Mideast Leaders Say Israeli Incursion Could Lead To War
Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Foreign Correspondent Beirut, Lebanon (AHN) - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has warned the Israeli army's offensives into Gaza and Beirut could lead to a regional war. He tells CNN, "This is not our interest and will not bring peace and stability to the region." Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar Ja'afari said the conflict between Israel and Lebanon could cross the Syrian border. He said, "The Arab-Israeli conflict did not start with the capture of an Israeli soldier in Gaza or two other Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon. The Arab-Israeli conflict is 60 years old, and nobody was giving any care to solving this conflict." Those who should be blamed are the Israeli policies, not the Arab policies." Israel launched sea, land and air strikes in Lebanon two weeks after it entered Gaza in search of one of its soldiers captured by Hammas militants. Hezbollah fighters also captured two Israeli soldiers during a raid. Since then Israel conducted over 100 air sorties on identified Hezbollah bases and weapons storage facilities. Several roads and bridges have also been hit by Israeli jets and artillery fire to prevent the transfer of the captured soldiers. Lebanon's only international airport, the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport was also bombed by Israeli jets. Lebanese Interior Minister Agmed Fatfat called the attack on the airport a "general act of war." < |
