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Shiite gunmen patrol the streets as they take control of a mountainous area near Beirut. (AP)
Last update - 14:41 12/05/2008
Israel on alert as sectarian clashes rage across Lebanon for sixth day
By Yoav Stern and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service
Tags: Lebanon, Hezbollah, Israel

Israel's defense establishment has raised its intelligence alert in case Hezbollah decides to exploit its hold on Lebanon to wage an armed conflict south of the Litani River, Army Radio reported on Monday.

Nevertheless, Israeli security officials are downplaying concerns of an imminent direct conflict with the Lebanon-based militant group, the radio said.

Hezbollah guerillas seized west Beirut over the weekend and sectarian clashes have raged across Lebanon between the group and pro-government fighters for six consecutive days.
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Heavy fighting broke out in the northern city of Tripoli on Monday, Lebanese security officials said. Officials said machine gun fire and rockets were being used in battles between government supporters and pro-Syrian gunmen. Earlier fighting in Tripoli stopped Sunday morning. But it broke out again Monday after Lebanese troops pulled out from the area.

Lebanese paramedics also said Monday that at least 36 people were killed in clashes in a mountainous region Beirut, bringing the death toll to 81 since the fighting began on May 7.

The defense establishment is particularly concerned about Hezbollah's relationship with Iran and the possibility that it is upgrading its rocket arsenal with Tehran's help.

On Sunday, former IDF chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak said Hezbollah's persistent attempts to take over Lebanon could eventually benefit Israel in its struggle against the militant group.

"If an armed conflict erupts it will be simpler to strike Lebanon when Hezbollah is the legitimate ruler," Shahak told the Army Radio.

Earlier on Sunday, Israel's Vice Premier Haim Ramon told cabinet members that Lebanon must be viewed as a "Hezbollah state," after the Shiite guerilla group seized control over the western part of the Lebanese capital over the weekend.

"Lebanon has no government. It is a fiction, there is only Hezbollah," Ramon said during the weekly cabinet meeting. "Hezbollah is directly responsible for everything that happens [in Lebanon], and the organization completely controls the state."

Later in the cabinet meeting, Minister Ami Ayalon called for an emergency meeting of the political-security cabinet to discuss the ongoing crisis in Lebanon and Gaza.

Ayalon said that "the critical situation in the north" and the impending lull in the fighting in Gaza require a special session.

Also during the meeting, Military Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin said Lebanon had been embroiled in a political crisis since former Lebanese president Emile Lahoud completed his term and stepped down.

Referring to Lebanon's inability to appoint a new president since then, Yadlin said "there is a consensus regarding the identity of a president, and that is Lebanese army commander, General Michel Suleiman, but the objective of the extreme camp goes far beyond the selection of a president. They want to restore the balance of power in Lebanon to what it was before the anti-Syrian revolution."

According to Yadlin, "in the beginning, Hezbollah tried to do it in democratic ways, and later via non-violent demonstrations, and they failed, and that is why they advanced to a move involving a military force."

Minister of Religious Services Yitzhak Cohen (Shas) said that "Israel must immediately ask the [United Nations] Security Council to hold renewed discussions over resolution 1701." The minister was referring to the resolution that ended the 34-day conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, maintaining a fragile cease-fire.

According to Cohen "the Lebanese army proved to be a doormat, stepped on by Hezbollah."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Israel was following the violence in Lebanon closely, but would refrain from intervening.

Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio Sunday that Israel was prepared for the possibility that the situation in Lebanon will deteriorate into another civil war.

Vilnai also said the current sectarian fighting could end with a Hezbollah takeover of the government.

"We need to keep our eyes peeled and be especially sensitive regarding all that is happening there," Vilnai told Army Radio.

"We shouldn't get involved. We need to watch and should follow this very closely even when we are dealing with other fronts," he said, referring to continued fighting against the Iranian-backed Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip. Hamas has controlled Gaza since last June.

"Israel is especially concerned about the situation in Lebanon in light of the Hamas' control of Gaza," Vilnai said. "Hamas and Hezbollah, as Iranian proxies, are mutually dependent," he said. Gaza is located on Israel's southwestern flank, while Lebanon sits on Israel's northern border.

Cabinet Minister Meir Sheetrit said Israel should not yet take any action, but warned that things could change if Hezbollah takes over Lebanon.

"I think it's very dangerous, the [possible] situation in which Iran is in fact sitting on our border, and controlling Lebanon," Sheetrit said. "It's really dangerous in the long term because now its plain to everyone that ... Hezbollah is just the long arm of Iran and that's the way we should relate to it."

For the time being, Jerusalem has decided not to issue any official comment on the confrontations between Hezbollah and the Beirut government. But various officials have expressed concern over the escalation and the possible implications for Israel's northern border.

Lebanon: IAF flies over south of country

Meanwhile Sunday, a Lebanese security official reported that Israel Air Force warplanes violated Lebanon's airspace and flew over the southern part of the country.

"More than four Israeli jets flew over areas near the port city of Tyre," the official said.

IAF jets regularly overfly Lebanon in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. The United Nations has called on Israel to stop doing so. The organization says the overflights undermine the credibility of UN peacekeepers stationed in southern Lebanon to observe a fragile ceasefire in the area.

