Israeli Planes Hit Syrian Radar Station in Eastern Lebanon

Israeli warplanes attacked a Syrian radar station on Sunday in the region of Bekaa in eastern Lebanon.

At least two Syrian soldiers were wounded in the raid on the Syrian army position in the Bekaa Valley, Oriental radio reported.

A Lebanese soldier was also wounded in the Israeli attack, Lebanese police said.

The radio quoted Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres as saying that "Syria should be responsible for what happens in Lebanon."

Israel's raid was apparently a retaliation for the Syrian-backed Hezbollah's attack on Friday on an Israeli position in the Shebaa Farms, wounding two Israeli soldiers.

Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in May 2000, ending a 22-year occupation. But Hezbollah vows to continue fighting against Israel as long as the Jewish state continues occupying the Shebaa Farms.

Israel, however, 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. It has warned that it will launch military actions against Syria if Hezbollah attacks its targets.

Last April, Hezbollah raided Israeli positions in the Shebaa Farms, killing an Israeli soldier. Israel retaliated by destroying a Syrian radar station in eastern Lebanon, killing three Syrian soldiers.

Israeli FM Holds Syria Responsible for Hezbollah Actions

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Sunday that Syria was responsible for the actions of the Islamic radical group of Hezbollah (or Party of God) in Lebanon.

"It is clear that as long as Syria has such a large military force in Lebanon, it is responsible," Peres said in an interview with Israel Radio.

"Practically speaking, Lebanon does not exist. It is torn between Syria and Hezbollah," Peres added.

Two Israeli soldiers were injured on Friday evening, one seriously and the other lightly, when Hezbollah guerrilla forces in south Lebanon bombarded Israel Defense Forces positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms area on the Israeli-Lebanese border with anti-tank artillery and mortar rounds.

Israel responded immediately to the attack by shelling Hezbollah targets near the border with airplanes, helicopters and tanks. No injuries were reported, though 11 houses and one vehicle were said to have been damaged.

Asked whether Israel would launch a more extensive military response, Peres said that the government would "consider" what to do and would "take the right decision."

Israeli warplanes destroyed a Syria radar station in April, killing three Syrian soldiers, after an Israeli soldier was killed in a cross-border Hezbollah attack.

The Shebaa Farms area has been a constant flashpoint since Israel unilaterally pulled back its forces from south Lebanon on May 24, 2000, ending its 22-year occupation there.

Hezbollah holds that Shebaa Farms is Lebanese land and it will continue to fight for its liberation, while Israel insists that it took the land from Syria and will settle the issue in a deal with Syria.

The United Nations which has confirmed Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, accepts the Israeli stand on this issue.

Israel has been holding Syria, the main broker of Hezbollah, as being responsible for the radical group's actions.






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