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Hizballah's Trouble-Making

(Ha'aretz) Ze'ev Schiff - Hizballah must be broadly perceived as a terrorist organization supported by two terror-supporting states, Syria and Iran, and both of them have an interest in ending the cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli reaction yesterday was minimalist and focused on hitting one Hizballah anti-aircraft cannon in the western sector of south Lebanon, the 57-millimeter cannon that fired at Shlomi and killed a teenager. Hizballah also set the shells fired from the cannon to detonate relatively low and thus increase the chances of casualties and damage. The anti-aircraft fire is not at all aimed at Israeli planes. If they fly over Lebanese territory, they do so at such speeds and high altitude that it's doubtful they can be seen from the ground. Despite Washington's repeated warnings to Damascus about Syria's negative activity in Iraq and its direct support of terror groups, Syria apparently regards the American warnings as nothing more than words. The Iranians' top priority might be to hit the American forces in Iraq but their secondary effort is aimed against Israel. Tehran operates in the territories through the Hizballah or directly.
2003-08-11 00:00:00
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