Israel warns of water war with Lebanon

TEL AVIV — Israel is raising the prospect of a war with Lebanon over water resources.

Israeli intelligence sources said Lebanon is moving to divert the waters of a major river near the Israeli border. The Hasbani river flows into Israel's Sea of Galilee and is a prime source of water for Israeli farmers in northern Israel.

Intelligence sources said Lebanon has moved bulldozers and other heavy equipment to the Hasbani in an attempt to stop the water flow to Israel.

They said the the construction of a Lebanese pumping station near the border village of Raja appears to have been encouraged by Syria, which occupies most of the country.

"We are not talking about a diversion of the Hasbani," [Res.] Maj. Gen. Uri Saguy, head of the Mekorot state-owned water company, said. "What they [Lebanese] are doing is the unilateral pumping water from the Hasbani that hurts us. Water is security and you can't take unilateral steps."

The Lebanese move, the sources said, is a throw-back to the early 1960s when Syria tried to divert the flow of water to the Sea of Galilee. Israeli fighter-planes bombed the Syrian vehicles and the project was halted.

Israeli officials have warned that they will not allow Lebanon to continue pumping water from the Hasbani that flows to Israel. "Whoever takes unilateral measures will find themselves confronting unilateral measures," Saguy said on Israel Radio on Wednesday.

A senior Israeli military source said the Lebanese move was the most serious measure against Israel since it withdrew from Lebanon last May. The source said the 1967 Arab-Israeli war was triggered by water disputes between Israel and Syria and pledged that the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would respond to the Lebanese project.

"This is a test of Sharon," parliamentarian Michael Kleiner, a member of Sharon's coalition government, said. "We have to respond quickly and forcefully."

Lebanese sources said the project is meant to supply water to villages in the south. They said the project to draw water from the Hasbani began a month ago.

Israeli officials said Lebanon is being encouraged by Iran and Syria to escalate tensions along the southern border with Israel. They said the Hizbullah movement has been given freedom of movement to attack positions in northern Israel and said this should result in Lebanon being classified as a terrorist sponsor by the United States. The officials said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would make such a request during his meeting with President George Bush in Washington next week.

"I don't think that Syria is doing anything to rein in Hizbullah, neither in weaponry nor in organization," Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said. "Syria has become the conduit between Teheran and Hizbullah."

The Hasbani is the largest of three sources of water to the Sea of Galilee. Lebanese officials have long charged that Israel has stolen waters from the Hasbani.

The Lebanese project is expected to further escalate tension along the border with Israel. This, as the United Nations is preparing to reduce its presence in southern Lebanon. Officials said a decision regarding the interim force will be made by July.

Irish Defense Minister Michael Smith said his government will withdraw the battalion that serves in the peacekeeping force later this year. Smith discussed the issue with Lebanese Defense Minister Khalil Hrawi and Chief of Staff Gen. Michel Suleiman.

"When we first came here in 1978, we said that we will remain until the end," Smith, who is on a five-day visit to Lebanon, said. "But now, that the Israeli army has withdrawn to the Israeli border, there is no choice but to reduce the size of the force."

In Beirut, Lebanese troops continue to be deployed in the capital to prevent an expected outbreak of anti-Syrian demonstrations on Wednesday. Troops have also occupied a private television station controlled by anti-Syrian activists.