Israel Warns Syrians to Curb Muslim Guerrillas in Southern Lebanon

Israel issued a thinly veiled warning to Syria on Sunday to rein in Muslim guerrillas who have been attacking Israeli troops occupying a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

The government said in an announcement after the weekly Cabinet meeting that it will maintain beefed-up military forces along the northern border and not hesitate to retaliate against further raids.

But in Lebanon, President Elias Hrawi warned Israel that the attacks by Lebanese and Palestinian guerrillas would escalate until Israel abandoned the security zone. He also criticized the U.S. Senate for passing a resolution urging the withdrawal of the 40,000 Syrian soldiers in Lebanon.

The developments came less than two weeks before Secretary of State Warren Christopher is to visit the region in an effort to break a deadlock in the Arab-Israeli peace talks. Israel is negotiating with Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians.

Five Israeli soldiers have been killed and 10 wounded in southern Lebanon this month. Israel has refrained from major retaliation, apparently because it does not want to hurt the peace negotiations or get drawn into a confrontation with Syria.

Israel has repeatedly accused Syria of responsibility for the escalation, arguing it has the power to rein in the Muslim fundamentalist group Hezbollah and Palestinian militants based in Syrian-controlled areas of Lebanon.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah has vowed to wreck the peace talks through escalating attacks on the 440-square-mile buffer zone that Israel carved out in 1985.

The Israeli Cabinet statement did not mention Syria by name, but ministers suggested that the warning was addressed to Damascus.

“We know that the Syrians are directly involved. . . . No Syrian soldier is pulling the trigger, but without a general Syrian willingness, Hezbollah couldn’t pull the trigger,” Deputy Defense Minister Mordechai Gur said on Israel Television.

Hrawi said Israel must give up the buffer zone if it wants to stop the fighting in the border region and to reach a peace agreement.