LATEST NEWS - Israel/Lebanon (Graphic Images)

[Ea$y-8]

Israel delays northern push in Lebanon
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer




Israel grabbed strategic high ground in south Lebanon on Thursday but delayed a major push northward, as diplomats cited progress toward agreement on a U.N. cease-fire resolution that could soon go to a vote.

With Israeli troops closer to Beirut than at any time since the war began, diplomats said they were close to unlocking the stalemate over a U.N. effort toward a cease-fire. The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton, said a vote was possible on Friday.

The United States and France have been trying to bridge differences over a timetable for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

Israeli ground troops took control of the mainly Christian town of Marjayoun before dawn and blasted away throughout the day at strongly fortified Hezbollah positions in several directions.

An Israeli soldier was killed and two were wounded in fierce battles with Hezbollah guerrillas Thursday, a day after the Israeli military suffered its worst one-day military loss, with 15 soldiers killed. More than 800 people have died in the month-long conflict, including 715 in Lebanon.

A huge explosion rocked the center of the town and the surrounding countryside about sunset and a big fire could be seen raging from a vantage point in Ibl el-Saqi, about two miles to the east.

By taking Marjayoun the Israeli army was closer to Beirut than at any time since the fighting began July 12 after a cross-border raid in which Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed three.

At the same time, the army was still within about five miles of the Israeli border. Marjayoun, which sits near major road junctions in the south, lies due north of Israel's Galilee panhandle that juts north into Lebanon.

Marjayoun was used as the command center for the Israeli army and its allied Lebanese militia during an 18-year occupation of south Lebanon that ended in 2000. The high ground around Marjayoun, including the village of Blatt, overlooks the Litani River valley, one of the staging sites for Hezbollah's relentless rocket assaults on Israel.

Diplomatic efforts had stalled as the Lebanese called for Israeli troops to start pulling out once hostilities end and Beirut sends 15,000 troops of its own to the south, while Israel has insisted on staying in southern Lebanon until a robust international force is deployed, which could take weeks or months.

"We've closed some of the areas of disagreement with the French," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton said.

Suggestions that a new resolution was in the works also emerged.

"A new proposal is being drafted, which has positive significance that may bring the war to an end," Israeli member of parliament Otniel Schneller quoted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as saying. "But if the draft is not accepted there is the Cabinet decision."

The Israeli Security Cabinet authorized Olmert to expand the current offensive in Lebanon, but Israeli officials said they would hold off to give diplomacy more time to work.

"If we can achieve that by diplomatic means and are sure that there is an intention to implement that document, we shall definitely be in a position where the military operation has achieved diplomatic space and a new situation has been created here in the north," Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said.

But he warned Israel was ready to use "all of the tools" to cripple Hezbollah if efforts toward a cease-fire failed.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora met twice Thursday with U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman. An aide to the Lebanese leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information, said new ideas for ending the fighting involved combining two envisioned resolutions into one overarching document.

Broadly speaking, the U.S.-French draft Security Council resolution called for a cessation of hostilities and the deployment of the Lebanese army into southern Lebanon to the Israeli border, in cooperation with U.N. peacekeepers who are already there. As the Lebanese start deploying, the Israeli army will begin withdrawing, according to council diplomats.

Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat told The Associated Press about 350 Lebanese soldiers and police garrisoned in Marjayoun were taken into custody. Residents said the Israelis also took over one building in the barracks, locked up the ammunition and weapons depot and took away the keys.

An Israel military spokeswoman said troops arrived at a building in the town, where there were soldiers, police and refugees, but only advised them to remain there for their own safety.

"Nobody has been taken prisoner," she said, declining to be identified because military rules did not allow her to make public comments.

Israel reported one of its soldiers was killed and two were wounded in Qleia, just south of Marjayoun, when Hezbollah guerrillas fired a missile at a tank. Hezbollah reported killing as many as 16 Israeli soldiers and destroying 18 tanks.

Two Israeli civilians also died in Hezbollah rocket attacks, an Arab-Israeli mother and her young daughter in the village of Deir al-Assad. Israel reported 160 Hezbollah rockets landed during the day.

On the Lebanese side the death toll was significantly lower than in recent days, with only four people killed, all of them civilians hit in Israeli air and artillery strikes.

More than 800 people in Lebanon and Israel have died since fighting erupted — 715 on the Lebanese side and 121 on the Israeli side.

In Beirut, Israeli warplanes blanketed the downtown area with leaflets that threatened a "painful and strong" response to Hezbollah attacks and warned residents to evacuate three southern suburbs. Other warnings dropped from planes said any trucks on a key northern highway to Syria would be considered targets for attack.

Earlier, missiles from Israeli helicopter gunships blasted the top of a historic lighthouse in central Beirut in an apparent attempt to knock out a broadcast antenna for Lebanese state television.

Top U.N. humanitarian official Jan Egeland criticized Israel and Hezbollah for hindering the delivery of aid to civilians trapped in southern Lebanon, saying it was a "disgrace" they had failed to allow convoys to get through.

Egeland said a plan worked out with Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah to funnel aid through humanitarian corridors has not worked the way each side had promised.

"The Hezbollah and the Israelis could give us access in a heartbeat," Egeland said at the U.N.'s European headquarters in Geneva. "Then we could help 120,000 people in southern Lebanon.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060810/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_israel_953

[Decebalus]

Israel struggles to capture strategic hills

Conal Urquhart in Metulla
Thursday August 10, 2006
The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/)


An Israeli artillery unit fires a shell towards Lebanon from its position near the Israeli-Lebanese border. Photograph: Yonathan Weitzman/Reuters


Israeli forces today struggled to secure strategic hills close to the border town of Metulla, despite weeks of bombardment and days of fighting.Dozens of tanks withdrew from hills close to the Lebanese Christian village of Marjayoun this morning and repeatedly came under anti-tank fire as they approached the border. One tank was set ablaze by a missile within a quarter of a mile of the village. The crew climbed on to another tank and were driven to safety.
As more tanks returned, pumping out smoke for cover, several more missiles were fired, narrowly missing their targets and setting light to scrub on the valley floor. A tank crew extinguished the fire in the damaged tank and towed the blackened vehicle to Metulla as Israeli artillery fired shells around it to create dust clouds for cover.
Israeli troops succeeded in taking control of one ridge east of Metulla. Scores of soldiers could be seen standing on the ridge next to a quarry, looking at the action in the valley below.
On a ridge west of Metulla, Hizbullah fighters fired anti-tank missiles, which resembled red darts, across the valley, exploding in a ball of fire on impact.
Throughout the night the valleys were illuminated and shaken by an endless bombardment. Tracer fire and rockets could be seen in the darkness.
There were reports of deaths and casualties in the fighting around Metulla but the Israeli army refused to comment until relatives had been informed.
The problems involved in taking control of the hills close to Metulla are the same all along the border. Although 10,000 troops and hundreds of tanks are deployed, Hizbullah fighters can easily evade them and attack when convenient.
"It is very difficult for a hundred tanks to find small teams of three or four men running over the hillside," said one soldier in Metulla.
According to reports, Israel is trying to remedy its failure to flush out Hizbullah fighters with air strikes and tanks by sending infantry into the villages on foot. Reuters quoted witnesses who saw Israeli troops moving on foot through Marjayoun about five miles inside Lebanon and neighbouring villages.
"I can see two tanks burning some 500 metres from Marjayoun," one resident told the news agency by telephone.
A third tank arrived later and removed several casualties, he said, adding that Hizbullah fighters were raining rocket and mortar fire on the Israeli force between Marjayoun and Khiam.
Both villages are dominated by Christian Maronites who were allied with Israel until it withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.
Hizbullah said in a statement it had destroyed 11 Israeli tanks, killing or wounding their crews in the fighting.
Israel has lost 82 soldiers in the fighting. Yesterday it lost 15, the highest number of fatalities in a single day.
The government decided to expand its operations in Lebanon, allowing the army to move to the Litani river, 18 miles inside Lebanon. However, there is growing dissent within Israel about the war's conduct.
Danny Yatom, a reservist general and senior member of the Labour party, said that moving deeper into Lebanon was pointless. "We are banging our head against the wall," he told Israeli TV. "And even if we reach the Litani, the Katyushas won't stop."
Some 160 rockets were fired at Israel yesterday and the pattern continued today. One rocket hit an Israeli Arab village, killing a two-year-old and an adult.
So far, the fighting has killed 120 Israelis, including 38 civilians. In Lebanon, officials say 711 people have been killed. The death toll among Hizbullah fighters remains unclear.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1841637,00.html

[saigonsmuggler]

Links/Sources ???

ooops - http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289490,00.html

[Chucky]

Anti-Tank Weapons Inflict Heavy Losses on Israeli Army

Powerful anti-tank missiles manufactured by Russia and Iran are being used with deadly effectiveness by Hizbollah against the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, military sources say.

A large proportion of the 68 Israeli soldiers who have died in south Lebanon since the start of the offensive a month ago were killed by such missiles.

Top-selling daily Yediot Aharonot reported Aug. 10 that out of 25 anti-tank missiles fired, about one-quarter of them pierced the armor of targeted tanks and caused heavy losses.

Read more
http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/Anti-Tank_Weapons_Inflict_Heavy_Losses_on_Israeli_Army.php

[Darth Vidar]

http://www.debka.com/

DEBKAfile Reports: Israel asks US to bring forward delivery of short-range antipersonnel “shoot and scoot” M-26 artillery rockets for Hizballah missile sites in Lebanon

August 11, 2006, 2:16 PM (GMT+02:00)
Israel has asked for the M-26 artillery rockets scheduled for early 2007 to be airlifted now, according to the New York Times. They are designed for rapid consignment to the US army by C-141 Galaxy transports.
Fired in 12-rocket barrages, they carry hundreds of grenade-like bomblets that scatter and explode over a broad area (compared with Hizballah’s Katyusha rockets, each of which contains 40,000 tiny steel balls).

DEBKAfile’s military sources add: the M-26 is the last word in this type of rocket. It can be loaded 80 percent faster than the weapons used by the IDF – no more than 5 minutes. This enables a rocket crew to load, shoot and run to safety before the attack, lending the weapon its “shoot and scoot” capability.

Israel is asking for the rockets now because it has been unable to suppress Hezbollah’s Katyusha rocket attacks which are killing Israeli civilians every day.

The cluster rocket can penetrate Hizballah fortifications.
A senior US official said the M-26 is likely to be released shortly, along with other arms. But some State Department officials have sought to delay the approval because of concerns that the rockets, while very effective against hidden missile launchers, could cause civilian casualties. Israel will be asked to accept stipulations regarding its use in civilian areas.

