BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Israeli warplanes attacked Palestinian guerrilla bases near the Syrian border and suspected Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon on Monday, Lebanese security officials said.
The airstrikes on the Syrian-backed Fatah Uprising group were the first major attacks since 1998 on guerrillas opposed to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's peace deals with Israel.Over a 45-minute period, jets fired more than 13 missiles in four separate missions over Fatah Uprising bases tucked away in remote mountains four miles west of the Syrian border, the officials said.
Near the front line in southern Lebanon, Israeli jets staged two air raids against suspected Hezbollah positions following attacks by the Iranian-backed guerrilla group against the Israeli mountaintop outpost of Beaufort.
There was no immediate word on casualties from today's raids.
It was not clear what prompted the raid on the Fatah Uprising. But the fighting underscored the potential for violence at a time when Israel has given notice that it will withdraw from an occupied zone in south Lebanon by July.
Israel has said it will pull out with or without an agreement with Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon. It has threatened heavy retaliation for post-pullout attacks on Israel's northern borders.
Lebanon has said it cannot guarantee calm along the border if Israel pulls out without reaching peace with Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinians first.
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud recently warned that a unilateral withdrawal could lead to an escalation in violence.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon, and Lahoud warned that militants among them might attack northern Israel following a troop pullout.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Salim Hoss repeated that stand today, urging Israel "to avoid the dangers and risks of a withdrawal that is not part of a settlement."
Israeli troops have occupied a zone in southern Lebanon since 1985 to protect Israel's northern border from attacks.
Lebanon's position -- of demanding an unconditional withdrawal but tagging its own conditions -- has irritated Israel.
On Sunday, an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement said: "For . . . years they told us we ought to withdraw without conditions, and when we say we are about to do just that, they threaten us."