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      1.   Hamas showed this line of thinking is flawed 21:23  |  natan 11/05/08
      2.   Agreed on 21:46  |  Catholic Israeli 11/05/08
      3.   What UN credibility? Peace Keepers? 22:14  |  Doc Holliday 11/05/08
      4.   A basic but fundamental flaw in Lipkin Shahak`s 22:21  |  Chris Linthwaite 11/05/08
      5.   "persistent hezbollah attempts to take over lebanon" 22:39  |  Ahmed 11/05/08
      6.   THE BIGGEST BENEFIT 22:44  |  Arik Silverman 11/05/08
      7.   THE TAIF AGREEMENT 22:47  |  Arik Silverman 11/05/08
      8.   Allah With Israel 22:47  |  Abu Humar 11/05/08
      9.   #5 Comedy 23:09  |  Uzi 11/05/08
      10.   Man given a lemon tries to make lemonade 23:11  |  Clickfool 11/05/08
      11.   Ahmad Ahmagh 23:26  |  Sam 11/05/08
      12.   Cut the snake`s head off. 00:24  |  Fortuna Benmayor 12/05/08
      13.   Clickfool 10 00:58  |  ChanahS 12/05/08
      14.   Between Hamastan and Hizbollahstan... 01:11  |  Awake 12/05/08
      15.   Hezbullah took over now - Show us 01:15  |  Druze of Israel 12/05/08
      16.   Chris is correct 01:20  |  No Dope 12/05/08
      17.   what a load of BS 02:31  |  VIPER 12/05/08
      18.   #11 Sam 02:34  |  Ahmed 12/05/08
      19.   again, what a load of BS 02:34  |  VIPER 12/05/08
      20.   How silly 02:58  |  Mark Lincoln 12/05/08
      21.   Result of Cheap Labour! 03:15  |  Infidel 12/05/08
      22.   wishful thinking 03:17  |  gearoid 12/05/08
      23.   IAF overflights 04:53  |  Avrum 12/05/08
      24.   Pretty Silly reasoning here 05:43  |  Awake 12/05/08
      25.   israel undermining un credability? what we have is a red-hot quie 07:01  |  ralph 12/05/08
      26.   Hizbullah Training Sunni Terrorists at ?Furious Pace? 07:14  |  Jean Van Daem 12/05/08
      27.   Talmudistan`s terror 07:40  |  benham 12/05/08
      28.   Ahmed the delusional 07:52  |  Ahmed the honest 12/05/08
      29.   Ahmed 08:01  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 12/05/08
      30.   He must have read my post 08:32  |  Dror 12/05/08
      31.   Hamas and Hezbullah 08:39  |  Ali 12/05/08
      32.   HEZBOLLAH WON`T PLAY ISRAEL CARD 08:40  |  indrajaya 12/05/08
      33.   #3 UN HAS NO CREDIBILITY,IT NEVER HAD 08:41  |  SYD 12/05/08
      34.   Druze of Israel #15 09:18  |  nasreen 12/05/08
      35.   #7 09:19  |  SYD 12/05/08
      36.   #20, MarkL, Hezbollah IS the most important power in Lebanon 09:27  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 12/05/08
      37.   For Chanah S # 13 09:31  |  Clickfool 12/05/08
      38.   Hezbollah controls Lebanon 09:33  |  Gregor 12/05/08
      39.   From a lebanese man 09:43  |  Zahi 12/05/08
      40.   Hezbollah are seen as defenders 09:56  |  Rowan 12/05/08
      41.   HELP 09:58  |  Akram 12/05/08
      42.   your seeds israel 10:00  |  yao 12/05/08
      43.   Face the future, Gregor # 38 10:08  |  Clickfool 12/05/08
      44.   Israel now surrounded by enemies, "non-friends" and the sea...... 10:09  |  Swiss (Dino) 12/05/08
      45.   Clickfool on Lemons 10:25  |  The Judge 12/05/08
      46.   clickfool always bends his words 10:27  |  george 12/05/08
      47.   Israels strategies misfire as clock ticks 10:34  |  Natallie Durson 12/05/08
      48.   For George # 40 10:45  |  Clickfool 12/05/08
      49.   #37, fool, you should know all about that 10:52  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 12/05/08
      50.   clickfool 10:57  |  The Judge 12/05/08
      51.   If my best comments keep vanishing, 11:07  |  Rowan 12/05/08
      52.   ahmed 11:33  |  Marc 12/05/08
      53.   Tomorow news from the Two State illusion. 11:35  |  Akram Zekaria 12/05/08
      54.   20# Mark Lincoln you really needs help. 11:58  |  Akram Zekaria 12/05/08
      55.   hisboliar have no intentions on Lebanon 12:10  |  Adrian de Klerk 12/05/08
      56.   18# Ahmad "our prim mister isn`t employed to serve israel". 12:35  |  Akram Zekaria 12/05/08
      57.   Clickfool and other bashers - Be careful what you wish for 12:48  |  ChanahS 12/05/08
      58.   Israel Cannot Beat Hizbullah unless..... 13:33  |  Ronnie Wolman 12/05/08
      59.   # 5 Ahmed....just like Hamas 13:52  |  Lynn 12/05/08
      60.   #57 Chanah S 14:18  |  Chris Linthwaite 12/05/08
      61.   Israel Should Interfere 14:21  |  Walid 12/05/08
      62.   Blast them to Bits Israel, Start with Gaza 14:25  |  Harvey (Chaim) 12/05/08
      63.   # 61, WALID 14:36  |  indrajaya 12/05/08
      64.   I should collect the sayings of professional soldiers 14:44  |  christoph 12/05/08
      65.   # 44 Swiss.....with "friends" like those 14:44  |  Lynn 12/05/08
      66.   Attack Hizbullah NOW!! 14:56  |  ScotGuy 12/05/08
      67.   Mark Lincoln Brits 1940-1948 #20 15:03  |  FOX 12/05/08
      68.   #43c Clickfool - You read the map correctly 15:08  |  Yonatan 12/05/08
      69.   #44 Swiss Dino