BEIRUT, 2 July— Tensions rose in the region after Israeli warplanes destroyed a Syrian radar station yesterday in eastern Lebanon in an escalation of the conflict between the Hezbollah resistance movement and the Jewish state. Israeli warplanes wounded two Syrian soldiers and one Lebanese in a strike on a Syrian radar station in eastern Lebanon, the heart of Syrian forces in the country, Syria’s SANA news agency said.
Promptly, Hezbollah answered back, with a volley of rockets and mortars hammering Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms territory. Israel fired back across the border, and a Lebanese civilian was injured in the exchange, a Lebanese source said.
The Israeli air raid came in response to an attack Friday by the Hezbollah on Israeli forces in the Shebaa Farms territory, during which an Israeli soldier was seriously injured. Israel said Syria bore responsibility for the attack. “We cannot let Hezbollah attack without reacting,” Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister Dalia Rabin-Filosoff confirmed on public radio.
Yet, an hour after the Israeli bombardment, the Hezbollah again pounded Israeli positions in the Shebaa Farms area with mortar bombs and rockets, Lebanese police said. The Israeli strike was the first since April 16 when Israel bombarded a Syrian radar station in Lebanon, killing one soldier and injuring four others — the first direct clash between the regional foes since 1982.
Two Israeli warplanes fired one missile each at the facility near Rayak, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Beirut, the Lebanese police said. “Hezbollah’s murderous activity occurs with the knowledge and under the eyes of Syria,” said Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer.
Following the air raid, Lebanese police said more than 30 mortar bombs and rockets fell on four Israeli positions in the Shebaa Farms in less than three minutes. They said, within half an hour, the bombardment destroyed an Israeli radar facility on the western flank of Mount Hermon with around 40 bombs and rockets out of more than 80 fired.
“Our riposte concentrated on the over-equipped (Israeli) radar station. Flames are pouring from the station which received direct hits,” the group said. The movement’s leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah was holding a meeting in the Bekaa region at the moment of the Israeli raid. “Israel is playing with fire. We will not stand idly by and will react in an appropriate manner,” he said.
In a further warning, Israeli fighter planes flew over the Lebanese cities of Beirut, the southern seaport of Sidon, breaking the sound barrier and then flying over the northern city of Tripoli. Regional and international reaction to the fresh violence mixed recrimination with calls for restraint.
Washington appealed for “maximum restraint,” via an anonymous US State Department official, who said “we are urging all sides to exercise maximum restraint.” Jordan and Egypt condemned the Israeli raid. Egypt called it an “unjustifiable Israeli escalation” while Amman warned of repercussions throughout the Middle East region, adding that Amman “stands alongside Syria and Lebanon.”
Arab League chief Amr Moussa also condemned the Israeli air raid. “This new Israeli escalation increases the tension which reigns in the occupied territories as a result of the siege and the occupation (of Palestinian land),” Moussa told reporters.
Meanwhile, two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli troops in the West Bank yesterday, scuttling hopes of establishing a weeklong period of calm that would get the two sides back on the road to the negotiating table. Palestinian Authority officials said one of those killed belonged to the Hamas resistance group and the other to the Palestinian police.