The IDF has brought its order forward to fill the gap in its armory of a weapon or a tactic capable of stopping Hizballah’s rocket blitz against northern Israel, one that can also smash the bunker bases out of which they fire a deadly anti-tank cannonade at Israel tanks.

While the civilians of northern know more than they want to know about the effectiveness of the Hizballah rockets blighting their lives, DEBKAfile’s military sources disclose that little is heard of damage to the military installations in that part of the country, which are targeted equally by Hizballah. The IDF does not report hits to army bases. Nasrallah’s men use their Katyusha rockets to take the place of artillery weapons which they do not have.

The US-made M-26 is equipped with GPS for finding targets. Its sensors keep the launcher stable in all weathers, including winds blowing within a radius of 100 meters, thereby enhancing its accuracy of fire.

Our military sources comment: The fact that the US rocket was requested only in the third week of the Lebanon war and was not in hand at its outbreak is more evidence of how little Israel’s top brass and northern command knew about the enemy and how-ill-prepared they and the government were to confront him in battle.


.................................

Is this what they are talking about?
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m26.htm

[Darth Vidar]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3289761,00.html

High-ranking officer: Hizbullah leave hiding because of food shortage.

A high-ranking officer in IDF's Northern Command posited that many Hizbullah operatives are leaving their hiding places in recent days because of waning food supplies.

"Many Hizbullah cells hiding in southern Lebanon are coming out, most likely because their food and water resources have been depleted. As a result, there are many clashes between them and IDF forces in all arenas," he said. According to the officer, IDF forces operating in the areas struck six Hizbullah cells in recent days. (Hanan Greenberg)

[Snoshi]

Al-Jazeera reports that HA said that it sunk an Israeli boat with 12 sailors...

[Snoshi]

The Associated Press reports that Hezbollah TV says Hezbollah destroyed an Israeli gunboat off the coast of Tyre, killing or wounding the crew of 12. The Israeli army had no comment.

[Kaplanr]

Haaretz http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749268.html

The foresight saga

By Ze'ev Schiff


Sometimes a country has to take a slap in the face in order to wake up to the changed reality around it. That's what happened to Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which 2,600 were killed, and in the Al-Aqsa Intifada, which claimed more than 1,000 victims. Now Israel has gotten a s lap during the war with Hezbollah. It is unfortunate that each time, the searing of Israel's consciousness involves losses, destruction and suffering.

In the Arab states, too, there are many who think that the war has created a new reality. In their perception, the Israel Defense Forces is having a hard time subduing Hezbollah. In Syria they are wondering whether the time hasn't come to liberate the Golan Heights by force. Advocates of peace with Israel in the Arab world are on the defensive. If this is the trend, the way is being paved for another round of war.

For many in the Arab world, the campaign between Israel and Hezbollah is part of a larger picture, which also includes the inability of the United States to quash the insurgency in Iraq. The Arabs are seeing that military might is not a guarantee of success. There are also those who understand that in today's situation, it is the intention of Iran, Hezbollah's major supporter, to intervene more than ever in inter-Arab affairs.




Advertisement

Fortunately for Israel, this war erupted before Iran has acquired the ability to threaten the use of nuclear weapons. From this point of view, the war appears to have come too early for Iran's liking - and a good thing, too. Tehran understands that part of the infrastructure it created for Hezbollah will be destroyed in the war, so it is important for it that the border crossings into Lebanon remain open, to enable Hezbollah to be rearmed. The international force that is to be deployed in southern Lebanon will be meaningless if it does not ensure that Iran and Syria are prevented from getting weapons and rockets to Hezbollah.

Internationalization

Israel has always been opposed on principle to having foreign soldiers do its work for it. In the past, Israel's agreements to the deployment of United Nations forces were obtained almost by coercion. Now an international force has to remove Hezbollah's rockets and act as a buffer, shielding Israel.

The IDF's legal department and its Plans and Policy Directorate are finding it difficult to formulate a position concerning the proposal that the multinational force in Lebanon base its activity on the mandate of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. This chapter allows for the use of force and the imposition of sanctions against anyone who violates a cease-fire. A force of international soldiers, to be led, in this case, by France, might decide that Israel is violating the cease-fire and therefore that it should be subjected to sanctions. A well-known American legal expert, Prof. Anne Bayefsky, warns against such a development.

Tactics

Nothing about the deployment of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon resembles what existed there in the war that began in June 1982. Hezbollah built a system of underground tunnels which recalls what the Vietcong did in Vietnam. Its fighters, who hide in the tunnels and occasionally surface to attack Israeli troops and to fire rockets, had to be removed by means of fuel bombs and similar means. What exists in southern Lebanon was planned by Iranian advisors led by the chief of the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) force in the Revolutionary Guards, Qassam Sulaymani.

In this war, the technology possessed by the IDF, and by the Israel Air Force in particular, makes possible more accurate strikes, both by day and by night. However, the international media also have satellites that can photograph and transmit immediate reports about almost every movement. With their help, Hezbollah is able to forgo much of its intelligence staff, because it receives real-time information about the accuracy of its own hits and about the IDF's movements. Hezbollah can thus easily evaluate Israel's likely moves, even before the government has even discussed them.

Prevention

Shortly after the withdrawal from Lebanon, in May 2000, Israel discovered that Iran had begun sending huge quantities of rockets and other weapons to Hezbollah, and was also training the organization's men. Afterward it emerged that Syria was also supplying heavy rockets to Hezbollah.

This information was made known to prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon, but they decided not to launch a preventive war. Barak, who had led the pullout from Lebanon not long before these developments, did not want to send the IDF back into Lebanon. In addition, Israel was in the midst of a serious intifada. Sharon understood well the emerging reality in Lebanon and the dangers inherent in it, but preferred to focus on the Palestinian arena and did not want to open a second front.

The result was that Israel did not take even one defensive measure against the burgeoning convoys of weapons, ammunition stores and rockets. Above all, this policy was adopted because of the apprehension that the international community would view an operation against the rockets in Lebanon as an unjust war of prevention. The conclusion is that a small democracy cannot allow itself to wage a preventive war against a terrorist organization, however dangerous it may be. That prerogative is reserved solely for great powers, and usually only after they have been attacked. There was a time when Israel was more daring in this regard.

Deployment

Israel was not taken by surprise by Hezbollah's military capabilities: Military Intelligence (MI) and the Mossad intelligence organization knew about the developments in the organization. However, when intelligence estimated that there were some 12,000 Katyusha rockets in southern Lebanon, the responses in Israel were: "Stop threatening the nation of Israel," and "Your real goal is to increase the already bloated defense budget." Research institutes and similar bodies devoted little space in their publications to the Hezbollah threat.

On July 22, 2005, I wrote in Haaretz: "It is doubtful whether Israel has a sufficient answer at present to the threat of Hezbollah rockets. Even if you destroy 80 percent of them, over a million residents in the north of the country will continue to sit in shelters." On March 3, 2006, I wrote that Hezbollah, and in effect Iran, already has the ability to strike targets south of Haifa, which involves a sophisticated Iranian move that was carried out in cooperation with Syria and Hezbollah. In the view of some, this does not constitute a strategic threat, because the same targets can be hit by means of terrorist attacks, I wrote, and then asked: Is the fact that some two million people will be confined to shelters and schools, and workplaces will be closed, not a strategic blow!?

A report that was drawn up a few months ago by former minister Dan Meridor and a group of experts stated: "Hezbollah is a significant security threat, mainly because of its rocket capabilities, which cover a substantial portion of the country's area. The Hezbollah threat demands an early and appropriate security deployment, both in the spheres of terrorism and in the spheres of rockets. It calls for the urgent positing of a response to the Hezbollah challenge, and especially to the steep-trajectory threat, in order to make it possible to cope with scenarios of escalation and deterioration."

That is exactly what happened on July 12.

There were also other opinions. For example, the GOC Northern Command, Major General Udi Adam, stated in an address in February that while Hezbollah was indeed becoming stronger, it was moving in a political direction. "Hezbollah is digging in, but it's not terrible that it is building outposts, because these make good targets for Israel," Adam said at the time.

Deterrence

Vanquishing large terrorist organizations militarily is not like vanquishing regular armies. Former chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon believes that a guerrilla organization can be defeated in a prolonged war of attrition. It will not be a knockout, but a victory on points. True, intolerable damage can be inflicted on Hezbollah, from which it will take the organization years to recover. It is not true that guerrillas have always won. In some cases the "price" that was exacted from them was too great to enable them to persist with their threat. The problem is that exacting a "price" intensifies the hatred of the population on which the guerrilla organization relies.

It is impossible to persuade Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah to forsake his messianic ideas, at the center of which is his ambition to destroy Israel. Many in Lebanon and in the Arab states understand how dangerous he is - not only to Israel, but also to many Arabs. Still, there are ways to influence his organization. For example, the Syrians, during their period in Lebanon, were able to restrain Hezbollah in certain cases. That situation has changed.

The present war will undoubtedly serve to deter Nasrallah in the future. But in regard to other Arab elements, it is very possible that Israeli deterrence will be somewhat undercut. On the one hand, these elements understand that Israel is capable of reacting with cruel "craziness" if a certain red line is crossed. But on the other hand, they may reach the conclusion that the way to hurt Israel and bring about its withdrawal is not by means of tanks and planes, but by firing thousands of rockets and missiles at the country.

This should not be construed to mean that Israel's deterrent capability failed in all the limited confrontations. In the past, Israel succeeded in its war against the PLO, even though that organization fired Katyushas into the country from Lebanon. Israel succeeded in those confrontations when the other side had something to lose. Those confrontations generally ended in a broad war in which Israel achieved a temporary victory - until the next round. According to the conclusions of a study by Yuval Knaan, from the University of Haifa, Israel's achievements when it bombed infrastructures in Lebanon were generally limited.

Victory

An interesting argument was conducted in Israel in recent years between the intelligence chiefs and the commanders of the air force about whether air power is capable of vanquishing a terrorist organization and eliminating the rocket threat. In a discussion convened by former prime minister Sharon, the MI director at the time, Major General Aharon Ze'evi-Farkash, said that the political echelon should not be misled into believing that a complete solution exists for the problem of the rockets. In another discussion, held at Northern Command headquarters, the GOC Northern Command at the time, Benny Gantz, said, "If such is the case, we have to prepare for a protracted ground move." Apparently, his proposal-demand was not internalized.

Precisely because intelligence understood this point well, the IDF's failure, overall, in preparing a comprehensive combat doctrine to wage war against short-range rockets is so pronounced. The air force knew it would have difficulties in this sphere, and therefore a broader operational response was needed, along with significant investments in research and development.

