Israelis hit North Lebanon...and close in on some old friends.

Israel made a point of hitting targets in North Lebanon today, including radar stations, fresh points on the Damascus Highway and a small fishing port at Abdeh in northern Lebanon near a highway leading to Syria, an attack that killed eight Lebanese soldiers. The radar stations were used by Hezbollah and probably some Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the missile attack against the Israeli ship last week..with the full cooperation of the Lebanese Army. according to Israel.

Another reason for the attacks in North Lebanon is that according to my information Hizballah leader Hassan Nassrallah and his top command are holed up in Hermel, in the northern Lebanese panhandle near the Syrian. They apparently fled from their Beirut HQ Saturday night, July 15, when the IAF levelled it and left for emergency bunkers that were probably prepared in advance of their July 12 attack on Israel as a fallback position.

Since the Israelis found this out, the Air Force has been clobbering the Hermel region.

The Hezbollah command includes some interesting characters...aside from Nasrullah, there's Hizballah’s chief of staff Ibrahim Akil, commander of special operations Halil Harab and most importantly,Imad Mughniyeh, who has been high on the US wanted terrorist list for more than two decades.






Mugniyeh started his career as a member of Yasir Arafat's Force 17 and later joined al Qaeda as one of bin-Laden's chief lieutenants. Among other things, he helped arrange the Karina-A arms shipment from Iran via Hezbollah to the Palestinian terrorists. He is the liason between al Qaeda and Iran, the Palestinians and Hezbollah.

Iran for its part has already begun resupplying Hezbollah. This area is a major smuggling area anyway, and the border is not well watched.

The holds of all the Iranian passenger flights landing in Damascus from Thursday, July 13, have reportedly been crammed with weapons for Hizballah.

Over the weekend one of my sources reported that 25-30 Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers, anti-tank and anti-air missile experts flew into Damascus dressed in civilian clothes. They smuggled over the border into Lebanon and are now hunkered down with Hezbollah.

This presents a strategic problem for Israel; they cannot fully eradicate Hezbollah's missiles or take out its command without an incursion to Northern Lebanon...right next to the Syrian border.

Could Israel be planning an amphibious assault on the north via Abdeh or elsewhere in that vicinity? Or perhaps an airborne assault? Israel paratroops are among the best in the business.