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Al-Ahram Weekly 26 Aug. - 1 Sep. 1999 Issue No. 444 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 26 Aug. - 1 Sep. 1999 Issue No. 444
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Focus Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Hizbullah hits back
By Zeina KhodrIsrael and Hizbullah have traded blows again in south Lebanon. For the assassination of a Hizbullah leader in a road bombing which Lebanese officials blamed on Israel, Hizbullah fighters killed three Israeli soldiers and wounded five others in a running battle. Tel Aviv denied responsibility for the assassination, but welcomed it.
Ali Hassan Deeb, known as Abu Hassan, was killed instantly when two roadside bombs exploded simultaneously on the outskirts of the southern city of Sidon. Lebanese security sources said Deeb was the head of the special military operations in southern Lebanon. But Hizbullah, which spearheads the resistance to oust Israeli troops from Lebanese territory, did not specify his responsibilities.
"Abu Hassan joined the Islamic Resistance in 1982 and spent a life full of jihad and sacrifice and martyrdom for God, fighting the Zionist enemy during all the phases of resistance until his own martyrdom," Hizbullah said in a statement.
The assassination of this high-ranking Hizbullah official was seen as a victory for Israel which, according to Lebanese security sources, has been trying to "infiltrate" Hizbullah's tight security.
It was not the first time Deeb was targeted. He had survived six assassination attempts, most notably when an Israeli helicopter gunship hit his car with a missile during the April 1996 offensive against Lebanon. Deeb was not in the car at the time, but a relative and a woman were killed.
Israel has been implicated in the killing of other Hizbullah leaders, including the movement's secretary-general Sheikh Abbas Mussawi who died in 1992 when his car was hit by a missile fired from an Israeli plane.
The Sidon bomb attack, according to security sources, carried a clear Israeli stamp. Israel is known to plant roadside bombs on routes used by resistance fighters trying to infiltrate the occupation zone in south Lebanon. But more conclusive evidence of Israel's responsibility, according to Lebanese security sources and witnesses at the site of the explosion, was the presence of pilotless Israeli reconnaissance planes or drones in the skies above Sidon, both before and after the blast.
Israeli Communications Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer, commented, "I do not know if Israel is behind what happened, but the terrorist target was one of the main organisers of anti-Israeli attacks in Lebanon. The more quickly this kind of figure [Deeb] disappears, the better it will be." Other Israeli officials suggested that the Hizbullah member may have been killed by rival groups in Lebanon.
Deeb's assassination was denounced by Lebanese leaders. "This crime
committed by the enemy can never diminish Lebanon's determination to defend its territory and rights," President Emile Lahoud said. Prime Minister Selim El-Hoss added the attack "not only targeted the resistance but every Lebanese citizen."
Hizbullah vowed to continue the struggle to liberate Lebanese land from Israeli occupation. "Our war against the occupiers remains open," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the movement's secretary-general, told mourners during Deeb's funeral in Beirut.
Sheikh Nabil Kawook, a Hizbullah official in southern Lebanon, said Israel would pay a heavy price for the bombing. "This act of Israeli treachery will not go unpunished. Israel will regret having committed it."
The resistance made good on its promise. Not long after the attack, Hizbullah fighters engaged Israeli forces in what was described as the most intense and prolonged battle this year in the occupation zone. Three Israeli soldiers were killed and five wounded when they fought a close-quarters battle with guerrillas. It was the highest Israeli casualty rate since last February, when Hizbullah killed three high-ranking Israeli officers. The battle was followed by intense Israeli air and artillery attacks in south Lebanon. Four Lebanese civilians were wounded.
Over the weekend, an upsurge in fighting also left two Israeli soldiers wounded, which has raised concerns in Israel where some observers are criticising Barak for his south Lebanon policy. "Blows against [Hizbullah's] leadership while making no permanent impact on the group's capabilities, turn [Hizbullah's] desire for revenge toward unprotected Israeli and Jewish targets," the Israeli daily Haaretz wrote.
"The fighting in south Lebanon in recent days was the worst since Ehud Barak took office in Israel," a Lebanese security source said. "It also shattered the belief that Syria might restrain Hizbullah in the run-up to the possible resumption of peace talks." Observers expect the resistance to step up attacks against Israel in the absence of any progress in Syrian-Lebanese-Israeli peace talks. "Hopes that Barak would be different from his predecessor, Binyamin Netanyahu, have been shattered," the source said. "And the resistance will now be exploited as a tool to pressure Israel."
