Israeli warplanes drew anti-aircraft fire from a Syrian position in Lebanon during flights over Hezbollah strongholds in the area’s Bekaa Valley this week.
No hits on Israeli aircraft were reported.
The sortie tool place as fighting continued in southern Lebanon, where sources with the Israeli-allied South Lebanon Army said their forces had killed three members of the Hezbollah fundamentalist movement, who had tried to infiltrate the security zone.
Meanwhile, Israel’s naval blockade of the Lebanese coast remained in effect, with gunboats reported to have fired shots Tuesday at Lebanese fishing boats attempting to defy the blockade. Israel introduced the blockade two weeks ago to counter measures adopted by the Lebanese government aimed at reducing support for the IDF and SLA among residents of southern Lebanon.
In Jerusalem, Lt. Gen. Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, the Israel Defense Force chief of staff, told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Hezbollah has increased its coordination with Palestinian terror groups to bolster its ongoing campaign against Israeli and SLA forces.
Committee Chairman Ori Orr said the Lebanese government has begun to absorb the message from Israel that it cannot continue harassing residents of southern Lebanon.
“Our government should explain every day to the Lebanese government, `Let the people in South Lebanon under our control in the security zone lead their lives without harassment,’ Orr told Israel Television.
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