Hezbollah Vows to Retaliate if Israeli Army Fires across Border

The Lebanese resistance guerrillas Hezbollah has warned that it will fire back against any Israeli troops if they shoot at Lebanese civilians along the border, Oriental radio reported Thursday.

In a statement issued Wednesday night, Hezbollah, or Party of God, said that "we will return fire if the Israelis violate our border. We cannot keep silent any longer and we want to make the Israelis understand this."

"If Israeli troops kill or wound Lebanese civilians from one of their outposts, then we are obliged to return fire directly," it added.

Since its withdrawal from Lebanon last May, the Israeli army has killed three Lebanese and wounded at least 29 in their demonstrations along the border to protest against its violence against the Palestinians and its occupation of Arab land. Israeli soldiers often fired back at demonstrators when they threw stones towards the Israeli outposts from the Lebanese side.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah's anti-aircraft batteries fired at Israeli warplanes flying over the western sector of the border district.

It was the first time that Hezbollah has fired at Israeli warplanes since Israel resumed flights over Lebanon last October.

Hezbollah said the fire was the beginning of a new retaliatory policy to Israel's daily violation of Lebanese air space and territory.

Israel withdrew from south Lebanon last May, ending its 22-year occupation there. However, the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah swears to continue fighting against Israel as long as it holds the Shebaa Farms, which was occupied by the Jewish country after the Middle East war in 1967.

Lebanon and Syria insist the 200-square kilometer farms belong to Lebanon, while the U.N. and Israel regard it Syria's land and its fate should be resolved within the Syrian-Israeli peace talks.

Israel reportedly issued strong warnings to Damascus last month that Syrian military positions in Lebanon would be targeted if Hezbollah continued attacking Israeli forces in Shebaa Farms.

In mid-April, Israeli warplanes destroyed a Syrian radar station in eastern Lebanon in retaliation for a Hezbollah missile attack against Israel, in which an Israeli soldier was killed.






People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/