"For Mohammed Banjak, an employee of the Litani Water Company, clearing the irrigation ditches in the fruit orchards of south Lebanon is a tedious but routine task".

"But the chore was anything but routine Saturday when Banjak and his colleague, Naji Rida, barely escaped with their lives when they were shelled by an "Israeli" tank".

"Banjak and Rida, who owns a lemon orchard on the outskirts of Mansouri, 13 kilometers south of Tyre, were working by flashlight Saturday night to clear the concrete irrigation channels of debris.

“It was hard work, the water flow is sluggish around Mansouri and the ditches need clearing every 10 days,” said Banjak.

"At around midnight, without warning, both men suddenly found themselves under fire from an "Israeli" Merkava tank.

“The tank was targeting us directly. We could see the flash from the gun and then the shells were exploding around us ­ on the ground and in the air. I shouted to Naji ‘get down’,” Banjak recalled.

"The Merkava was hidden behind an earth embankment tucked into the hillside beneath the village of Bayada, some 2,000 meters away.

"The foliage of the lemon trees provided scant protection from the 120mm rounds, some of them filled with vicious 3.5 centimeter-long steel darts.

"Both Banjak and Rida were hit by darts from the first shell. Rida was struck again by the second and third rounds. Six shells were fired in all.

“Naji could hardly move and I could only hobble,” said Banjak.

"Rida was able to call for help on his cellular phone. But the two men had to stagger along a track for 500 meters before reaching the main road. There a friend was waiting and took them to the Tyre’s Najm hospital.

"Banjak had been struck by one dart in the ankle which caused injuries to a nerve in his foot, according to his physician, Mohammed Abboud.

Holding up some X-rays, Abboud pointed to two white marks that stood out against the shadows of Rida’s skull.

"Darts hit Rida’s head in two places, his left arm and left leg.

“These weapons are designed for maximum injury. They are banned weapons and should not be used,” Abboud said.

"They can be fired loose from a tank barrel, like a shotgun, for a range of about 500 meters. The shells that sought out Banjak and Rida in the orchard were packed with 12,000 darts each and timed to explode in the air over the two men.

"The raw earth redoubt hiding the Merkava tank looked disconcertingly harmless beneath the scorching morning sun Monday. But the evidence of Saturday night’s violence lay in the shattered branch of a lemon tree, the small, blackened crater from an exploding shell and the numerous darts and shrapnel fragments lying scattered beneath the shade of the orchard" .

"There had been no resistance activity in the area prior to the tank shelling, so why had Banjak and Rida come under fire from the "Israelis"?"

“Because they are cowards,” said Banjak. “The "Israelis" see a shadow and they shoot. But it won’t stop the farmers from working their land. They might kill us but there are always more of us to replace them.”