TEL AVIV — Israel's military and Hizbullah have engaged in
their heaviest clash in 2005.
The two sides exchanged shelling and rocket salvos over the weekend
along the Israeli-Lebanese border. On May 13, the Iranian-sponsored
Hizbullah attacked Israeli military positions in the Shebaa Plateau,
followed by Israeli artillery and rocket fire against strongholds of the
insurgency group in southern Lebanon.
"What is most important at this stage is that there is a government in
Beirut, and Lebanon is obliged by the United Nations not to allow Hizbullah
or other terror organizations to act," the Israeli military's Northern
Command chief Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz said. "If we have to respond we will
respond."
Military sources said Hizbullah opened with a barrage of 15 shells and
rockets at Israeli border positions on May 13. They said Israeli artillery
batteries and attack helicopters responded with about 45 shells and rockets
toward the Lebanese village of Kfar Shuba and destroyed four Hizbullah
positions.
"IAF fighter planes and helicopters attacked three Hizbullah
organization firing positions in the Har Dov [Shebaa] area," an Israeli
military statement said on Saturday. "Israel Defense Forces units returned
shell fire at an additional Hizbullah post in the central region, north of
the Israeli town of Dovav. The forces reported accurate hits of the
targets."
Hizbullah said the artillery attacks were in retaliation for Israeli
attacks on Lebanon. Earlier, Israel was struck by two Katyusha rockets.
"The Islamic Resistance warns the Zionist enemy that any attack on
civilians will be met with the appropriate response," Hizbullah said in a
statement.
On Saturday, neither Israel nor Hizbullah reported any fighting along
the Lebanese border. But Israeli military sources said Hizbullah could
resume the shelling in an attempt to stop Lebanese elections scheduled to
begin on May 29.
The United States expressed concern over the escalation in tension along
the Israeli-Lebanese border. The State Department reiterated its call for
Hizbullah and other militias in Lebanon to disarm.
"This is an especially sensitive and critical time for the Lebanese
people, who will be voting in parliamentary elections beginning on May
29th," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on May 13. "This
opportunity for reaffirming democracy in Lebanon must not be undermined by
militias pursuing their own agendas."
In an unrelated development, Palestinian officials said Palestinian
Authority Mahmoud Abbas was scheduled to meet U.S. President George Bush in
Washington on May 26. They said Abbas would arrive in Washington on May 24.
