fortifications north of the Litani River, farther from the Israeli border and out of UNIFIL's jurisdiction. Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-07-23 |
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