Hezbollah

The Clinton administration denounced Iran on Thursday for escalating arms shipments to Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and charged that Tehran is trying to thwart the efforts of Secretary of State Warren Christopher as he shuttles around the Mideast in search of a cease-fire. The third planeload of supplies in 10 days arrived in Damascus, the Syrian capital, on Tuesday, according to senior U.S. officials.

As diplomatic efforts intensified to end the conflict in Lebanon, Israeli jet fighters Monday carried out a fiery attack on the second power station in the capital in two days, plunging this city into darkness and reminding the demoralized populace of its suffering during the country's 15-year civil war.

On the fifth day of "Operation Grapes of Wrath," Israeli Brig. Gen. Giora Inbar stood on the rooftop of this border outpost surveying the steep Lebanese mountains that reverberated with the sound of outgoing artillery fire. Israeli troops continued their barrage of more than 5,000 shells on suspected Hezbollah positions beyond those mountains, sending hundreds of thousands of Lebanese refugees north in a message to Beirut that it must rein in the Shiite Muslim guerrillas.

Succeeding where he had failed a day earlier, Secretary of State Warren Christopher had four hours of talks with Syrian President Hafez Assad on Wednesday and then traveled under heavily armed guard to Lebanon to meet with top leaders of this war-torn country. Afterward, the secretary of state voiced optimism that a cease-fire may soon be at hand between Israel and the Hezbollah militia it is fighting in Lebanon.

Iran is now flying at least three 747 jumbo cargo jets of supplies monthly to Syria for shipment to Lebanon's Hezbollah forces in an effort to upgrade the arms capabilities of Tehran's allies, according to Pentagon and U.S. intelligence sources. The shipments are primarily weapons, though they contain some humanitarian supplies.

The remains of two Israeli soldiers held by Hezbollah guerrillas will be swapped for Arab prisoners and guerrilla remains today, the Lebanese fundamentalist group said Saturday. In Jerusalem, the Israeli army confirmed that a deal had been reached for the return of the bodies of soldiers Yossi Fink and Rahamim Alsheikh, but it gave no other details. The two men were captured in an ambush by Hezbollah, or Party of God, in southern Lebanon in 1986.

With the stench of death sealing their grim swap, Israel returned the bodies of 123 Hezbollah guerrillas and a group of prisoners Sunday in exchange for the corpses of two Israeli soldiers killed in southern Lebanon. The first batch of coffins and the 22 prisoners were brought to this crossing at the edge of an Israeli-occupied border enclave after the remains of two Israeli soldiers captured in a 1986 Hezbollah ambush arrived at Israel's Ben-Gurion airport.

Hezbollah guerrillas fired missiles at an Israeli army outpost, killing one soldier and injuring three, the Israeli army said. The guerrillas shot at least six missiles at the army camp, Lebanese security officials said. The Israeli army said the camp was hit by light weapons, mortar shells and antitank fire. The Israelis and their allies, the South Lebanon Army, returned fire, the army said. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the retaliatory attack.

Hezbollah guerrillas fired missiles at an Israeli army outpost Saturday, killing one soldier and injuring three in the deadliest raid in southern Lebanon in more than two weeks, the Israeli army said. The guerrillas shot at least six missiles at the army camp, Lebanese security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Israeli army said the camp was hit by light weapons, mortar shells and anti-tank fire.

A bomb exploded as an Israeli army patrol was walking along a road in Israel's self-declared security zone in southern Lebanon, killing two soldiers and wounding four. Hezbollah, or Party of God, an Iranian-backed Islamic guerrilla group, claimed responsibility. Hezbollah claimed that the Israeli patrol was trying to lay an ambush for guerrillas.