Last update - 00:00 17/03/2008
Police to beef up forces over Purim, fearing Hezbollah strike
By The Associated Press
Israel Police will deploy thousands of officers throughout the country this weekend as a precautionary measure during the Jewish festival of Purim, fearing the Hezbollah guerrilla group may try to carry out a revenge attack for the assassination of one of its top masterminds, a police spokesman said Monday.
Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the February 12 car bombing in Syria that killed Imad Mughniyeh, a Hezbollah leader suspected of masterminding a series of deadly attacks against U.S. and Jewish targets. The Israeli government has denied the charge, although military officials have been more vague, refusing to confirm or deny involvement.
Israeli officials fear that Hezbollah will try to strike at the end of the traditional 40-day mourning period, which coincides with Purim, a time when schools are closed and many Israeli families attend outdoor celebrations.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said thousands of officers and volunteers will guard holiday celebrations and be stationed at bus stations and malls throughout the country. He said also said Israel would likely impose a closure on the West Bank, preventing Palestinians from entering the country.
Israel often imposes closures during holidays and other times of high alert.
One of the world's most wanted and elusive terrorists, the 45-year-old
Mughniyeh was linked to a series of attacks that killed hundreds of Americans, including 241 U.S. Marines in Lebanon and the brutal kidnappings of Westerners in the 1980s.
His trail of violence was believed to have extended into the 1990s, with the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina, a Jewish center in Buenos Aires and an attack on foreign military housing in Saudi Arabia. Scores of people were killed and hundreds more wounded in those attacks.
Hezbollah chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah vowed at Mughniyeh's funeral to
retaliate against Jewish targets anywhere in the world, and Israeli
precautions have been extended across the globe.
The commemoration of Mughniyeh's death coincides with the Jewish festival of Purim. The holiday is widely celebrated in Israel with parades and parties. Police fearing attacks by Hezbollah or Palestinian militants said this year security will be even tighter than usual at all public gatherings.
Israel fought a fierce but inconclusive monthlong war with Hezbollah in the summer of 2006.
The war killed 40 Israeli civilians and 119 Israel Defense Forces soldiers and more than 1,000 Lebanese, most of them civilians, according to government tallies in both countries.
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