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Dad fears for son in war zone

Stuart Greer
26/ 7/2006

EXCLUSIVE

A HOLLINWOOD man is living in fear for the lives of his son and grandchildren caught up in the fighting between the Israeli Army and Hezbollah in the Middle East.

Tony Wolstenholme, 59, of Middle Gate, is desperate for news of his son Mark, who is in the war zone with fiance Liah and Mark's two children, seven-year-old Nathan and four-year-old daughter Lior.

The family group live in a kibbutz in northern Israel, less than three miles from the borders of both Lebanon and Syria.

Since the conflict began two weeks ago Mark and his family have been forced to sleep in bomb shelters each night while Hezbollah rockets destroyed targets less than a mile away. Meanwhile, Israeli troops and tanks have been massing on their doorstep for a controversial invasion into Lebanon.

Retired police inspector Tony said: "I am petrified. We all are. I want them out of harm's way. I have begged Mark to come back to England or send Lior and Nathan over to me until things calm down, but he won't. It's their home.

"I can't do anything about it, and that's what upsets me the most.

"On Wednesday a rocket landed less that two kilometres away from Mark's home. Lior thinks it's a game, but she is very young. Nathan is scared. He doesn't like the bombs. The situation is upsetting him a lot. Mark may have to send them to the south of Israel for safety."

Mark, 33, grew up in Oldham with his parents and two brothers, attending Kaskenmoor School. He left England in 1996 to travel the Middle East and settled in a kibbutz in Golan Heights. He is now an Israeli citizen.

Communicating via email, Mark, a network engineer, told the Advertiser very little information is filtering through to the people in the war zones.

He said: "The sound of the booms from the artillery almost never stops, and the lights of the incoming Katyusha rockets are clearly seen from here. Because of the situation, I cannot get to work, as we are currently under orders from the Army to remain in the shelters."

• LATEST figures state that 377 people, many of them civilians, have been killed so far in the Lebanon by the Israelis. Close to 40 Israeli's, again mainly civilians, have been killed by Hezbollah.