Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud conveyed Beirut's position during talks with ambassadors from UN Security Council countries. "We consider Israel's action to be a dangerously aggressive escalation," Hammoud said. He vowed that the government would not drop its demand to recover all Israeli-occupied territory, including the Shebaa Farms, describing the Israeli strike as "aggression against both Lebanon and Syria." He also stressed that resolutions adopted at the Amman summit said any Israeli aggression against Lebanon or Syria would be taken as aggression against all Arab countries. Hammoud said he sent a letter to Annan, asserting the need for the UN to "deter Israel." Annan had earlier accused both Israel and Hezbollah of violating agreements on the Israeli-Lebanese border, saying he was "particularly dismayed" by the attacks against Syrian positions in Lebanon and urging all sides to act with the utmost restraint.
Hezbollah pledged to continue resistance operations, saying its fighters would continue to attack Israeli troops in the disputed border zone "at the time we choose and in the appropriate manner." "You may hear of a (new) operation (in Shebaa) very soon," said Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's deputy secretary-general. "It may be delayed for a while due to on-the-ground factors rather than political conditions." In an earlier statement, Hezbollah said it might target settlements in northern Israel to avenge the raid. The statement said: "We will turn Sharon's dream of terrorizing our people into a nightmare. Hezbollah knows when, where and how to strike at the enemy."
The raid was the first direct attack on a Syrian military position here since 1996, and the most serious since Israel's 1982 invasion, when Israeli forces destroyed Syrian anti-aircraft missile batteries in Lebanon. Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier Tuesday over eastern Lebanon. and carried out reconnaissance missions over the South and the Western Bekaa. The ambassadors of Russia, Britain and France all expressed concern about the situation after talks with Hammoud. The Chinese government appealed to Israel to "cease its infringement upon Lebanon's sovereignty."
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman, said the Israeli attack was "totally unacceptable." The Gulf states condemned the Israeli strikes as "blatant aggression" and called for international pressure to stop them. Jordan's King Abdullah telephoned Assad to express solidarity with Damascus. Yasser Arafat told reporters in Amman that the strike was a "dangerous escalation," and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak denounced "this aggression against an Arab force that hasn't attacked anyone and hasn't violated the law or international resolutions." In Tehran, First Vice-President Hassan Habibi called on all Islamic and Arab countries to support Lebanon. Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer warned the situation could deteriorate following the escalation of violence in the Palestinian territories and a new flare-up on the Lebanese front. However, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said he did not believe Israel's struggle with its neighbors would escalate into a full-blown war.
Answering a question filed by Butros Harb MP why Lebanon and Syria had not filed official documents with the UN asserting that the Shebaa Farms were Lebanese, Mr. Hariri's office stated that "the Israeli occupation has prevented these measures" by not allowing Lebanese and Syrian officials to demarcate to correct border.
