Hand glider prompts new Israeli-Hezbollah fire
An Israeli hang glider inadvertently floated into south Lebanon today, sparking renewed clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops as the guerrillas tried to grab him and the soldiers covered his dash back across the border.
The brief hostilities reflected the increased volatility in the area, two days after the worst cross-border clashes in years – violence that has been fuelled by tensions on another front: the disputes between Lebanon and Syria.
Both Syria and Israel appear to be exploiting the inter-twining conflicts. Syria is seen as pushing a flare-up with Israel through its ally Hezbollah to salvage some support among Lebanese and alleviate international pressure over a stand-off with the United Nations.
Israel, meanwhile, is trying to undermine popular support for Hezbollah guerrillas, using Lebanese anger at Damascus as a wedge.
Israeli planes dropped thousands of leaflets over Beirut and towns in the south this morning, calling Hezbollah a tool of Syria and urging Lebanese not to back the group.
The latest clashes erupted this afternoon in the Meiss el-Jabal area of the border, when an Israeli piloting a hang glider drifted across the frontier and landed a few yards on the Lebanese side, according to Israeli security officials.
Israeli troops opened fire on guerrillas and opened a gate in the border fence to allow the pilot to run back into Israel, the officials said.
There were no reports of casualties in the exchange. The guerrillas were apparently trying to capture the Israeli, who would have been a prize asset for Hezbollah in future negotiations for a prisoner exchange with Israel.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television said guerrillas engaged an Israeli army unit that crossed the border and that an Israeli “paratrooper” was stuck on the Lebanese side.
Israel said its troops did not enter Lebanon. Lebanese security officials appeared to back the Israeli account, saying the hang glider was likely blown off course by the wind.
Israel has accused Hezbollah of attempting to kidnap Israelis to trade them for Arab prisoners. Such an attempt sparked Monday’s sudden and heavy round of fighting, during which four guerrillas were killed and 11 Israeli soldiers injured. Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded guerrilla targets and Hezbollah missiles blasted Israeli outposts for several hours.
Hezbollah, a close ally of Syria, may have been encouraged to attack to take pressure off the Damascus government.
An escalation of tension in southern Lebanon would strengthen Syria’s hand with the UN by underlining the need for a stable Syria as a key to peace in Lebanon.
Syrian officials have been implicated by a UN investigation into the February assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri. Syrian officials and UN investigators have failed to agree on a venue to conduct the questioning of Syrians in the murder. The UN Security Council warned Syria this month that it must co-operate fully with the investigation or face further action.
Hariri’s slaying prompted a wave of Lebanese anger against Syria, helping force Damascus to end its 29-year military presence in Lebanon last spring. The removal of Syrian troops broke Damascus’ political control, leading to the creation of the current Lebanese government, dominated by anti-Syrian politicians.
With its leaflet drop today, Israel tried to play off resentment toward Syria.
“Hezbollah is causing enormous harm to Lebanon,” said the leaflets in Arabic, signed “The State of Israel.”
“To the Lebanese citizens,” read one of the leaflets that landed on Beirut’s seafront. “Who is lying to you? ... Who wishes the return of the destruction? Who is the tool in the hand of his Syrian and Iranian masters?”
The Lebanese government condemned the drop. “We seek calm and stability, but this calm and stability must include our airspace, waters and all our land,” Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said.
A Hezbollah spokesman, Mohammed Afif, dismissed the leaflets as “an expression of Israeli failures in facing Hezbollah.”
The leaflets landed in many parts of the capital, including the Palestinian refugee camps in south Beirut. Pamphlets were also dropped over southern Lebanon, the Hezbollah-controlled area bordering northern Israel.
Hezbollah used to enjoy wide support among Lebanese people for its role in leading the guerrilla war against Israeli troops in southern Lebanon during the 18-year occupation which ended in 2000. But Hezbollah’s popularity has fallen in recent months as it sided with Damascus after the Syrian troop withdrawal in April.
