OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 15 November 2003 — The Israeli Army announced it had held large-scale maneuvers on its borders with Lebanon and Syria as part of preparations for “a military escalation on the northern front”.
“Within the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) readiness for an escalation on the northern front, a multi-corps operative exercise was staged this week, which combined regular and reserve forces, and dealt with possible battle scenarios on the northern front,” an army statement said Thursday night.
“The IDF is not interested in escalation, but is well-prepared to deal with every possible battle scenario against Hezbollah, which is leading the terror on the northern border under Syrian auspices and with direct and open Iranian assistance,” the army added.
Hundreds of troops, backed by tanks, helicopters and fighters took part in the drills on the border with Lebanon and in the Golan Heights, which were seized by Israel from Syria in 1967 and annexed in 1981.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz also said in an interview published yesterday that an Israeli jet buzzed one of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s palaces during its bombing last month of an alleged Islamic Jihad training camp near Damascus.
He told The Washington Times that the daring low-flying mission was meant to signal that Syria could expect more attacks if it did not stop sponsoring attacks on Israel from Syrian-dominated Lebanon.
On Oct. 5, Israeli jets for the first time in three decades staged a raid deep inside Syria, following a devastating suicide attack in Haifa by a bomber from the Islamic Jihad, which is supported by Syria.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah’s leader on Thursday pledged to bring home all prisoners held by Israel and said he expected to hear from a German mediator in the next three days on the proposed swap of prisoners and bodies with the Jewish state. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah also said for the first time his resistance group was coordinating with the Lebanese government on the prisoner swap deal with Israel.
Israel’s Cabinet narrowly approved on Sunday a prisoner swap with Hezbollah. Under the deal, the resistance group would release Israeli businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers, all captured by Hezbollah in October 2000, in exchange for about 400 Palestinians and several dozen prisoners from Lebanon, Syria, Morocco, Sudan and Libya.
But the deal has become embroiled in a dispute over releasing Lebanese prisoner Samir Kantar, who is responsible for the deaths of an Israeli and his two children in a 1979 guerrilla operation in the Israeli coastal town of Nahariya.
Israeli officials have said Kantar, 41, has “blood on his hands” and would not be included in the swap. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has ruled out freedom for Kantar. Last Saturday, Nasrallah said the deal would not go through unless Kantar was among those freed. Kantar, who was a member of a Palestinian group when he embarked on the raid in Israel, is the longest-held Lebanese prisoner and is serving a 542-year sentence.
Nasrallah said Thursday he is waiting to hear from the Germans, who are expected to visit Beirut to discuss the prisoner swap with him in light of the Israeli government’s decision. “We will know the truth and the details in the next three days, God willing,” Nasrallah said during an iftar, the fast breaking meal during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Several hundred people attended the iftar, including two former prime minister, the information minister and the deputy speaker of Parliament. Nasrallah implied that Hezbollah would stick to its demand that Israel release all 16 Lebanese prisoners. “I repeat and affirm that we have made public and private commitments to the families of the prisoners. We stick to our commitments and pledges and we will honor them,” he said.