Former IAF commander David Ivry wrote in a publication of the Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies that air power cannot be victorious by itself in the war against terrorism. Tactical intelligence in the war on terror, Ivry noted, is the dominant element and the most difficult to achieve; it cannot be attained solely from the air, because technological solutions are insufficient for this purpose. Ivry undoubtedly recalled the failure of the Americans to damage the Iraqi network of missiles that attacked Israel in 1991; clearly he was aware of the lack of a substantive victory by Israel at the end of Operation Grapes of Wrath in Lebanon, in 1996, which made use primarily of air power.

Of exceptional interest is the approach of the chief of staff (and former commander of the IAF), Dan Halutz, who is conducting the present war. He made the following remarks in a discussion at the National Defense College in January 2001, but they illustrate his strategic conception today: "Many air operations were generally implemented without a land force, based on a worldview of Western society's sensitivity to losses. A land force is not sent into action as long as there is an effective alternative. Small forces, in commando format, have been utilized. The IAF is a partner in or decides wars.

"This obliges us to part with a number of anachronistic assumptions. First of all, that victory equals territory. Victory means achieving the strategic goal and not necessarily territory. I maintain that we also have to part with the concept of a land battle. We have to talk about the integrated battle and about the appropriate force activating it. Victory is a matter of consciousness. Air power affects the adversary's consciousness significantly."

The future

Many of the IDF's training booklets will likely undergo reexamination after the present war. The IDF has to examine itself in regard to "counter-fire" and to maneuvering whose goal is not the seizure and holding of territory. An additional effort will have to be made in the sphere of intelligence. Successes in hitting targets require that different ways be found to renew the "bank of targets," even when they exist in a civilian milieu. In this kind of war, technology that makes it possible to locate and strike at terrorist leaders is of the utmost importance.

After the American failure against the Scud missiles in 1991, a few Arab states and Iran stepped up the development of surface-to-surface missiles. This process will be even further accelerated in the wake of Hezbollah's rocket attack on Israel. The Palestinians, too, will undoubtedly intensify the development of Qassam rockets and the smuggling of Katyusha rockets into the territories. Israel must prevent by force the continuation of this "festival of rockets" against its populations. Against the Palestinians two levels are required: genuine political negotiations and instilling in them the knowledge that Israel will not be merciful if rockets hit its citizens.

It is more complicated to promote a satisfactory solution against a rocket and missile threat in general. After the 1973 war, Israel studied its failure to cope with the antiaircraft missiles that hit its planes and was able to change the situation. The same thing must now be done with regard to the surface-to-surface missiles and the rockets. This will be a difficult and expensive effort. In addition, Israel must make it clear that if it is attacked, it will exact a steep strategic price from its enemies. At the same time, we must not ignore what we have long known: Power has limits, especially when wielded by a small country.

[Kaplanr]

Ynet (Yediot Achronot) http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289572,00.html

Hizbullah declares victory

In latest video aired on Al-Manar TV terror group says it ‘defeated the invincible army’[/b]
Roee Nahmias



Hizbullah did not wait for the official UN Security Council announcement on a ceasefire and launched its own media campaign declaring it had 'won the war against Israel.'

In the latest video aired on Al-Manar TV the terror group says it “defeated the invincible army” and “July-August 2006: Legend shattered.”

The new video clips show thousands of supporters waving Hizbullah and Lebanon flags. These clips, which are aired between regularly-scheduled programs, include excerpts from Hassan Nasrallah speeches in which he had promised victory; similar videos were aired during the IDF’s withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese government is preparing for war’s conclusion; Prime Minister Fouad Siniora met with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabi Berri to discuss the deployment of the army in the south. Some reports said a Hizbullah member also took part in the meeting, but Berri’s associates denied the reports.

It was also reported that Arab League and Lebanese representatives met in New York with US and French officials.

'Honorable way out'

It appears that Lebanon will agree to the compromise offer according to which the IDF will gradually pull out of the country. Last Wednesday Nasrallah said in his speech that Hizbullah supported a decision by the Lebanese government, which includes a Hizbullah minister, to deploy 15,000 troops to the border if that would bolster Lebanon's calls for the resolution to include a demand for Israel's immediate withdrawal from the south.

"If everyone sees that deploying the army will help find a way out politically that would result in the halting of aggression ... This for us is a national and honorable way out," he said.

Lebanese officials estimate that Iran and Syria will not oppose a ceasefire deal; this seems reasonable in light of the fact that the two countries have repeatedly called for a ceasefire, apparently in a bid to keep Hizbullah from collapsing so that it may take part in future confrontations with Israel.

(08.11.06, 02:53)

[Zerodivider]

'Israeli War Boat Sunk In Attack'
Updated: 14:43, Friday August 11, 2006

Hizbollah claims it has attacked and destroyed an Israeli gunboat.

More follows . .


http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1230660,00.html

[NimDod]

dont bother quoting "Debka". its not a news site.
there is no "Debka sources". in reality its an elderly couple who make up stories.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lebanon rejects ceasefire draft proposal

Latest ceasefire proposal does not call for disarming terror group as precondition to ceasefire; according to deal being formulated, IDF will gradually pull out of Lebanon and will be replaced by an international force including 10,000 French troops
Ronny Sofer

Feverish contacts have been held Friday in the UN building in New York in an attempt to agree on a draft proposal calling for a ceasefire between Hizbullah and Israel.

While cautious optimism was expressed in Lebanon, nevertheless, the Lebanese foreign minister said the draft was unacceptable to him. Meanwhile, Russia decided to submit its own draft for an immediate ceasefire.

Earlier, sources in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office expressed cautious optimism early Friday regarding the possibility that the latest American diplomatic maneuver will in fact lead to a ceasefire.

The proposal will call for Hizbullah’s disarmament in accordance with UN Resolution 1559, but this will not be declared a precondition for reaching a ceasefire.

However, the proposal does require the return of the kidnapped IDF soldiers to Israel.

France retracted its demand for the withdrawal of IDF forces to the international border as a ceasefire precondition.

As a result of the deal being formulated, the IDF will gradually pull out of Lebanon and will be replaced by an international force under the auspices of the UN and with Lebanese government consent.

The international force will include 10,000 French troops, and perhaps more from Spain and other countries, who will deploy in south Lebanon along with UNIFIL and 15,000 Lebanese soldiers.

The force will deploy in a buffer zone free of Hizbullah terrorists and in Lebanon-Syria border crossings.

The international force will be tasked with preventing the smuggling of Katyusha rockets and arms from Syria and Iran to Lebanon, but it will not disarm Hizbullah.

The Security Council is expected to vote on the ceasefire plan within the next two days.

Hizbullah, for its part, announced that it would not abide by any UN Security Council decision that would not call for the withdrawal of IDF troops from Lebanon.

'International community understands'

Lebanese media said the terror group continues to back Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s “Seven-Point” plan.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said “the proposal does not coincide with Lebanon’s goals because it does not call for an immediate ceasefire and (Israeli) withdrawal. The decision also discriminates against Lebanese prisoners (due to the call for the release of the kidnapped IDF troops).”

Following talks with US Assistant Secretary of State David Welch in Jerusalem, Olmert said “at this time, a new diplomatic formula with positive implications that could end the fighting is being formulated. If it isn't accepted, Israel will take off the gloves."

Sources in the PM’s Office said the chances for a ceasefire that would meet Israel’s requirements are “50-50.”

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni also met with Welch in a bid to formulate a ceasefire proposal that would be accepted by Israel.

However, Olmert did not authorize Livni to travel to New York, where she was scheduled to discuss the ceasefire proposal with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

A senior official at the PM’s Office said Olmert did not want any more pressure to be applied on Israel as a result of Livni’s presence in the UN.

Meanwhile the prime minister and Defense Minister Amir Peretz instructed the army to put the next phase of its ground operation in south Lebanon on hold to prevent further escalation and after the White House apparently made it clear that such a move would be detrimental to the diplomatic efforts.

However, a source in Jerusalem said “The international community understands that we cannot accept the continued rocket fire on northern Israel.”

Yitzhak Benhorin contributed to the report

First Published: 08.11.06, 02:13
Latest Update: 08.11.06, 09:42

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289568,00.html

[Snoshi]

Hezbollah TV reported Friday that Hezbollah forces destroyed an Israeli gunboat off the coast of Tyre, killing or wounding the crew of 12, The Associated Press reported.

The Israeli military denied the Hezbollah claim, AP said.

While Hezbollah says it has struck several Israeli vessels, Israel says there has been only one hit, a strike on July 14 that killed four Israeli sailors, AP reported.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/11/mideast.main/index.html

Edit

IDF said that no IDF naval vesseles were hit by HA.
http://newsru.co.il/mideast/11aug2006/kater.html

[alexz]

Breaking news
Israeli "defense minister" gives the IDF green light to advance into Lebanon
as there is no cease fire agreement.
Details to comes soon.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289808,00.html

[Notlim]

Third Israeli warship hit


more news maybe is for real

Hezbollah claims sinking of Israeli Super Dvora gunboat


http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2006/08/hezbollah_claim.php

[Zerodivider]

Jets Fire On Convoy
Updated: 20:26, Friday August 11, 2006

Israeli jets have fired on a convoy fleeing southern Lebanon, causing at least 10 casualties, rescue workers have said.

More follows...


http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1230684,00.html

[One]

Jets Fire On Convoy
Updated: 20:26, Friday August 11, 2006

Israeli jets have fired on a convoy fleeing southern Lebanon, causing at least 10 casualties, rescue workers have said.

More follows...


http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1230684,00.html

LBCI: thats the same convoy that left marjayoun with the 350 soldeirs/cops along with the civilians.

[GiladS]

UN troops to be deployed in southern Lebanon

Crucial evening: Olmert, Peretz approve large-scale ground offensive in southern Lebanon as UN agrees on draft resolution for truce, which Israeli sources say is 'good' for Israel and which authorize deployment of 15,000 peacekeepers

Is the region heading for all-out war or a ceasefire? That's the question that's hanging in the balance on Friday as the United Nations Security Council meets to vote on a draft French-US resolution for a ceasefire in the Middle East.

The 15 Council members are expected to vote on the draft at 1 am Israel time. If approved, the resolution would authorize the deployment of 15,000 UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon to support Lebanon's deployment to the region "as Israel withdraws."

The draft, would ask the UN force to monitor a full cessation of hostilities and help Lebanese forces gain full control over an area that has previously been under de facto control of Hizbullah guerillas.

