DATE=04/02/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL-PALESTINANS 2ND UPDATE SHORT

NUMBER=2-288263

BYLINE=ROSS DUNN

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

///EDS: UPDATES 2-288245///

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INTRO: Israeli troops Tuesday shelled targets inside Lebanon, after Islamic guerrilla fighters had attacked Israel. The incidents along Israel's northern border threatened to open up a new area of conflict, as clashes continued with Palestinians inside the West Bank. Ross Dunn reports from Jerusalem.

TEXT: Israeli media reported that a Katyusha rocket fell on the northern Galilee area, the first attack of its kind by the militant Islamic group Hezbollah in Lebanon in nearly two years.

Israeli troops responded by firing artillery into southern Lebanon.

Tension has been building along the northern border of Israel, following a military offensive launched against the Palestinian areas.

The Israeli Defense Minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer,

says that he is concerned that a second front could be opened up by the Hezbollah, which could risk plunging the entire region into war.

The incidents along the Lebanese border came as Israeli troops intensified their operations inside at least three Palestinian West Bank cities, as they searched for militants suspected of carrying out violent attacks. (Signed)

NEB/RD/SAB