The Lebanese Resistance Hizbullah and Israeli forces exchanged artillery fire Saturday noon in the occupied area of Shebaa Farms in southern Lebanon, Lebanese and Hizbullah sources said. The Shiite group's radio station reported that the shelling was in response to the Israeli incursion into the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Hizbullah sources said its guerrillas attacked Israeli posts in the area of Shebaa Farms. The sources said that there were several attacks on "different posts in Shebaa" going on. According to reports, Hizbullah launched anti-tank missiles and mortars at Israeli outposts.
They added that in retaliation, the Israeli artillery pounded the outskirts of Shebaa and Kfar Shouba. No injuries have been reported to either side.
Israel
Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer warned Syria and Lebanon that Israel "will defend itself" if attacks by the Lebanese Resistance Hezbollah from southern Lebanon do not end, after the Shiite group launched a new mortar and rocket strike from across the border.
Speaking after Israeli jets struck south Lebanon in retaliation for the latest Hizbullah attack, Ben Eliezer told army radio: "Our response is a signal to Syria. The governments of Lebanon and Syria should know that if this does not stop, we'll have to defend ourselves.
"We do not want to open a new front, we do not want an escalation. But this operation could not have taken place without the knowledge and authorisation of Syria," Ben Eliezer said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
