5 - 11 July 2001
Issue No.541
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 5 - 11 July 2001 Issue No.541 |
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Upping the ante in Beqaa
The latest Israeli escalation of violence in south Lebanon renewed the internal debate on the role of Hizbullah resistance, Zeina Abu Rizk reports from Beirut
Violence erupted over the weekend in Lebanon when Israeli warplanes destroyed a Syrian army radar base in the Beqaa Valley, wounding three Syrian soldiers and one Lebanese soldier.
The Lebanese resistance movement, Hizbullah, responded immediately, blasting Israeli military positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms. Hizbullah's bombardment of all Israeli outposts in the Shebaa Farms included a surveillance station located on a 1,714-metre high peak overlooking the village of Shebaa. Occupied by Israel in 1967, Shebaa Farms are located in the south-east corner of Lebanon.
"The resistance warns the Israeli enemy against continuing its attacks," Hizbullah said in a statement. "It stresses its will to defend the dignity of the people and nation no matter how great the sacrifice."
The Israeli assault on the Syrian outpost came in retaliation for an attack in the Shebaa Farms by Hizbullah fighters on Friday, during which the resistance fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli patrol near the Rowsat Allam outpost wounding two Israeli soldiers.
According to local residents and soldiers, the air raid took Syrian troops completely by surprise. These witnesses say that the attack happened so quickly that Syrian forces did not have time to fire back at the planes.
Israel's raid confirmed its determination to hold Syria responsible for Hizbullah operations. This strategy was first applied on 16 April, when Israel bombarded a Syrian radar station in the Beqaa Valley following a Hizbullah assault against the Israeli army in the Shebaa Farms. Damascus responded by accusing Tel Aviv of trying to provoke a regional war.
Alleging Syrian support of Hizbullah, Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said, "Hizbullah's murderous activity occurs with the knowledge and under the eyes of Syria." Nevertheless, he ruled out any deepening of the crisis into a wider regional war. "I know that it is not the intention of Egypt, I am very sure it is not the intention of Jordan, and I am sure it is not in the interest of Syria."
Leaders of various political trends in Lebanon condemned the attack. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said, "This flagrant attack is an aggression which will only increase the attachment of the Lebanese to Syria and the Syrians to Lebanon."
Hizbullah's Secretary-General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah warned: "Israel is playing with fire. We will not stand by idly, but will react in an appropriate manner."
Both Berri and Nasrallah were in the Beqaa Valley at the time of the raid holding meetings with their supporters.
Arab countries were quick to condemn Israel's raid on the Syrian radar station. President Hosni Mubarak spoke by telephone with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Al-Assad, shortly after Sunday's attack. Mubarak decried the "Israeli provocation." Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa also issued a statement condemning Israel's action, saying that it contributed to regional instability.
Turning the Shebaa Farms into a battlefield has provoked divisions among Lebanese over the repercussions of the resistance operations on their country's stability and economic growth. Renewed hostilities could lead to another clash between Hizbullah and Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik El- Hariri, who criticised the resistance's operations last April on the grounds that they undermined his attempts to win investors' confidence in the country and resuscitate the moribund economy.
So far, Hariri has refrained from commenting on the recent escalation of violence in the country. The premier clearly preferred to avoid tackling such a delicate issue, which could affect his relations with Damascus.
The timing of the Hizbullah raid has not escaped observers attention, coming as it did shortly after a meeting between Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and the UN's south Lebanon coordinator Staffan de Mistura and following Bashar Al-Assad's reaffirmation of Lebanese ownership of the Shebaa Farms while he was in Paris.
During their meeting, de Mistura briefed Lahoud on the results of discussions he had with Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. De Mistura said that Ben-Eliezer promised Israel would stop violating Lebanon's airspace. Placed in this context, Hizbullah's operation may have been aimed at rendering de Mistura's diplomatic coup redundant.
Al-Assad's reiteration of the Syrian position on the Shebaa Farms may have encouraged Hizbullah to launch its assault against the Israeli army's presence there. However, political observers suggest that Damascus was unlikely to have welcomed such an operation only a few days following the president's return from France where he was attempting to promote an image of being a pragmatic and open-minded head of state. A Hizbullah operation, say observers, would only jeopardise the positive impression Al-Assad made in Paris.
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