In what has become an almost routine event over the last two weeks, Israeli warplanes again fired at guerrilla bases in south Lebanon yesterday, amid heavy clashes between Israeli troops and Shia rebels which left at least four of the Lebanese dead.
Four Israeli troops were also killed and four were hospitalised. Clouds of black smoke billowed into the air after the jets fired air-to-surface missiles at bases thought to belong to the Iranian-backed Hizbullah movement just north of Israel's self-imposed South Lebanon security zone. The aerial assault took place in the area of Jabel Saffi which is allegedly used as a launching pad for attacks on Israeli targets in the zone. Officials of the Shia Amal organisation announced that between two and four of its militiamen were killed in a confrontation with Israeli troops yesterday, and there were reports from UNIFIL officials in south Lebanon that Israeli soldiers had ambushed an Amal unit trying to penetrate the security zone. Anti-tank missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic gunfire were used in heavy exchanges which continued through the day and left large fires raging in the area. Over the last month 26 Lebanese civilians have died as a result of clashes involving the Israeli army, its proxy South Lebanon Army militia, and Hizbullah guerrillas. The more moderate Amal has launched very few attacks on Israeli positions in south Lebanon over the last few years, but yesterday's was one of several in recent months. The upturn in Amal attacks, Israeli observers speculated, could be a sign of the organisation's efforts to boost its political fortunes in Lebanon.
Peter Hirschberg is a senior writer at the Jerusalem Report
AFP adds:
The French Foreign Minister, Mr Hubert Vedrine, urged the United States to take action in the Middle East, saying the situation there was "very serious". Mr Vedrine urged Washington "not to remain passive" because "the peace process. . . cannot survive unless it is sponsored with a great deal of energy by the United States, by the Europeans and for historical reasons, notably by France."
Meanwhile the New York Times reported that the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, is planning to travel to Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Israel during her first official Middle East trip in mid September.
Israel's forging of ties with Croatia will clear the way for Israel to sell it more than $100 million in "non-lethal" weapons, the newspaper Haaretz said yesterday. Croatia and Israel agreed last week to establish full relations by September. The anti-Nazi Simon Wiesenthal Centre urged Israel to reconsider its decision to forge ties, saying President Franjo Tudjman of Croatia had failed to unequivocally disassociate himself from writings casting doubt on the scope of the Holocaust.