The text of the draft says the force's mandate would include several elements: monitoring the cessation of hostilities, accompanying Lebanese troops as they deploy and as Israel withdraws, and ensuring humanitarian access to the area.

The five permanent members – the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France – have agreed on the resolution, which seeks an ending to the fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and the Hizbullah.

Council members discussed the draft as Israel gave its army the green light to launch a large-scale ground offensive against Hizbullah and to capture Lebanese territory stretching as far north as the Litani River.

In Jerusalem, officials said the government will look at the articles of the draft resolution before accepting the stipulated ceasefire conditions.

But sources in Jerusalem told Ynet that the draft is "good" for Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284752,00.html%20) .

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice update Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with discussion over the draft between US and French diplomats.

Defense officials said once the operation is launched it is difficult to stop it.

In Lebanon, Minister Fuad SIniora received a copy Friday evening of the US-French draft, Lebanese government officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Siniora was studying the document and contacting politicians in his country for their input. The officials refused to say who Siniora was talking with, but the leading Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation said he was in touch with Hezbollah officials as well as parliament speaker Nabih Berri, Hizbullah's de facto negotiator.

Ronny Sofer contributed to this report




Link (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289870,00.html)
....

[TuNeRsHaRk]

looks like were getting pretty close to a peace deal here

[DeltaWhisky58]

looks like were getting pretty close to a peace deal here

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/11/mideast.main/index.html

Please post actual NEWS - not your comments plus a link - see previous 1,000+ posts.

[GiladS]

IDF operation rolling despite UNSC meeting


Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the IDF on Friday to send additional ground forces into Lebanon and up to the Litani river, some 30 kilometers from Israel.

Hours later, France and the United States announced that they had reached a deal on a final draft resolution (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525849052&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull) aimed at ending the month-long conflict. A vote on the cease-fire draft will take place at 1 a.m. IST. Israel has yet to respond to the draft and it remained unclear as to how it would affect the decision to expand the IDF operation in southern Lebanon.

Before news broke out that an agreement has been reached, Olmert's spokesman, Asaf Shariv, told The Associated Press that the expanded incursion had already begun. According to Shariv, the emerging cease-fire fails to meet Israel's basic requirements, such as stationing robust international combat troops in southern Lebanon once Israel withdraws.
"Yesterday we were very optimistic, but they (the Security Council) took the wrong turn," Shariv said.

The government is implementing Wednesday's Cabinet decision granting the army permission to carry out a massive ground offensive "to deal with the Hizbullah positions in south Lebanon, from which barrages of missiles continue to be launched against the Israeli civilian population," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.

Regev added, however, that Israel was still open to a negotiated solution as the UN Security Council prepared to vote on the proposed cease-fire deal.

"Our action does not exclude a diplomatic option. On the contrary, we are following developments in New York closely. But so far diplomacy has not produced concrete results and it is incumbent upon the government to defend its citizens," Regev said.

The IDF has over the passed few days been gearing up for the operation which was approved by the Security Cabinet on Wednesday. According to military sources, close to 70 percent of the Katyusha rockets raining down on Israel are fired just south of, and north of the Litani river. It is in these parts of Lebanon that the Hizbullah's Nasser Unit is waiting with thousands of fighters and functioning command and control centers.

As the decision was made by Peretz and Olmert to order the IDF to move up to the Litani, talks were underway at the United Nations Security Council in New York where it appeared that member countries were on the verge of declaring a cease-fire in the region.

IDF sources said that even if a cease-fire was in the works, Israel was better off being in a better position militarily - at the Litani, and from there to conduct negotiations regarding a cease-fire resolution.

IDF officers on Thursday blasted the diplomatic echelon claiming that Olmert had restrained and limited the military from expanding its ground operations into Lebanon and from dealing a heavy blow to Hizbullah.
40,000 troops were waiting along the northern border for orders to enter Lebanon and to push up to the Litani, and an additional 7000 were currently operating on the ground in Lebanon.

A high ranking defense source told the Jerusalem Post that already early in the morning it was apparent that negotiations at the UN would not bear fruit and diplomats there would not succeed in mutually drafting a cease-fire.
The source said that Peretz and Olmert met for several hours on Friday and reviewed different drafts of the resolution, "once it became clear that there would not be a resolution in the near future, the decision was made for the IDF to launch the operation."

"We gave the diplomatic process a chance, it failed and now we will achieve our goals militarily," said the officer.
The IDF said that it would take at least one week to get to the Litani river and another 4-6 weeks to clear out Hizbullah presence and rocket launchers from the area.



Link (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1154525855062&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

[DeltaWhisky58]

UN to vote on Lebanon ceasefire


Israel is pursuing both a military and diplomatic strategy

The UN Security Council is set to discuss and vote on a new draft resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

It reportedly calls for a "full cessation of hostilities", then for Israeli troops to withdraw as Lebanese and UN forces deploy in the south.
It is said to authorise the deployment of 15,000 UN peacekeepers.
It came hours after Israeli PM Ehud Olmert ordered his army to prepare to widen its ground offensive in Lebanon.
Israel and Lebanon have both been given the new draft.
However, UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said sponsors of the text - the US and France - would push for a vote late on Friday regardless of their response.

'Expanded force'

According to reports, the new draft calls for "a full cessation of hostilities based upon... the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations".

Our action does not exclude a diplomatic option
Mark Regev
Israeli foreign ministry



The shadow of Iraq (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4780847.stm)
UN push for breakthrough (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4782125.stm)
Mid East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)

It is also said to authorise "an increase in the force strength of Unifil [the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon] to a maximum of 15,000 troops".
Unifil currently comprises just under 2,000 troops.
Reports say the expanded force would monitor an Israeli withdrawal and support the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south.
The draft is said to authorise the expanded Unifil to "take all necessary action" necessary for its operations.
It is believed to have omitted an earlier reference to Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which authorises the use of force, following objections from Lebanon.
The BBC's Rob Norris in Jerusalem says Israeli officials say the draft gives grounds for optimism, describing it as satisfactory - positive, although not perfect.
If the resolution is adopted in its current form, they say, Israel could live with it, even though it has not got everything it wanted, our correspondent adds.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is at the UN in New York, where the draft has been presented to the Security Council.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy is also due there later.

'Convoy hit'

As the diplomats finalised the draft, Israel radio said troops had been ordered to seize ground as far as the strategic Litani River, up to 30km (18 miles) from the Israeli border.




Send us your comments (http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=2901&edition=1)
Diary: Getting aid through (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4783047.stm)

The plan to expand ground operations was approved on Wednesday but was put on hold by Mr Olmert to give more time for diplomacy to bear fruit.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Israel's action "does not exclude a diplomatic option... But so far diplomacy has not produced concrete results and it is incumbent upon the government to defend its citizens".
Israeli officials said the expanded ground offensive would be called off if Israel found the resolution acceptable.
As the diplomacy continued, fresh violence took a further toll on both Israel and Lebanon.
At least four people were killed when an Israeli drone attacked a convoy of hundreds of cars fleeing the southern town of Marjayoun, Lebanese witnesses and security officials said.
Earlier, 12 civilians were killed when Israeli jets struck a bridge at crossing on the Lebanon-Syria border, Lebanese sources said. There have also been renewed Israeli air strikes on southern areas of Beirut. In Israel, several people were wounded when Hezbollah fired several volleys of missiles into the north of the country.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4785001.stm)

[DeltaWhisky58]

UN rights body backs Israel probe


Some Israeli bombs have hit residential areas

The United Nations Human Rights Council has voted to send a team to Lebanon to investigate alleged abuses by Israel.

The council approved the resolution, proposed by a group of states led by Islamic countries, by 27 votes to 11.
Many of the resolution's opponents criticised it for not mentioning Hezbollah attacks on Israel.
Addressing the emergency session in Geneva, the UN's human rights chief, Louise Arbour, chided both sides for inflicting suffering on civilians.
"Israeli attacks affecting civilians continue unabated," she told a special session of the UN Human Rights Council.

War crimes and crimes against humanity may be committed even by those who believe... their cause a worthy pursuit
Louise Arbour
UN human rights commissioner

"Also unrelenting is Hezbollah's indiscriminate shelling of densely populated centres in northern Israel," she said.
The resolution alleges systematic human rights violations by Israel using terms like war crimes, crimes against humanity and massacres.
Israel and the United States, although not members of the council, urged a vote against, calling the resolution unbalanced.
European Union countries, alongside Japan and Canada, voted against, calling it one-sided and divisive.
Those voting for included China, Russia, India, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay, Zambia and South Africa, as well as members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
The Israeli ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Itzhak Levanon, said civilians on both sides were suffering but some council members were ignoring Hezbollah's "vicious campaign of terror".
But Lebanon's ambassador, Gebran Soufan, made an impassioned plea for support, saying the world's top human rights body could not neglect the suffering taking place in his country.
The resolution passed highlights once again the bitter divisions of the Middle East, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes says.
Human rights groups and aid agencies struggling to bring relief to Lebanon all agree the humanitarian situation in the region is becoming catastrophic, our correspondent notes. But this resolution, revealing once again just how politicised the United Nations can be, is probably not what they were looking for, she adds. More than 1,000 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have been killed in the month-long conflict, Lebanon says. Some 123 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4783511.stm)

[DeltaWhisky58]

In pictures: Lebanon conflict



Israel has continued its air strikes against Lebanon, including in the southern suburbs of Beirut, as diplomats at the UN try to reach an agreement on a truce.



Hezbollah has also maintained its rocket fire into Israel, hitting among other targets the northern city of Haifa.



And fighting continues between Israeli troops and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.



Indonesian soldiers prepare in Jakarta ahead of possible peacekeeping duties in Lebanon. Israel says it will fight until the new foreign troops are in place.



Tensions remain high in Israel as Palestinians, prevented from reaching Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, pray on the street.



Residents of southern Beirut move out. EU chief Javier Solana is due in the city on Friday for talks with PM Fouad Siniora.



Relatives mourn Israeli soldier Yasmau Yalau as he is buried near Tel Aviv. More than 1,000 Lebanese and more than 120 Israelis have been killed.



An anti-Israeli protest at the US consulate in Istanbul. The pressure is increasing on diplomats, but Russia has said a truce agreement could be a long way off.

Back (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4783889.stm#)
1 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4783889.stm#) 2 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4783889.stm#) 3 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4783889.stm#) 4 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4783889.stm#) 5 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4783889.stm#) 6 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4783889.stm#) 7 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4783889.stm#) 8 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4783889.stm#) Next (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4783889.stm#)



BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4783889.stm)

[Aerosoul]

Israeli PM endorses U.N. cease-fire deal
By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago


JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert endorsed an emerging Mideast cease-fire deal late Friday, after a day of dramatic day brinksmanship including a threat to expand the ground war in Lebanon.

