DATE=2/7/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ISRAEL / LEBANON (S)
NUMBER=2-258910
BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL
DATELINE=JERUSALEM
CONTENT=
VOICE AT:
INTRO: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has convened
a special meeting of his security cabinet to consider
responses to Hezbollah guerrilla attacks in southern
Lebanon that have killed four Israeli soldiers in the
past week. Correspondent Meredith Buel reports from
Jerusalem.
TEXT: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak called his
security cabinet into special session as he faces
growing domestic pressure to launch military strikes
against Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas in south
Lebanon.
Guerrillas killed an Israeli soldier and wounded seven
Sunday in a bomb and mortar attack. The assault
occurred a week after three Israeli soldiers were
killed in a Hezbollah attack.
Israeli television broadcast rare battlefield pictures
of the wounded. The bloody scenes caused an outcry
among the public and renewed demands to stop the
carnage.
Prime Minister Barak is walking a diplomatic
tightrope; concerned a strong military retaliation in
Lebanon could harm chances of resuming peace talks
with Syria.
Damascus maintains about 30-thousand soldiers in
Lebanon and is considered the major power broker in
the country. (SIGNED)
NEB/MB/JWH/RAE
07-Feb-2000 12:09 PM EDT (07-Feb-2000 1709 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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