Hizbullah Holing Up Near Schools, Hospitals Again

Hizbullah is placing military positions, weapons and explosive charges next to schools and hospitals in southern Lebanon, a senior IDF source said Wednesday. The IDF may have to take action against these targets in case of hostilities with Hizbullah, and has said as much to the UN force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL).

An officer in the IDF Northern Command said that Hizbullah is digging tunnels, preparing communications infrastructure and making other preparations for war. Hizbullah has about 40,000 rockets and about 10,000 militiamen scattered in about 160 villages in southern Lebanon.

Inside each of these villages, the terror militia has an infrastructure that includes weapons, control centers, mines and other explosives, all of which are located very short distances away from population centers, schools and hospitals.

IDF sources gave conflicting estimates regarding Hizbullah's warlike intentions. While one source said the militia is not showing signs that it is about to attack, the Commander of the Regional Brigade in northern Israel, Col. Ronen Morali, said Hizbullah is steadily inching toward the Israeli border. “The organization has the will to penetrate and mount an attack, against communities and against IDF soldiers,” Morali said. “It is clear that the Hizbullah organization wants to carry out a terror strike or a penetration, beyond the use of gunfire, light arms or rockets.”

Morali said that the IDF is working in full cooperation with UNIFIL and that the UN soldiers have increased their presence and “are doing a good job.” The Lebanese Army has also deployed three brigades in southern Lebanon in order to improve its control over the region, he said.

A favored tactic of terror militias Hamas and Hizbullah is to attack Israel from within population centers, thus luring Israeli forces into inadvertently causing civilian casualties among the Arab noncombatants. Macabre photographs of dead children are then circulated in the world as proof of Israel's supposed inhumanity.

More here>>