BEIRUT, 21 February 2003 — Israel has massed large numbers of its troops, tanks and artillery along the border with Lebanon and clustered around the disputed border area of Shebaa Farms, Lebanese security sources said yesterday. “Dozens of tanks and artillery were positioned in key border areas and heavy patrols backed by tanks were seen cruising the border with Lebanon,” the sources said.
The reinforcements were said to be seen clearly from the Lebanese area in the Metulla settlement region. The sources also reported volleys of machine-gun and rocket fire early yesterday from Israeli positions in Shebaa Farms against Lebanese villages just at the outskirts of Shebaa.
Shebaa is still occupied by Israeli troops despite the May 2000 withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Israel said it has captured Shebaa during the 1967 Middle War from Syria, but Lebanon contests the Israeli claim and says Shebaa is Lebanese and it should be returned.
There was no official reason for the sudden Israeli reinforcements, but Israeli television was reported as saying that they are aimed at “confronting possible action by Hezbollah.”
Syrian troops yesterday continued pulling out from their bases and heading for the border under a surprise deal between Damascus and Beirut. Witnesses said about 20 vehicles packed with Syrian soldiers passed through the main port city of Tripoli en route to the Akkar border region.
They were believed to be headed back to Syria. The exact number of troops, who were coming from bases in Batroun and Meniyeh, 55 and 80 kilometers northwest, respectively, from Beirut, was not immediately clear.
The redeployment is being seen as a concession toward Lebanon’s anti-Syrian Christian opposition calculated to reinforce Syria’s position in the run-up to any war in Iraq that could cause upheavals in the region.