The agreement calls for the deployment of 30,000 Lebanese and U.N. troops along the Israel-Lebanon border. It falls short of some of Israel's demands, including a strong mandate for the U.N. forces to take on Hezbollah guerrillas.
However, the draft is the best chance yet for peace after more than four weeks of war that has killed more than 800 people, destroyed Lebanon's infrastructure and inflamed tensions across the Middle East.

Neither the Lebanese government nor Hezbollah has said publicly whether they would sign on to the deal, but it was widely assumed that they did not object to it. Plans to take the resolution to a vote were announced in New York shortly after U.S. Mideast envoy, Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, met for a second time Friday with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

Article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060811/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_israel)

[theclash]

Source: BBC/PA


UN vote backs Lebanon ceasefire

The UN Security Council has unanimously approved a new resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.The resolution calls for an end to hostilities, and for Israel to pull out as Lebanese troops and a stronger UN force deploy in the south.

The governments of Lebanon and Israel are both expected to discuss the plan over the weekend.

Hours earlier, Israel's PM Ehud Olmert ordered his army to prepare to widen its offensive in southern Lebanon.

Officials say Ehud Olmert will ask the Israeli cabinet to endorse the resolution at a meeting on Sunday, until which time the Israeli military offensive will continue.

Lebanese leaders have examined the text, and an adviser to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora gave the resolution a cautious welcome.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan opened the Security Council session by calling for members to back the resolution unanimously, and lamenting the UN's failure to act sooner to end fighting in the Middle East.

He said the widely perceived delay in drafting a resolution had "badly shaken" faith in the UN.

'Expanded force'

According to reports, the new draft calls for "a full cessation of hostilities based upon... the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations".

It is also said to authorise "an increase in the force strength of Unifil [the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon] to a maximum of 15,000 troops".
Unifil currently comprises just under 2,000 troops.

The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, said the strengthened Unifil would not be the same force currently in the region.

Unifil would be expanded, given a new mandate and new equipment in order to maintain peace, she told the Security Council.

The draft is believed to have omitted an earlier reference to Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which authorises the use of force, following objections from Lebanon.

The BBC's Rob Norris in Jerusalem says Israeli officials say the draft gives grounds for optimism, describing it as satisfactory - positive, although not perfect.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy called the adoption of the resolution "a historic turning point".

However, the foreign minister of Qatar, which currently sits on the Security Council, said the resolution still contained imbalances in favour of Israel.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4785001.stm

[SeanAshi]

Israeli Objections to Ceasefire Proposal

Former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom of the Likud has stinging criticism of the ceasefire plan being formulated in the United Nations. He calls it a "disgrace" and a "historic tragedy."

Shalom, who served as Foreign Minister under former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for nearly three years until early this year, said that the proposal under consideration by the Security Council "mortgages the country's future" and would be a "weeping for generations."

Lebanon, too, has objections, which may cause another delay in the Council vote. Lebanon feels that the Shab'a Farms area, which it still demands from Israel, is not significantly mentioned, nor does it like the fact that the international peacekeeping force would be empowered to open fire. Lebanon also insists that Israel withdraw entirely from south Lebanese territory before any ceasefire is carried out.

Israel initially objected to the ceasefire proposal for its lack of a clause requiring Hizbullah to disarm prior to a ceasefire. Nonetheless, Jerusalem appears willing to accept the proposal.

Israel has rejected a Russian proposal to hold a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, says it would only give Hizbullah ”time to regroup and recover. We think this is a bad idea."

Speaking with Voice of Israel Radio on Friday morning, Minister Shalom said if the UN proposal is accepted, "Israel's position would be worse than it was at the beginning of the war: It does not call for a large multi-national force in southern Lebanon, Hizbullah would not be disarmed, and a parallel is made between our abducted soldiers and murderous Lebanese terrorists held by Israel such as Samir Kuntar."

"It could even be," Shalom said, "that Syria might conclude that it can get the Golan Heights back by sending over some missiles to Israel."

Shalom's party colleague, former Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Yuval Shteinitz, took an even stronger stance. If Israel accepts this "shameful" ceasefire, Shteinitz said Friday morning, "the government must resign and new elections must be held."

Shteinitz took issue with the fact that the new proposal would replace Resolution 1559 of two years ago, which calls for the Lebanese Army to take over southern Lebanon from Hizbullah:
"The fact that Israel is willing to significantly erode 1559, and even give Hizbullah a territorial achievement in the form of half of Israel's Mt. Hermon (Shab'a) will be understood as a clear victory for Hizbullah. This will invite a difficult war of rockets and commandos from Syria in the near future."

"If this is an existential war, as [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert said, then the results of it are dangerous to Israel's existence," Shteinitz concluded.

On the other hand, the left-wing peace forces are pleading with the government to accept the ceasefire proposal. Meretz MK Zahava Gal'on said, "It is in Israel's interest to accept this plan and to thus end the warfare. Israel must take advantage of the agreement being formed to call for the inclusion of Syria in the negotiations, and to thus turn it into an entity with which we can reach a diplomatic agreement."

A diplomatic agreement with Syria, almost by definition, would entail ceding the Golan Heights to that country. Run Olmert out of office the sooner the better.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=109802

[GiladS]

Senior officers: Operation to continue as planned

Sources in Jerusalem say no contradiction between UN move, war in field; note ceasefire will anyway wait for multinational force's arrival. On Sunday, Olmert to recommend cabinet accept outline; meanwhile, air strikes continue, IDF prepares for massive ground entry
Ronny Sofer

While an agreement on a ceasefire in the Middle East was being formed at the United Nations Security Council, senior Israel (http://javascript<b></b>:if(typeof(DanaDeferEval)!=) Defense Forces officers said that the wide-scale operation – approved by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz in accordance with the cabinet decision – will be launched as planned.

The goal: Arriving at the Litani River, a move which according to the army's estimates will take a week, and another four to six weeks to establish the line and mop up the area.

On Friday night, Lebanese sources reported that two transformers were hit, darkening the Tyre area. It was also reported that an Israeli drone fired missiles into a convoy of refugees fleeing attacks in the southern town of Marjayoun, killing seven and wounding 40.

In total, according to the IDF, more than 120 air strikes were carried out on Friday, including bombings of about 60 buildings and headquarters used by Hizbullah, routes and bridges, three petrol stations and eight rocket launchers.

On the northern border, forces prepared for a massive entry into the field, in accordance with the "green light" received from the political echelon. Officials in Jerusalem claimed that there was no contradiction between the decisions in New York and the expansion of the operation, as also according to the proposed outline, the ceasefire will only come into force upon the arrival of a multinational force, and it will be carried out gradually and in parallel to the IDF's withdrawal from the area.

Diplomatic sources stressed that Israel will operate the military force considering the diplomatic agreement considerations.

"If the diplomatic agreement will satisfy us and will lead to halting the fire and achieving the goals defined, the fire will stop. But if the fire continues and Hizbullah will still be near Israel's border and threaten its citizens, the military operation will continue forcefully as approved by the cabinet," a source said.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to recommend that the cabinet adopt the draft discussed at the Security Council.

Hanan Greenberg contributed to the report


Link (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289909,00.html)

....

[GiladS]

Israel satisfied with changes made to cease-fire resolution

The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution that calls for a halt to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Officials in the Prime Minister's Office as well as those close to Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni expressed satisfaction at the changes made to the draft UN Security Council cease-fire resolution (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749631.html) agreed upon by the U.S. and France, senior aides to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Friday night.

Olmert will recommend to his ministers Sunday that the cabinet vote in favor of the resolution.

France and the United States reached a deal Friday on a final draft resolution aimed at ending the month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and announced the UN Security Council would vote on the text later Friday. Security Council member states convened at 10:00 P.M. Israel time to deliberate over the resolution.

The resolution authorizes the deployment of 15,000 UN peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon as Israel withdraws.

Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry said the resolution would give the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon an enhanced mandate to help coordinate the eventual withdrawal of Israeli troops. But it would ultimately be deployed under Chapter 6 of the UN Charter - which Israel has previously opposed.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni spoke Friday morning with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Livni demanded that the international force be defined under Chapter 7 and not a modified version of chapter 6 as the French representatives offered. Chapter 7 affords powers of enforcement to the peacekeeping force.

A host of senior diplomats were on hand for the draft's adoption, underscoring the significance of the moment. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy all planned to cast their country's ballot. "You never get a deal like this with everybody getting everything that they want," Beckett said. "The question is, has everybody got enough for this to stick and for it to be enforceable? Nobody wants to go back to where we were before this last episode started."

Despite Lebanese objections, Israel will be allowed to continue defensive
operations, and a dispute over the Shaba Farms area along the
Syria-Lebanon-Israel border will be left for later. Israel will not get its wish for an entirely new multinational force separate from the UN
peacekeepers that have been stationed in south Lebanon since 1978.

There is also no call for the release of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel or a demand for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops. Although the draft resolution emphasizes the need for the "unconditional release" of the two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 capture by Hezbollah sparked the conflict, that call is not included in the list of steps required for a lasting cease-fire.

Diplomats acknowledged each side would have to make sacrifices but said the negotiators' key goal had been to come up with a draft that spells out a lasting political solution to the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border.

At the heart of the resolution are two elements: It seeks an immediate halt to the fighting that began July 12 when Hezbollah militants kidnapped two Israeli troops along the Blue Line, the UN-demarcated border separating Israel and Lebanon; and it spells out a series of steps that would lead to a permanent cease-fire and long-term solution.

That would be done by creating a new buffer zone in south Lebanon "free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the government of Lebanon and UNIFIL" - the acronym of the UN force deployed in the region since 1978. The force now has 2,000 troops; the resolution would expand it to a maximum of 15,000.

South Lebanon had been under de facto Hezbollah control for several years until Israeli forces occupied parts of it after the start of the fighting last month. The political solution would include implementation of previous Security Council resolutions calling for Hezbollah's disarmament.

Under the resolution, UNIFIL would be significantly beefed up to help
coordinate when 15,000 Lebanese troops deploy to the region. As Lebanese forces take control of the south, Israeli troops would withdraw.

Israel is chiefly concerned that Hezbollah not be allowed to regain its
strength in south Lebanon once a cessation of hostilities goes into effect. It had originally demanded the creation of a new multinational force separate from UNIFIL, which it claimed was powerless.

The U.S., which had shared Israel's concerns, believes that UNIFIL
would essentially become so strong that it will not resemble the weaker force it once was. "It is, as we see it in this resolution, a robust force and one that's capable of meeting the job," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.

