TIMES ONLINE: Israeli tanks lie smashed and upturned on a remote mountaintop in south Lebanon, while Hezbollah fighters, wearing camouflaged uniforms and carrying rifles, crouch near by in the dense undergrowth.
The scene could be the latest battle between the militant Shia group and Israeli troops, but while the tanks are real, the fighters are plastic dummies and the display is part of a newly opened tourist project to mark the tenth anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from south Lebanon.
That historic event — the first time Israel unilaterally abandoned occupied Arab land — comes at a time of heightened tension in the region amid fears that another war is brewing between Hezbollah and the Jewish state.
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, vowed in a speech on Tuesday night that in the next war, his organisation could attack Israel-bound shipping in the Mediterranean.
Addressing Israel, he said: “If you launch a new war on Lebanon, if you blockade our coastline, all military, civilian or commercial ships heading through the Mediterranean to occupied Palestine will be targeted by the Islamic resistance.” Read on and comment >>> Nicholas Blanford | Thursday, May 27, 2010
