No Man's Land

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With no peace, Hizballah still faces a serious dilemma. If the impasse in negotiations with Israel persists, as indicated by President Clinton's failed talks in Geneva last week with Syrian President Hafez Assad, Syria may eventually sanction new Hizballah attacks to pressure Israel for concessions. Yet if Hizballah cooperates with such wishes, the Israeli reprisal bombings that would surely follow might alienate legions of Hizballah's hard-won Lebanese supporters. What is not in doubt is that Hizballah's well-trained and well-equipped fighters will fight on, if told to do so. "When the Israelis leave, we will celebrate by thanking God for our victory," says Said Kassem, 32, a Hizballah guerrilla since he was 18, as he sits by a waterfall near the Iklim al Toufah battle zone. "Then we will wait for our leaders to tell us the next step."