A senior U.S. official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. and France envision a 10-day timeframe between the moment a halt to the hostilities is declared and the moment UNIFIL troops go into action in the south.

The draft asks U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to come up with proposals within 30 days on resolving various border disputes including the one over Sheba Farms. Lebanon had wanted a direct demand in the draft that Sheba Farms be put under UN control. Lebanon had also wanted the draft to call for the release of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel. Yet the draft only asks that the issue of those prisoners be worked out.


Link (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749488.html)

....

[TheMacedonian]

This is from the CNN website and I HOPE IT IS FALSE reporting and I do hope it is an error as we all know we can not trust reporters.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0608/06/rs.01.html

And joining us now here Washington Anne Compton who covers the White House for ABC News, and Thomas Ricks, Pentagon reporter for "The Washington Post" and author of the new book "Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq."

Tom Ricks, you've covered a number of military conflicts, including Iraq, as I just mentioned. Is civilian casualties increasingly going to be a major media issue? In conflicts where you don't have two standing armies shooting at each other? THOMAS RICKS, REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": I think it will be. But I think civilian casualties are also part of the battlefield play for both sides here. One of the things that is going on, according to some U.S. military analysts, is that Israel purposely has left pockets of Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon, because as long as they're being rocketed, they can continue to have a sort of moral equivalency in their operations in Lebanon.

KURTZ: Hold on, you're suggesting that Israel has deliberately allowed Hezbollah to retain some of it's fire power, essentially for PR purposes, because having Israeli civilians killed helps them in the public relations war here?

RICKS: Yes, that's what military analysts have told me.

KURTZ: That's an extraordinary testament to the notion that having people on your own side killed actually works to your benefit in that nobody wants to see your own citizens killed but it works to your benefit in terms of the battle of perceptions here.

RICKS: Exactly. It helps you with the moral high ground problem, because you know your operations in Lebanon are going to be killing civilians as well.

_---------------------------------------------------

so before you go after me I just read it, found it interesting and post it here and if it is true then some one should answer for it.

So far at least one reporter has been found falsifing photos for PR purposes.

[saigonsmuggler]

The High Price of Israel's Hubris

If the country's military hadn't rejected a U.S. offer to supply it with "bunker buster" bombs four years ago, it might not be having as tough a time against Hizballah - or being criticized for its handling of the war
By TIM MCGIRK/JERUSALEM
SUBSCRIBE TO TIMEPRINTE-MAILMORE BY AUTHORAnalysis: Behind Israel's Delayed Invasion
Diplomacy: The Deal That Could Disarm Hizballah
Related Blogs: Click here for blog postings from around the web that are related to the topic of this article.

Posted Friday, Aug. 11, 2006
In 2002, the Pentagon offered to supply Israel with "bunker-buster" bombs, capable of punching deep into the enemy's underground defenses. Israel's air force chief at the time, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, — who, as Chief of Staff, is currently commanding Israel's air, sea and land strikes in Lebanon — rejected Washington's offer, claiming that Israel had its own superb weapons. But with the "bunker-busters", says a senior Tel Aviv intelligence source, Israel could have knocked out most of Hizballah's rocket-launchers and possibly brought the war to an early close.

Instead, as the war drags into a fifth week, Hizballah is still pounding Israel's northern cities with over 150 rockets a day. Though Israeli intelligence determined early on exactly where most of those rockets were being fired from — launchers hidden in 38 underground bunkers, burrowed 6 yards down on rocky hilltops across southern Lebanon — Halutz's vaunted Israeli-made "air fuel" bombs have failed to destroy them. So last month, a top intelligence source told TIME, Israel put in an urgent request for precision-guided, 5,000 lb "bunker-buster" bombs. The Bush Administration complied, but it will take several weeks for the bombs to be fitted onto Israeli jets; Israel has also requested an urgent delivery of short-range rockets armed with cluster bombs from the U.S., according to the New York Times. But by the time any of this advanced arsenal arrives, a United Nations cease-fire will probably be imposed banning Israeli air strikes. "If we'd had the bunker-busters in the first few days," laments this senior intelligence officer, "We'd be in an entirely different situation today against Hizballah."

Today's 'situation' is not one that agrees with most Israelis. Promised a swift, knock-out punch against Hizballah's Islamic militiamen, Israelis are now being told that in order to neutralize Hizballah — forget about destroying them — they must brace for a bloody ground attack in Lebanon that could cost hundreds of soldiers' lives. Increasingly, Israelis are asking: how could a militia force of only 4,000 fighters withstand a prolonged beating by the mightiest army in the Middle East — and still keep pelting Israeli cities with rockets?

If a U.N.-sponsored cease-fire goes into effect — and diplomats suggested Friday that they were close to a truce deal backed by a 15,000 strong international force — the after-shock of the Lebanon war is expected to shake-up the top echelons of the Israeli military, and it may even threaten Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's coalition government. Israelis overwhelmingly supported Olmert's initial decision to strike hard against Hizballah. But the latest opinion polls by Yediot Ahronot newspaper show a drop in the public's confidence with Olmert, his war cabinet and with the generals.

That confidence nose-dived earlier this week after Olmert and his ministers began quarrelling furiously over the course of the war. A once decisive prime minister was looking dithery. A major ground offensive was twice postponed by Olmert, though there were reports Friday that Olmert had finally decided to go forward with the operation. The Israeli press reported scalding rows between Olmert and his foreign minister — who pressed for a diplomatic solution when Olmert was pondering an all-out attack — and between Olmert and the defense minister and his army generals, who wanted to land a major blow against Hizballah on Thursday when the prime minister was stricken with doubts over such a risky move. At the same time Halutz sidelined his northern commander, responsible for the day-to-day running of the ground war. Ma'ariv newspaper columnist Ben Caspit fumed: " This campaign was conducted negligently, hesitantly, indecisively. When we needed to attack, we waited. When we should have waited, we attacked. "

As Chief of Staff, Haltuz may end up taking most of the blame. A no-nonsense fighter pilot who was the favorite of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon — to the extent that some insiders say Sharon was grooming Halutz, not Olmert, to replace him some day as prime minister — Halutz, 58, at first impressed Israelis with his Top Gun swagger and aviator glasses. Once asked how it felt to drop a bomb on people, he replied: " I feel a light bump to the plane as a result of the bomb's release. A second later and it's gone, and that's all. That is what I feel. "

Waving aside the offer of American-made "bunker-busters" is only one example of Halutz's famous hubris. In a remark that will surely haunt him during the inevitable rash of post-war inquiries, Halutz said on July 14th, "In this day and age, with all the technology we have, there is no reason to start sending ground troops in." A month later, he was ready to order in thousands of troops as the only way to defeat Hizballlah. Granted, Haltuz made the comment after his air force managed to destroy most of Hizballah's arsenal of long-range missiles, capable of reaching Tel Aviv, in the opening salvos of the conflict. Back then, it seemed only a matter of days, or hours, before an Israeli smart-bomb would find its way to the lair of Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah. That possibility now seems a longshot.

With tanks revving their engines and over 20,000 troops already inside Lebanon, Olmert has had good reason to be cautious about an expanded ground invasion. As of Friday, the war has cost 124 Israeli lives, 84 of them soldiers. The 1982 Lebanon war bogged Israeli forces down in Lebanon for 18 years and was a disaster. Olmert was told that a major thrust 14 miles north to the Litani river and beyond, as envisioned by Halutz and the other generals, could drag on for another six weeks and leave hundreds of Israeli soldiers dead. Worst of all, the generals told Olmert that they could only guarantee taking out "70%" of Hizballah's rocket capacity. A cease-fire suddenly started looking good. On Thursday Olmert had decided to wait several days for a U.N. resolution, despite his generals' urgings to roll the tanks, but a day later he seemed to have changed his mind once again.

Once the cease-fire starts, both sides will surely claim victory. Nasrallah will declare himself a new champion of the Arab world for having survived the Israeli onslaught and terrorized 1.5 million Israelis with his blindly flung rockets. (In Palestine's West Bank, recordings of his speeches and ballads of Hizballah warriors are hot sellers.) The Israelis can argue they pushed back Hizballah from the border, killed hundreds of their fighters and replaced enemy militiamen along the border with regular Lebanese army troops and tough international forces. Israel may even be able to exchange its own Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners for two captive Israeli soldiers.( A third soldier was kidnapped by Palestinians militants Hamas, and a senior Hamas official told TIME that his release will depend on what Hizballah decides to do with its two Israeli hostages.) But many Israelis are worried that if they stop fighting now, they will have lost a weapon far more valuable than any "bunker-buster" — the Israeli army's aura of invincibility. And for that loss in this Lebanese war, more than any other casualty, Olmert and his top generals may pay dearly. - With reporting by Jamil Hamad/Nablus and Aaron J. Klein/Jerusalem

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1225882,00.html?cnn=yes

[DeltaWhisky58]

Fresh Israel raids after UN vote


The strike on Sidon reportedly cut off power to the port city

Israel's military says it has begun "broadening" a ground offensive in Lebanon - hours after the UN Security Council voted for a ceasefire plan.

Israeli troops are moving towards the strategically significant Litani River, a spokeswoman said. Fresh air strikes inside Lebanon left several dead.
The UN passed a resolution urging a "full cessation of hostilities".
Israel's cabinet is to discuss the issue on Sunday and will only halt military action after it takes a vote.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is asking the cabinet to endorse the resolution, describing it as positive and acceptable.
But even as diplomats finalised the draft, Israel radio said troops had been ordered to seize ground as far as the Litani River, up to 30km (18 miles) from the Israeli border.
"We are expanding the combat areas to the Litani River and to areas from which (Hezbollah) rockets are fired on Israel in order to reduce and eventually stop these attacks," a senior commander in northern Israel, General Alon Friedman, was quoted as telling public radio.
Early on Saturday Hezbollah also fired a salvo of 20 rockets at Israel, AFP reported.

Big push?

Long columns of tanks and troops crossed the border under cover of darkness, reports from northern Israel said.



This inability to act sooner has badly shaken the world's faith in this authority and its integrity
Kofi Annan



Text of resolution (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4785963.stm)
The shadow of Iraq (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4780847.stm)
Mid East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)


According to Lebanese security sources, at least five people were killed in Israeli air strikes in a village near Tyre.
Israeli jets also raided the city of Sidon - north of the Litani River - destroying facilities at a power station. It is only the second time Sidon has been hit in the conflict, which began more than four weeks ago.
However, Israeli officials gave no details as to the scale of the offensive and it is not clear whether this is the big push into Lebanon that Israel has been threatening.
The BBC's Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says there are some indications this could be sabre-rattling before Sunday's cabinet meeting.

