HAROUF, Lebanon -- The first of the Israeli shells to land prompted a laugh from the Hezbollah soldier, a wiry, bearded man with nervous energy and a pistol stuffed in his belt. The concussion of the next blast, just a few dozen yards away, sent him sprinting for cover.
Israel's bombardment of South Lebanon this week is aimed at the guerrilla and his companions in Harouf, a half-dozen men with Kalashnikov rifles who darted along the deserted street while the village was being shelled.
"Hezbollah is good," the leader of the band shouted toward the Israeli artillery on the high hills above the town. He was answered by another close artillery blast that spit stones into the air.
Israel's stated goal is to force Hezbollah, the "Party of God," to stop launching its Katyusha rockets at northern Israeli towns. Israel calls the militia members terrorists, the name also applied to opponents in the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Israel is using a similar strategy against both groups: It is putting pressure on civilians to try to turn them against the Islamic radicals. In the West Bank and Gaza, Israel has sealed borders to squeeze the Palestinian economy and push Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, to make sweeping arrests.
In South Lebanon, Israel has driven an estimated 400,000 civilians from their homes, hoping the chaos will prompt the authorities in Lebanon to curb Hezbollah.
In the last six days, Israeli aircraft have flown 1,000 combat missions and its artillery has fired 10,000 shells to deliver that message: "Damage and suffering to the civilians of Lebanon is strong enough for them to understand," an Israeli army official, Maj. Gen. Eitan Ben-Eliahu, said yesterday.
"The policy is similar to that we used in 1993," said an Israeli military source, who would not be quoted by name. "We will create an impossible situation in the south to cause an influx of refugees and pressure the government in Beirut."
One hitch to that strategy is that it may backfire. The Hezbollah cause, until now a marginal concern to many Lebanese, is suddenly a matter of national unity. The refugees fleeing South Lebanon rage at the Israeli bombardment and cheer Hezbollah for its Katyusha replies.
"All the people are now Hezbollah," said Ahmed Ramadan, 48, at a refugee shelter in south Beirut yesterday. "Israel is the enemy of everyone."
