DATE=2/11/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ISRAEL / LEBANON (L)
NUMBER=2-259060
BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL
DATELINE=JERUSALEM
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: An Israeli soldier was killed and two
wounded in a Hezbollah guerrilla attack in
southern Lebanon. As V-O-A correspondent
Meredith Buel reports from Jerusalem, the assault
prompted Israel to withdraw from a meeting of
international monitors trying to defuse the
escalating violence in Lebanon.
TEXT: Hezbollah guerrillas launched the attack
on the Beaufort Castle, a Crusader-era
mountaintop military base with a commanding view
of southern Lebanon and northern Israel.
A statement by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah
claimed responsibility for the mortar and rocket
assault.
Israeli warplanes struck suspected guerrilla
targets soon after the attack.
A total of seven Israeli soldiers have been
killed in south Lebanon in recent weeks.
The latest attack prompted Israel to withdraw
from a meeting of international monitors working
to defuse the escalating violence in south
Lebanon.
U-S officials were hoping the meeting would
prevent a repetition of this week's fighting when
Israeli warplanes destroyed three Lebanese power
stations.
Israeli officials have threatened to renew air
strikes on similar targets if Hezbollah continues
attacking Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon.
The international group monitors compliance with
rules of military engagement between Israel and
Hezbollah guerrillas.
The rules - established in 1996 - ban attacks on
or from civilian areas. Each side is accusing
the other of violating the agreement.
This week's fighting is the worst since June of
last year.
Israel occupies a self-styled security zone in
southern Lebanon designed to protect its northern
areas from guerrilla attacks.
Hezbollah guerrillas are fighting a war of
attrition and are trying to drive Israeli
soldiers out of the occupied zone.
This week's surge in violence may have
jeopardized efforts to revive peace talks between
Israel and Syria.
Syria maintains 30-thousand soldiers in Lebanon
and is considered the major power broker in the
country.
Peace negotiations between Israel and Syria
resumed in December but were suspended
indefinitely last month.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has promised to
pull Israeli soldiers out of southern Lebanon by
next July but says he wants to do so as part of
peace agreements with Syria and Lebanon. (Signed)
NEB/MB/GE/KL
11-Feb-2000 12:12 PM EDT (11-Feb-2000 1712 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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