Sharon advises economic destruction of Lebanon; Hariri calls Israel a terrorist state
Lebanon, Politics, 8/21/1997

On August 20, four Israeli warplanes raided Lebanon and fired rockets at the area of Jenata in Bekaa valley near Baalbek, wounding four civilians and causing damages.

The Israeli army also fired rockets and bombs at a water and electricity station in the village of Barja, 25 km south of Beirut, which feeds south Lebanon's city and port of Sidon. Immediately the electricity went out in Sidon and 80,000 people residing in Sidon were sitting in darkness.

Israeli planes dropped bombs near a Lebanese army post to warn them against joining the Lebanese resistancemen in their military operations against Israeli soldiers. Even so, the Lebanese army units in the area fired heavy machine guns and the resistancemen fired anti-aircraft missiles at the Israeli jets.

Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said while he was visiting victims in Sidon hospital, "The ongoing Israeli aggression on Lebanon shows that Tel Aviv does not want peace, and Netanyahu does not change his policy in the area. That means that violence will flood the area, and he will kill the last chance for peace." Hariri sharply criticized the Israeli attacks, saying, "this is a terrorist act from Israel. . . Israel is proving that it's a terrorist state, killing civilians, attacking civilians."

Israeli official Ariel Sharon called on his goverment to make economic attacks against Lebanon by bombing Lebanese public utilities as well as the country's infrastructure, saying, "Bridges should be destroyed and cars should stand still and maybe then Lebanon will understand."

Mrs. Houda Shihab al Din, the Lebanese prime minister's secretary, said "Israel does not respect international law concerned protecting civilians and the need to implement Resolution 425, providing for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from South Lebanon." Instead it "continues in its savage massacre against civilians.

She added that "Israel is heating up the situation to lock the door on the peace process while we are awaiting the arrival of international envoys to the area."

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