a "Hezbollah take over" would lead to a massive exodus of Lebanese Christians.
Three militants also died, Lebanese sources reportedly said. Israel’s military defended its first major attack since a fragile ceasefire took effect Monday, August 14, saying the operation was needed to prevent arms being delivered to Hezbollah by Iran and Syria.
The Lebanese military told media that Israeli helicopters, under the cover of mock raids by warplanes, landed two hummer vehicles in the mountainous region of Afqa, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of Baalbek, a Hezbollah stronghold.
Commandos apparently drove eastward to the nearby village of Buday where they clashed with Hezbollah guerrillas. It came as 50 French troops, many fewer than the United Nations had asked for, arrived in the Lebanese port of Naqoura, to bolster the UN force
in the region.
CHRISTIANS FLEE
The international force will also be needed to convince Lebanese Christians it is safe for them to stay, amid concerns that a growing number of believers are leaving the country. In an interview with Der Spiegel, Germany’s leading opinion magazine, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, patriarch of the Maronite church in Lebanon, expressed concern that a Hezbollah take over will add to an already "on-going Christian exodus."
"Unfortunately there are also some Christians who make arrangements with Hezbollah — if only for tactical reasons. It may be unlikely, but if Hezbollah should one day take power in Lebanon, the Christians will leave the country in droves" he told Der Spiegel.
He also expressed sadness over what he called the "progressive devastation" of Lebanon "and the growing outward migration of Christians, who are not returning to Lebanon."
"DOWNHILL" PERIOD
The cardinal said, "We held out in the Arab world for 2,000 years, but now things are going downhill at a rapid pace. The current crisis is dramatically amplifying this tendency." Hezbollah, which critics claim misuses the Islamic religion to legitimize a terror campaign, has already a growing political and financial clout in Lebanon, observers say.
In what was seen as an embarrassment to the Lebanese government, Hezbollah began handing out $100 bills Friday, August 18, to residents who lost their homes in Israeli bombing air raids–$12,000 to each claimant at a school in south Beirut, news reports said.
Applicants who had signed up for the aid this week showed up at a school in the Bourj el-Barajneh neighborhood, showed identification papers and only had to sign a receipt. Hezbollah workers promptly handed the residents stacks of bills from a suitcase. The militant group is reportedly financed by oil-rich Iran.
IRAN CRITICIZED
Cardinal Sfeir said he regretted the attempts by Iran to influence Lebanon. "Iran is a foreign country to us. All Lebanese should take this view," he said. Syria, another supporter of Hezbollah, should also stay out of Lebanese politics Sfeir stressed in the interview with Der Spiegel.
"What is true for Iran is also true for Syria. We refuse to tolerate proxy wars on Lebanese territory. The Syrian Golan Heights are as lifeless as a cemetery. So why should a struggle for the restitution of the Golan Heights be fought out in Lebanon of all places?"
He cautioned however it will take time before there is real peace between Israel and Lebanon. "We won’t follow the example of Egypt and Jordan. We can make peace with Israel only when all other Arab states have signed a peace treaty with Israel too." (With BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife Research and reports from Lebanon and Israel. Stay with BosNewsLife for continues coverage on the crisis in the Middle East).
