Cycle of retaliation, counter-retaliation heats up in Mideast
April 12, 1996
Web posted at: 2:25 p.m. EDT (1825 GMT)From Correspondent Brent Sadler
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- The Israelis are fighting fire with fire along the Lebanon-Israel border -- Hezbollah launched yet more rockets into the Jewish state, and Jerusalem ordered a renewed series of air and artillery raids in an effort to silence Lebanon's Islamic resistance.
As always in their nation's violent history, civilians are caught in the middle of the cross fire. Southern Lebanon is bearing the brunt of it, as Israeli helicopter gunships attack unspecified targets south and east of Lebanon's port city Tyre.
International calls for restraint have gone unheeded. The cycle of retaliation and counter-retaliation is unbroken, regardless of the mounting civilian casualties on both sides of the border.
United Nations peacekeepers in the region were ordered to take shelter in bunkers as cross-border attacks threatened to engulf more areas of Lebanon where Hezbollah is strong.
In a further sign of the potential for greater escalation, Lebanese living on the edge of Israel's buffer zone were warned of an impending bombardment. Families headed for the relative safety of underground shelters in much the same way as Israeli civilians did in the wake of Hezbollah warnings of attacks.
In the Shiite regions of Beirut's southern suburbs, the residents buried one of the victims from Thursday's Israeli raid. Mourners ignored the risk of another attack on the Hezbollah-dominated district of the capital and wept for the lost life of a teen-age girl. (757K QuickTIme movie)
Kamila El-Haj begged Allah to curse the Israelis for killing her 17-year-old daughter, Hadiji. The girl was at a bakery buying bread, authorities said, when a helicopter-fired rocket destroyed it.
If Israel intends to restore the integrity of the security zone in the occupied strip of south Lebanon, it means shutting down Hezbollah's ability to rocket northern Jewish settlements. Western military observers say such an objective would require a wide and prolonged campaign.
And even then -- unless Israel expands its occupied Lebanese security zone -- there is no guarantee that Hezbollah guerrillas, operating in tight-knot cells with shoulder-fired rockets, can be defeated.
Related stories
FeedbackSend us your comments.Selected responses are posted daily. |
|
![[Imagemap]](/WORLD/images/9601/navbar2.gif){kind=small}
Copyright © 1996 Cable News Network, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.