Israel's Attack Is 3-Pronged
JERUSALEM — With the air war over Lebanon entering its second week, Israeli commanders believe they have been able to significantly reduce Hezbollah's military power but plan to press ahead with a campaign that has been running at nearly 300 combat sorties a day.
Officials here acknowledge that international pressure for a diplomatic solution will eventually choke off their offensive. But they have made it clear that they hope to continue until they have destroyed a greater share of Hezbollah's missiles and the group's ability to launch them.
"Overall, knock on wood, there have been fewer rockets" fired at Israeli towns and cities, Maj. Gen. Udi Adam, the chief of Israel's northern command, said Tuesday on Israeli television. "I think we should assume that it will take a few more weeks" to complete the job, he said.
The air campaign has three prongs, military analysts say.
In southern Lebanon, the goal is to undermine Hezbollah's ability to launch rockets against towns and cities in northern Israel.
At the start of the fighting, Israeli analysts estimated that Hezbollah had 10,000 Katyusha rockets and a smaller store of sophisticated, longer-range missiles from Syria and Iran. Many of the rockets are positioned in densely populated neighborhoods, sometimes cached in homes, officials here say.
Israeli strategists believe that the round-the-clock airstrikes have destroyed about one-third of the long-range missiles, according to news reports here citing military intelligence sources.
But the same reports suggested that the offensive would not be considered a success unless it made a deeper dent in Hezbollah's arsenal -- taking more than 60% of the rockets out of commission.
Beyond quelling the rocket fire, Israel has two other goals.
In the eastern Bekaa Valley, which Israeli officials have described as a prime route for smuggling arms from Syria, Israel is seeking to destroy Hezbollah's logistical network.
An Israeli airstrike Tuesday blew up a convoy of trucks in the Bekaa carrying arms for Hezbollah that were being moved in from Syria, the Israeli military said.
Officials declined to specify the amount or type of weaponry they believed the trucks were carrying, but said the strike triggered enormous secondary explosions, indicating a large arms shipment.
In the southern suburbs of Beirut, the chief targets are the symbols of Hezbollah's power.
- Lebanon Violence Hobbles U.S.-Led Peace Effort Feb 12, 2000
- Hezbollah Battles to Shed Extremist Image in Lebanon Nov 28, 1997
- Israel Pounds Lebanon After Hezbollah Attack Mar 01, 1999
