DAMASCAS - Syrians are
outraged over Israeli air strikes in Lebanon that
have killed at least 27 civilians and closed down
Beirut's international airport.
Israeli
air strikes early Thursday targeted the new Rafik
al-Hariri International Airport, and strikes
continued on other facilities on Friday. Israeli
naval vessels entered Lebanon's territorial waters
and blocked access to ports while its forces
launched an offensive in southern Lebanon against
Hezbollah fighters.
Hezbollah is a
militant group that has long engaged in armed
conflict with Israel. It is believed to be
strongest in the south of Lebanon, in the areas
bordering Israel.
The Israeli offensive
was launched in response to the killing of eight
Israeli soldiers in clashes with Hezbollah
fighters on
Wednesday near the border 15
kilometers from the Mediterranean. Two Israeli
soldiers were taken hostage. An Israeli soldier
had earlier been captured in Gaza.
In an
escalation of the conflict, an Israeli woman was
killed after Hezbollah fighters fired rockets
across the border into the Israeli town Nahariya.
An Israeli air base was hit by rockets, along with
other towns in the area. Several Israeli civilians
have been wounded.
The Israeli military
entered Lebanon for the first time since
withdrawing six years ago. "I doubt you will find
one Syrian who will not denounce what Israel is
doing in Gaza, the West Bank and now in Lebanon,"
independent publicity consultant Ibrahim Yakhour
told Inter Press Service (IPS). " Syrians believe
that what the Palestinians suffer is what the
Syrians suffer."
Yakhour, a 60-year-old
retired journalist, said political parties in
Syria had been calling for a peaceful political
process in the Middle East for the past 30 years.
"But when people are humiliated, attacked and
killed, radical reactions commence, which are
deleterious to the political process."
People in Damascus also fear that a
regional war may spread to Syria. "The entire
region is now involved," said Emad Huria, a
45-year-old literary critic. "All Arabs should
raise their voices against the Israeli invasion of
Lebanon."
Maher Skandyran, a 37-year-old
worker at a watch store in downtown Damascus, said
Israeli double standards were making people
furious. "I feel angry. Ninety-five percent of the
Palestinian prisoners held by Israel are innocent
civilians, including women and children. Nobody
says a word about this. But when three Israeli
armed soldiers are detained, this is such a big
crime, and everyone is outraged. Is this justice?"
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the
Israeli soldiers had been seized to push Israel to
release prisoners.
Israel reacted with
unexpected aggression. An Israeli military
spokesman told reporters, "Since this morning
Israeli naval vessels have enforced a full naval
closure on Lebanon, because Lebanon's ports are
used to transfer both terrorists and weapons to
the terror organizations operating in Lebanon."
Another official said the attacks had been
launched to pressure the Lebanese government to
deal with Hezbollah. Hezbollah's al-Manar
television station in Beirut was bombed. Israel
also bombed several bridges that link southern
Lebanon with the rest of the country.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said
the action was in response to "an act of war by
the state of Lebanon". His cabinet promised a
response with "appropriate severity".
But
the root of the Lebanese problem could lie in the
occupation of Palestinian areas. "Everything which
is happening illustrates the main problem, which
is the Israelis invading and occupying Palestine
and taking the land," 55-year-old local merchant
Faez Ashoor told IPS. "When that situation ends,
we will have peace."
