Sgt. Ophir Mish'al, 20, of Maaleh Adumim, who died during the night after being wounded in a Hizbullah shelling attack four days ago, was buried this afternoon in the Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem. His wounds were originally not considered life-threatening, but his condition deteriorated significantly yesterday. Mish'al is the seventh soldier to have fallen on the northern border since the IDF withdrew from southern Lebanon over two years ago. The last soldier killed there was St.-Sgt. Elad Litvak, 21, in April 2001. Israel responded at the time with a major raid on a Syrian radar installation.
Yesterday afternoon, late last night and again today, Hizbullah fired additional shells at IDF outposts on Har Dov and the western sector, causing no casualties. Prime Minister Sharon held a meeting last night regarding the escalating Hizbullah attacks, and heard intelligence reports predicting more Hizbullah attacks in the coming days. No decisions were announced.
Prosper Azran, ex-mayor of the northern town of Kiryat Shmonah, told Arutz-7 what he thinks ought to be done:
"Contrary to what the public thinks, the border here has not been quiet these past months. Hizbullah has been attacking all along, but Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer calls it just 'heating up the border.' He says, 'Hizbullah is trying to heat up the border, but we won't let them' - but the fact is that we are letting them do whatever they want! They kill yet another soldier, and shoot at planes over Kiryat Shmonah all the time, with the shrapnel falling right in the middle of the city or into nearby kibbutzim. This must stop! A sovereign state simply cannot let a gang that received everything from us - all the land they wanted - perpetrate terrorism against us."
Azran said that a state must know how to protect its own borders, and respond appropriately to attacks: "I don't say that we have to respond to each terrorist, and become like a Goliath against each little terrorist group. Rather, we must teach a lesson to countries with whom we have agreements, such as Lebanon and Syria, which have to pay the price for the terrorists' actions."
Agriculture Minister Shalom Simchon (Labor) agrees. He said this afternoon that there is no choice but to attack Syrian targets in Lebanon.
Yesterday afternoon, late last night and again today, Hizbullah fired additional shells at IDF outposts on Har Dov and the western sector, causing no casualties. Prime Minister Sharon held a meeting last night regarding the escalating Hizbullah attacks, and heard intelligence reports predicting more Hizbullah attacks in the coming days. No decisions were announced.
Prosper Azran, ex-mayor of the northern town of Kiryat Shmonah, told Arutz-7 what he thinks ought to be done:
"Contrary to what the public thinks, the border here has not been quiet these past months. Hizbullah has been attacking all along, but Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer calls it just 'heating up the border.' He says, 'Hizbullah is trying to heat up the border, but we won't let them' - but the fact is that we are letting them do whatever they want! They kill yet another soldier, and shoot at planes over Kiryat Shmonah all the time, with the shrapnel falling right in the middle of the city or into nearby kibbutzim. This must stop! A sovereign state simply cannot let a gang that received everything from us - all the land they wanted - perpetrate terrorism against us."
Azran said that a state must know how to protect its own borders, and respond appropriately to attacks: "I don't say that we have to respond to each terrorist, and become like a Goliath against each little terrorist group. Rather, we must teach a lesson to countries with whom we have agreements, such as Lebanon and Syria, which have to pay the price for the terrorists' actions."
Agriculture Minister Shalom Simchon (Labor) agrees. He said this afternoon that there is no choice but to attack Syrian targets in Lebanon.