Israeli shelling injures citizen, peace-keepers
Israeli occupation troops on Monday continued attacks against areas adjacent to the occupied part of south Lebanon. Lebanese security sources said that Israeli heavy artillery from its positions of Aishieh and Zafata shelled the areas of Luweizeh, Sujoud al-Rayhan, Aqmata, Jabal al-Rafee and the Litani and Tasse rivers.
The bombardment was accompanied by heavy machine-gun fire from Israeli troops targeting the hilly passages linking al-Tuffah district to the occupied zone, according to Lebanese sources. The sources added that the Israeli spy planes were seen flying over the region.
Israeli warplanes raided targets in south Lebanon on Monday, according to a security source from the Hizbullah party. It added that two Israeli jets fired a total of two rockets against al-Tuffah district, but no direct casualties were reported.
With this attack, the number of Israeli raids against south Lebanon rose to 60 since the beginning of the year. About 1,000 Israeli soldiers, backed by the allied South Lebanon Army militia of 2,300 men, seized south Lebanon and declared it as its security zone in 1985 under claims that it was protecting northern Israel from Lebanese attacks.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli forces shelled several areas in the western and central sectors of south Lebanon. In retaliation, Lebanese resistance forces attacked a joint Israeli-SLA position in Tohra, and the military position was directly hit. Meanwhile, Israeli intelligence men and SLA members stormed houses in the Lebanese towns of Bint Jbeil, Einata, Houla and Markaba inside the occupied part of south Lebanon. News reports said tough restrictive measures were imposed on the people of the said areas to prevent them from coming into and leaving the region.
The Israeli troops also demolished four houses in Kafer Tabnit in the occupied part of the south.
In another development, two UN peace-keepers and a Lebanese civilian were injured as a result of Israeli shelling in the western sector of south Lebanon. Lebanese sources said two Irish soldiers were wounded when two mortar shells exploded near their vehicle in Hadatha. The sources added that a civilian was also wounded.