Three Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hizbullah missile attack yesterday, as hostilities in southern Lebanon continued to worsen.
The Israeli government, after an emergency debate last night, opted for what sources described as a "restrained response", but a more forceful counterattack cannot be ruled out if the violence continues.
The three Israelis died when an anti-tank missile penetrated their look-out post at Galgalit, about three miles north of the Israeli border in the so-called "security zone" that Israel occupies in south Lebanon. A fourth soldier was critically injured and three more suffered moderate injuries.
The strike, which was characterised by a Hizbullah spokesman in Beirut as "a daring attack deep in enemy territory", came shortly before the funeral of the previous victim of Hizbullah violence, Col Akl Hashem, the second-in-command of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army militia, who was blown up outside his home on Sunday.
In a deliberate show of solidarity, Israel sent its Deputy Defence Minister, Mr Ephraim Sneh, and a host of senior army officers, to the funeral, despite the security risks.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, repeated yesterday that those responsible for the latest attacks would "get their punishment", and the Israeli Air Force staged several air raids during the day, aiming at Hizbullah targets.
But Mr Barak has apparently opted, at least for now, to refrain from any massive bombardment of southern Lebanon, despite calls from some on the Israeli right, most notably the former defence minister, Mr Moshe Arens, for such action.
Indeed, far from seeking a further escalation of hostilities, Mr Barak is urging Syria to rein in Hizbullah and return to the negotiating table, and repeating his promise to withdraw Israeli troops from the security zone by July.
Mr Avi Azulai, the father of one of the soldiers injured yesterday, seemed to back the Barak approach, declaring after visiting his son that "Lebanon is cursed . . . There's no end to the deaths there. Enough already."
Current indications, however, are that Syria is not about to return to the peace talks, and is disinclined to use its influence in Lebanon to curb Hizbullah. In Damascus yesterday, the Tishrin daily, controlled by the Syrian government, contained a blistering attack on Israel, accusing it of "committing worse crimes than the Nazis".
The Security Council yesterday unanimously approved a sixmonth renewal, until July 31st, of the 4,500-member UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. UNIFIL contingents are from Ireland, Fiji, Finland, France, Ghana, India, Italy, Nepal and Poland.