Jerusalem - Just days after Hizbullah guerrillas fired at northern Israel with Katyusha rockets and Israel responded by bombing infrastructure targets deep inside Lebanon, the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, said yesterday he did not rule out the possibility that he would withdraw troops from south Lebanon ahead of his July 7th deadline, writes Peter Hirschberg.
Asked on Army Radio whether the pull-back might come earlier then self-imposed target date, Mr Barak said: "By July 7th means not after, and doesn't rule out having it before." Senior Israel army officers are fearful that Hizbullah will escalate attacks I the next two months to give the impression that Israel is being forced to flee Southern Lebanon, where it has occupied a self-styled security zone since 1985.