Hezbollah factor

An adviser to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora gave the resolution a cautious welcome, but there was no immediate reaction from Hezbollah.

If the implementation takes place accurately and the Israelis stick to the resolution... I think Hezbollah will also accept it
Eli Farzli
Lebanese Information Minister

Lebanese Information Minister Eli Farzli told the BBC Hezbollah would abide by the terms set out at the UN.
"If the implementation of the resolution takes place accurately, and the Israelis stick to the resolution, and if the Lebanese government accept it, then I think it means that Hezbollah will also accept it, and I think that Hezbollah will stick to the 1701 resolution," he said.
The Lebanese cabinet is also due to discuss the issue this weekend.
UN Security Council resolution 1701 was passed unanimously in New York after an impassioned speech from Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Hezbollah rockets are still forcing Israelis into shelters underground


He lamented the UN's failure to act sooner to end fighting in the Middle East.
He also said the widely perceived delay in drafting a resolution had "badly shaken" global faith in the UN.
The new resolution says Hezbollah must end attacks on Israel while Israel must end "offensive military operations" in Lebanese territory.
Other key points include:

Some 15,000 peacekeeping troops for the existing UN Interim Force in Lebanon, Unifil, which will receive a beefed-up mandate to monitor and enforce the ceasefire
Lebanon's government asked to deploy troops to the south of the country, previously the domain of Hezbollah fighters
Israel required to withdraw troops currently in southern Lebanon as UN and Lebanese forces are deployed
Drawing up of plans for the disarmament of Hezbollah and the final settlement of the Israel-Lebanon border area, including the Shebaa farms area claimed by Hezbollah.The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, said the deal should "open a path to lasting peace between Lebanon and Israel".
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed the resolution, but stressed that fighting should stop immediately following its adoption. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy called the adoption of the resolution "a historic turning point". But the foreign minister of Qatar, which currently sits on the Security Council, said the resolution still contained imbalances in favour of Israel.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4786041.stm)

[Snoshi]

Israel Defense Forces troops were engaged in heavy exchanges of fire with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on Saturday.

After the unanimous United Nations Security Council vote on Friday night, Israel launched an expanded ground offensive in the south of Lebanon, despite Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's support of the resolution.

With the expansion of the ground offensive in Lebanon, four military divisions are operating between the different sectors in an effort to reach the Litani River. Sources in the IDF General Staff said 4-7 days would be needed to complete the occupation of the area, though it unclear whether the operation will be completed, as the cabinet will convene Sunday on the UN cease-fire resolution.

Advertisement

An IDF soldier was killed in clashes with Hezbollah in the village Rashef on Friday and another sustained moderate wounds. Also Friday, an IDF soldier was lightly-to-moderately wounded after an anti-tank missile hit an IDF convoy near the village of Rajamin on Friday. A number of other soldiers were lightly wounded.

According to the IDF, at least ten Hezbollah fighters were killed overnight.

Lebanese security sources in Tyre said IDF troops had pushed to a village 11 kilometers inside Lebanon, their furthest penetration yet.

Israel Air Force strikes killed up to 19 people on Saturday. Relief officials said Israel was still denying access for aid convoys to distressed civilians despite the resolution.

Early Saturday morning, IAF jets struck several targets in north, east and south Lebanon, killing at least two people and wounding several others.

An air raid that targeted a vehicle killed two people and wounded a third in the village of Kharayeb in the Zahrani region - about halfway between Beirut and Lebanon's border with Israel, security officials said.

A separate raid destroyed a bridge linking the southern cities of Tyre and Nabatiyeh with Sidon.

The officials said the IAF also fired at least three missiles that caused a fire and destroyed power transformers on the eastern edge of Sidon. No casualties were reported.

George Makhoul, an official at the power station, said the air strike cut off electricity in Sidon, which could take up to 10 days to repair.

Security officials reported several air strikes in Akkar province, located about 97 kilometers (60 miles) north of Beirut, and raids on targets in the southern port city of Tyre.

There was no immediate word of casualties.

IAF warplanes also struck apartment buildings that house a Hezbollah charity organization in the heart of the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, wounding three people. Another four people were injured in an airstrike on a house west of Baalbek.

On Friday night, an IAF drone fired missiles into a convoy of refugees fleeing attacks in the southern town of Marjayoun, killing at least seven people and wounding 22 others, an Associated Press photographer traveling with the convoy said.

The IDF confirmed it had carried out an air strike on the convoy, saying it had acted on the mistaken suspicion Hezbollah guerrillas were smuggling weapons in the vehicles.

"The attack was carried out based on a suspicion. It was found to be incorrect," an IDF spokeswoman said. The IDF said the convoy had been denied a request for permission to move but that it had set out anyway.

The convoy, consisting of more than 100 civilian vehicles and those carrying a detachment of 350 Lebanese soldiers and police from the area around Marjayoun, was hit near Chtaura on the west side of the Bekaa Valley.

Later Friday, IAF aircraft bombed two electricity transformers in south Lebanon, plunging the port city of Tyre into darkness, security sources said.

Two armored UN peacekeeping vehicles had led the convoy out of Marjayoun on Friday afternoon, but it was not known if they were still accompanying it when the attack occurred.

Al-Jazeera television reported that the Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat said 3 people were killed and 7 wounded.

Marjayoun was taken by IDF soldiers early Thursday and intense bombing and artillery fire has been reported in the region for the past 24 hours.

Security officials in the Bekaa said at least nine rockets were fired on the convoy. Hospital officials in the town of Job Jannine said they had received 25 casualties from the attack, although it was not immediately clear how many were fatalities.

Daher said there was a second attack on Red Cross and civil defense vehicles rushing the aid of the stricken convoy. It was not known, he said, if any rescuers were hurt.

On Friday, IAF jets simultaneously attacked targets in a southern Beirut suburb and two border crossings in north and east Lebanon, killing at least 12 people and wounding 18 others, hospital and security officials said.

The casualties were at the Abboudiyeh border crossing into Syria where IAF jets struck twice at a busy bridge, said the security officials.

Abboudiyeh, which is located in the mountainous Akkar province about 120 kilometers northeast of Beirut, effectively is closed after Friday's attacks for hundreds of foreigners and displaced Lebanese who want to flee the war in southern Lebanon, the security officials said.

Only one other official border crossing, at the coastal town of Arida, is operating between the two neighboring countries.

IAF jets also struck three vehicles near the eastern city of Baalbek Friday morning, killing at least one person and wounding two others, security officials said. Witnesses said the vehicles were directly hit and caught fire. It was unclear whether they were cars or pickup trucks - a frequent target of Israeli raids.

An AP reporter in the southern port city of Tyre heard a huge sonic boom over the town early Friday, likely from Israeli jet fighters breaking the sound barrier overhead.

Israel also struck an area close to the Lebanese border crossing at Masnaa in the Bekaa Valley, about 50 kilometers southeast of Beirut, but there were no reports of casualties. This main border crossing with Syria has been bombed four other times in the month-old war between Hezbollah and Israel and is closed to vehicle traffic.

They said IAF planes struck the area of Balenat al-Hissa, near Lebanon's northern border with Syria.

At daybreak Friday IAF aircraft renewed attacks on Beirut's southern Dahiyeh suburb.

Eight powerful explosions were heard in central Beirut within a span of 20 minutes, but the exact target of the attacks were not known.

The Voice of Lebanon said several fires erupted and thick smoke rose from the area.

There were not immediate reports of damage or casualties.

VOL and LBC TV said a bridge was also attacked by the Israeli jets at Heitsa in the Akkar province in north of Lebanon. Both stations said initial reports from the area indicated there were casualties.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749479.html

[SeanAshi]

Mr Olmert received an unambiguous warning today that accepting a UN-brokered ceasefire before achieving a clear-cut military victory over the Shia Muslim movement would amount to a humiliating defeat for Israel that could force him from office.

After enjoying four weeks of unwavering public support, Mr Olmert and his Government woke up to an unprecedented barrage of criticism today for its handling of the war. A headline in the Haaretz newspaper declared:
"Olmert must go!".

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2308742_2,00.html

[DeltaWhisky58]

Mr Olmert received an unambiguous warning today that accepting a UN-brokered ceasefire before achieving a clear-cut military victory over the Shia Muslim movement would amount to a humiliating defeat for Israel that could force him from office.

After enjoying four weeks of unwavering public support, Mr Olmert and his Government woke up to an unprecedented barrage of criticism today for its handling of the war. A headline in the Haaretz newspaper declared:
"Olmert must go!".

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2308742_2,00.html


Do not quote just a selected part of a news report to get your point accross - this is a news-only thread, quote the entire news article or not at all!

[DeltaWhisky58]

First hints of Israeli dissent

By Bethany Bell
BBC News, Jerusalem



Over the past few weeks, support among Israelis for the military campaign against Hezbollah has remained high, but for the first time this may be changing.


One peace campaigner said the war had spiralled out of control


A recent poll published in the mass circulation Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper suggests that 75% of Israelis think the decision to go to war was right.
Despite the rising number of casualties and the disruption to life in northern Israel, where scores of Hezbollah rockets land every day, many people here say the fight must go on.
Many Israelis feel they have no choice but to strike hard at Hezbollah. They believe that at stake is the very survival of the state of Israel.
But there are signs that cracks are beginning to appear in the consensus.
The Yedioth Aronoth poll says 64% of Israelis (71% of Jewish respondents) support sending troops deeper into Lebanon, up to the Litani River.
But another poll in the more leftwing Haaretz newspaper suggests that only 39% of Israelis are in favour of an expanded ground offensive.
The Haaretz poll, of 570 Israelis, also suggests that support for the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is slipping.

Protests

The paper says the rising number of Israeli casualties and the continued Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel may be to blame for the drop in popularity.
Up to now, protests against the war have been mainly confined to the radical left and Israeli Arab groups.
The campaign group Peace Now, which was at the forefront of opposition to the previous war in Lebanon, did not condemn the current military offensive.
But more than four weeks into the conflict, that changed. The group held its first demonstration against the war, along with politicians from the opposition Meretz party.
The protest, in Tel Aviv, was a small one. Some of the demonstrators wore blue and white, the colours of the Israeli flag, to show their loyalty to the state. But their message was clear.
"The war has spiralled out of control and the government is ignoring the political options available," said Yariv Oppenheimer, general director of Peace Now.
Writing in The Jerusalem Post, the Meretz Knesset member Ran Cohen called the move to expand the ground offensive "a wretched decision".
"The government has fallen into the trap that [Hezbollah leader] Hassan Nasrallah has laid for it... We are ploughing back into the Lebanese quagmire," he said.

