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Israeli Warplanes Invade Lebanese Airspace
Israeli warplanes Sunday flew over several Lebanese cities for the first time since Israel withdrew its forces from south Lebanon on May 24.
The harsh sound of Israeli warplanes was heard Sunday afternoon in the central region of capital Beirut, and then came the blast of shells fired by Lebanese air defense forces. However, no Israeli plane was hit, Lebanese security sources said.
Many local residents stayed at home for fear of a possible repeat of Israel's previous air raids against Lebanon's infrastructure earlier this year.
As the bloody clashes between Israeli army and the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas on the Lebanese-Israeli border entered its second day on Sunday, the Lebanese army beefed up its security in the south.
More Lebanese army soldiers patrolled in panzers the roads of Beirut and tanks were stationed in some main sections. Roads to the south were blocked and anti-Israeli demonstrations along the border zone were banned.
In another development, the Shiite militant group Sunday pounded Israeli posts on the disputed Shebaa Farms with mortar shells. There was no immediate report of casualties so far.
Hezbollah, or Party of God, Saturday afternoon exchanged fire with an Israeli patrol team on the Shebaa Farms that Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war, capturing three Israeli soldiers and wounding three others.
Hezbollah said in a statement that "it will not release them until Israel withdraws from the Shebaa Farms." Both Syria and Lebanon say the farms should be returned to Lebanon. Israel insists the fate of the farms should be settled in its negotiations with Syria.
Sources close to Hezbollah said it hopes to swap the three Israeli soldiers for 19 Lebanese prisoners and scores of others from the Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
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