Lebanon, Syria Rebuff Israeli ThreatsLebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud Saturday held phone talks with his Syrian counterpart Faruk Shareh on Israeli threats to attack Syrian military targets in Lebanon, the official NNA news agency reported.In a joint statement issued after their talks, the two ministers brushed aside Israeli military threat to Syrian troops in Lebanon, claiming that Israel would shoulder the aftermaths of its aggressions. The statement reiterated that only U.N. Resolutions 242, 338, the guidelines of the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference and the land- for-peace principles could solve the crisis in the region. "The Lebanese resistance movement has the right to fight enemies on the occupied lands and finally reclaim our territory," the NNA quoted the statement as saying. On Friday, the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah, or Party of God, hit an Israeli position in the disputed Shebaa Farms with mortar shells, leaving two Israeli soldiers wounded. Israel retaliated immediately with bombard of the border village of Kafra Shuba. Some 14 houses in the village were reportedly damaged. It was also reported that Israel was enhancing its positions in the Shebaa Farms and military trucks moved frequently on the roads linking Israel and the positions. Israel has warned that it will target Syrian troops in Lebanon if the Syrian-backed Hezbollah attacks Israeli soldiers in Shebaa Farms. Israel had destroyed a Syrian radar station in eastern Lebanon in mid-April, in response to an attack launched by Hezbollah, in which one Israeli soldier was killed. So far, three Israeli soldiers have been killed and about 15 others wounded since the Hezbollah launched its campaign to liberate the Shebaa Farms after Israel withdrew its troops from south Lebanon in May, 2000, ending its 22-year occupation. The Hezbollah has vowed to continue fighting against Israel as long as Israel continues occupying the Shebaa Farms. Lebanon and Syria assert the Farms is part of Lebanese territory while U.N. draw it into the Syria's Golan Height which is still under Israeli occupation.กก Israel says that it occupied the farms in the 1967 Middle East war and that the issue should be resolved in its future peace talks with Syria. |
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