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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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