Israeli intelligence ties Hizbullah to Palestinian attacks
Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Tuesday, November 28, 2000
JERUSALEM — Israel has accused the Palestinians and the
Iranian-backed Hizbullah of coordinating attacks against the Jewish state.
Israeli officials said the Palestinian Authority, through its Islamic
allies, has been coordinating with the Lebanese Hizbullah during the current
mini-war in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They said Hizbullah has been
preparing Palestinian squads for attacks along Israel's northern border.
During a Cabinet meeting on late Sunday, intelligence officers said
Hizbullah wants to increase tension along the northern Israeli border to
both decrease Israeli military pressure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and
demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinians. The officers warned of
additional and larger Hizbullah attacks.
Transportation Minister Amnon Shahak has linked the PA military campaign
with the Hizbullah bombing of an Israeli military patrol on Sunday. An
Israeli soldier was killed in the Hizbullah attack.
"I am sure that there is an indirect line between the two things,"
Shahak said. "I haven't heard of a direct line."
But Shahak and other Israeli officials said Hizbullah has been helping
the Palestinians in Lebanon plan attacks on the Jewish state. They said an
infiltration attempt along the Israeli border earlier this month was by a
Palestinian squad helped by Hizbullah.
The officials said they are concerned that the Palestinians are being
trained and equipped by Hizbullah and its Iranian sponsor for an escalation
along Israel's northern border. Israel retaliated for Sunday's bombing by
shelling and strafing suspected Hizbullah positions in southern Lebanon.
The United Nations has called on Lebanese army troops to be deployed
along the border. But Israeli officials said UN peacekeepers have refused to
maintain order or stop infiltration attempts.
Officials said that Israeli military intelligence chiefs have told the
Cabinet that Damascus is encouraging the Hizbullah attacks as part of an
effort to ensure Syrian rule in Lebanon. The chiefs said Hizbullah
secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah has become an ally of President Bashar
Assad to counter increasing calls by Lebanese for a withdrawal of Syrian
troops from their country.
The intelligence sources are raising the prospect that the calls in
Lebanon for the withdrawal of Syrian troops are being encouraged by
Damascus's longtime rival, Iraq. Iraq helped a previous effort to expel
Syrian troops from Lebanon in the late 1980s.
For their part, Syrian sources have dismissed a claim by Lebanese
parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri that Assad had ordered an imminent
redeployment of Syrian troops from Lebanon. The sources told the
London-based Al Hayat daily on Monday that Syria has not set a date for
redeployment.
On Monday, Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri left for Damascus on
what officials said was an unplanned visit. Hariri's chief ally, Walid
Jumblatt, has angered Assad by his repeated calls for a reassessment in
Lebanese relations with Syria.
Tuesday, November 28, 2000
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