Defense Minister Warns Hizbullah Attacks Will be 'Catastrophic for Syria and Lebanon'.

By Ross Dunn (VOA-Jerusalem)

Israel is warning that it would strike government targets in Syria and Lebanon if these countries do not restrain the militant Islamic group Hizbullah. The warning follows recent violence between Hizbullah and Israeli troops on the border with Lebanon.

Israel's deputy defense minister, Ze'ev Boim, warned that if Hizbullah continued to escalate violence along the Israeli border with Lebanon, then the fighting would spread to other parts of Lebanon and Syria. His comments followed reaction to the killing last week of one Israeli soldier and the wounding of six others in attacks by the Hizbullah, which is based in southern Lebanon.

Boim said it was clear that Israel is not only dealing with the Hizbullah, which is listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization but that Syria was supplying the militant group with money and weapons, and was the main power broker in Lebanon, controlling activities inside that country.

Boim said that if Hizbullah were allowed to continue attacking Israel then it would be "catastrophic for Syria and Lebanon."

On Wednesday, Hizbullah terrorists fired anti-aircraft shells over the western Galilee region of Israel in what the organization claimed was retaliation for violations of Lebanese airspace by Israeli warplanes earlier that day. Israeli warplanes then struck at suspected Hizbullah positions in southern Lebanon.

On Thursday, Israeli troops thwarted an apparent attempt by Hizbullah fighters to cross into the Golan region, an area that Israel seized from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war. Israeli troops patrolling the area the following day said they were fired upon by Hizbullah gunners using mortars and anti-tank missiles.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government denied media reports that it was in possession of a bone fragment of Israeli airman, Capt. Ron Arad, who disappeared over Lebanon in 1986. The reports said the bone fragment had been passed on by the Hizbullah, via German mediators, as part of efforts by the organization to secure a new agreement on the release of more Arab prisoners held by Israel.