'Cabinet splits'

Public sentiment has mostly called for more aggressive action, not less - one likely factor in the government's decision to escalate military operations.
But some doubts have been growing as to whether Hezbollah can be destroyed and there are reports of splits in the Israeli cabinet about how to manage the crisis.
The Haaretz newspaper suggests that despite the fact that a majority of ministers voted for an expanded ground offensive, some would prefer a political rather than a military solution.
One article suggests that Mr Olmert is not pleased with the army's performance and is convinced that the war must be stopped.
Other papers report on a growing frustration in the army that the broader campaign has been put on hold.
A majority of Israelis still support the military offensive but a sense of weariness has set in. "People were more enthusiastic about this conflict at the beginning," one man from Tel Aviv told me. "But now everyone just wants things to quieten down. We want things to return to normal."

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4784801.stm)

[DeltaWhisky58]

Israeli Arabs caught in middle

By Martin Patience
BBC News, Jerusalem


About 700,000 Israeli Arabs live in the north of Israel, putting them in the firing line of rockets fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah.

Awatef Sheikh, 30, a consultant, lives in the Galilee village of Ibillin.
When the sirens go off, she grabs her nieces and nephews and ushers them into her parents' home.


Arab-Israelis say they are caught in no man's land

But while Ms Sheikh says that the children are traumatised by the Hezbollah rocket attacks, she insists that Israel - and not Hezbollah - is responsible for the current conflict.
"The Arabs die in villages because of Israeli aggression against Lebanon. Hezbollah is firing these rockets to defend its people," says Ms Sheikh, an Israeli Arab, speaking on the phone from her village in northern Israel.
The current conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah militants is sharpening the divide between Israelis and their Israeli Arab fellow citizens.
While opinion polls show that the Israeli public overwhelming supports continued military action in Lebanon, many of the Jewish state's approximately one million-strong Israeli Arab community blame Israel for the violence.

The division between us and the Lebanese is artificial - they are Arabs, they look like us, laugh like us, and eat the same food
Dr Azmi Bishara
Israeli Arab politician

"We're caught in the middle," says Ms Sheikh. "We are on the wrong side of the battle."
Representing about a fifth of Israel's population, most of this community are descendants of Palestinian families who remained in their towns and villages after the establishment of Israel in 1948.
Legally considered to be full Israeli citizens, many Israeli Arabs say they face discrimination in all walks of life - education, health and the workplace.
In the current conflict, more than a third of the civilian casualties on the Israeli side of the border have been Arab - of the 39 civilians killed by Hezbollah rockets, 15 have been Israeli Arabs.


Arab-Israelis have been among the victims of Hezbollah strikes

Even while suffering a disproportionately high number of casualties in Hezbollah rocket attacks, Dr Azmi Bishara, an Israeli Arab Knesset member and leader of the Balad political party, says that most Israeli Arabs empathise with the Lebanese.
"The division between us and the Lebanese is artificial," he says. "They are Arabs, they look like us, laugh like us, and eat the same food."
Some Israelis are angered by what they see as Israeli Arab sympathy with their enemy.
"Despite the developments that threaten their very homes, they (Israeli Arabs) are still capable of expressing solidarity with the Lebanese and attacking Israel's policy," wrote Dganit Kenig in the mass market Maariv Israeli daily newspaper.

'Human shields' claim

Dr Bishara says the current "nationalistic" climate in Israel means that it is impossible to oppose the war without being denounced as a "fifth columnist".
He has accused the Israeli government of providing no bomb shelters for the Arab population and using them as "human shields" by placing artillery units beside Israeli Arab villages in the north.
At the Knesset, there have been ugly scenes between Jewish and Israeli Arab politicians. They were reports in the Israeli media that one of the Israeli Arab representatives received death threats.
"The Arabs in Israel are excluded from politics right now," says Dr Bishara.
"They just sit and watch the television."
Like many Israeli Arabs, Dr Bishara believes that there will be repercussions for the community when the war ends. "We will have to pick up the bill on this," he says. "If they lose they will turn against us, if they win they will turn against us." For Ms Sheikh, the war has made it clear "that there is no illusion of co-existence any more."

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4778163.stm)

[DeltaWhisky58]

Herewith a summary of curent news stories available from BBC News Online - International pages. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/) (DW58)

[/URL]



LATEST NEWS

Fresh Israel raids after UN vote (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/default.stm)
Blair urges 'immediate ceasefire' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4785959.stm)
UN rights body backs Israel probe (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4783511.stm)
In pictures: Tensions grow (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4783889.stm)
Day-by-day: Lebanon crisis (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4776627.stm)


DESPATCHES


[URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4781551.stm"]No-drive zone (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4781551.stm)
Residents walk in fear as Israeli vehicle threat empties streets
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4781551.stm)
Hints of Israel dissent (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4784801.stm)
Caught in middle (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4778163.stm)
Syria's welcome to Lebanese (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4778131.stm)


ANALYSIS

Israel fights under Iraq shadow (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4780847.stm)
Pro-Israel pressure strong in US (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5258240.stm)
Conflict one month on (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4777337.stm)
Q&A: Israeli offensive (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4778035.stm)
France plays key role (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5257602.stm)


BACKGROUND

Ceasefire: Next steps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4786385.stm)
Text: UN Lebanon resolution (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4785963.stm)
Who stands where? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5253146.stm)
Lebanon's seven-point proposal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5256936.stm)


VOICES

Israeli answers your questions (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/5255496.stm)
Diary: Getting aid in (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4783047.stm)

[Darth Vidar]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3290072,00.html

IDF dispatches large forces in airlift to Lebanon.
It was cleared for publication that the Israeli Air Force dispatched large forces in airlift deep into south Lebanese territory on Friday night, in the framework of expanding the military offensive in the area.

IDF sources describe the operation as the largest carried out by the army in recent years. (Hanan Greenberg)

[Darth Vidar]

More on the airlift-operation:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525845652&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Firefight raging south of Marjayoun
By YAAKOV KATZ, JPOST STAFF AND AP (editors@jpost.com)

Violent clashes continued in southern Lebanon on Saturday between IDF troops and Hizbullah gunmen.
Commandos were engaged in fierce battles with Hizbullah guerrillas in an area southwest of Marjayoun Saturday, Lebanese security officials said.
The commando unit landed at dawn in El-Ghandourieh in a valley between the towns of Nabatiyeh, Tyre and Taibeh, the officials said. Heavy clashes raged there all morning, they said.

It was unclear whether the commandos landed by helicopter or traveled by land from areas farther east. El-Ghandourieh is about 12 kilometers from the Israeli border. The area overlooks the Litani River, and is strategic ground that separates the eastern sector from the central sector of south Lebanon.

Lebanon's National News Agency said fierce clashes were under way between guerrillas and IDF commandos on the edge of El-Ghandourieh, while the village and surrounding areas were being pounded by IAF missile strikes. El-Ghandourieh is about 15 kilometers west of the Christian town of Marjayoun, which Israeli troops took on Thursday........................

[Snoshi]

Israel nearly triples troops in Lebanon

By ZEINA KARAM
Associated Press Writer


AP Photo/DAVID GUTTENFELDER
AP VIDEO



BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Israel staged wide-ranging airstrikes and sent commandos into the Hezbollah heartland Saturday as the U.N. raced to begin enforcing its new cease-fire blueprint and stop combat. Airstrikes killed at least 19 people in Lebanon, including 15 in one village, while Hezbollah rockets wounded at least five people in Israel.

Israel also blasted a highway near Lebanon's last open border crossing to Syria as it kept up its full-scale campaign against Hezbollah militants. Long columns of Israeli tanks, troops and armored personnel carriers streamed over the border.

The U.N. plan approved Friday night would create a peacekeeping force by combining a beefed-up version of the ineffective U.N. units already in the war zone and 15,000 soldiers from the Lebanese army. The force, which could number around 30,000, would stand between Israel and the Hezbollah militia.

Israel's Cabinet meets Sunday to approve the U.N. plan. Lebanese officials signaled that their formal backing could come Saturday.



Israel's army chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said Israel has nearly tripled the number of troops in Lebanon and expects to fight for another week despite the cease-fire deal. He said Israeli forces - apparently about 30,000 soldiers now - would stay in Lebanon until an international force arrives.

Israel has demanded an airtight buffer zone and wonders if U.N. and Lebanese forces are up for the task. A small U.N. military presence - now about 2,000 observers - has been in Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon since 1978 and has been overwhelmed by the Islamic militant group's rising power, aided by Iran and Syria.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice specifically cited Hezbollah's two sponsors in a statement Friday for all parties to "respect the sovereignty of the Lebanese government and the will of the international community."

But the resolution, approved 15-0 in the U.N. Security Council, did nothing to immediately halt the fighting that erupted exactly a month ago and has claimed nearly 900 lives - including at least 761 in Lebanon and 123 Israelis.



Israeli missiles slammed into the southern Lebanon village of Rachaf, about 10 miles from the Israeli border, killing at least 15 civilians, security officials said. Israeli ground forces also fanned out across southern Lebanon hunting for Hezbollah rocket batteries that have fired unending salvos across the border.

Three people also were killed in strikes on Kharayeb, and a Lebanese soldier was killed in an air raid near an army base in the Bekaa Valley, officials said.

In Sidon, a coastal city between Beirut and the Israeli border, Israeli bombs destroyed a power plant. Farther south, another power facility was hit near Tyre, knocking out electricity to the port, police said.

On Lebanon's northern frontier, Israeli airstrikes hit the highway leading to the Arida border crossing about a mile from the Mediterranean coast. It's the last official border post open for humanitarian convoys and civilians fleeing the country. The highway was impassable, but drivers tried to maneuver through ruts and ditches.

The only other exits from Lebanon are rugged pathways and back roads through deserts or mountains.

Israel seeks to block supply routes for Hezbollah and disrupt their mobility and has warned it would target any vehicles on the roads in southern Lebanon and along other main highways.

Any movement - even under the umbrella of U.N. forces - can prove deadly.

On Friday, an Israeli aircraft fired on a convoy of more than 600 civilian vehicles and others carrying 350 Lebanese police and soldiers who left the Israeli-occupied town on Marjayoun in southeast Lebanon. Police said three civilians and an army recruit were killed and 28 people were injured. The mayor of Marjayoun, Fuad Hamra, placed the death toll at six.

Israel said the U.N. troops asked permission to lead the convoy, but it was denied. Previous groups were given permission and traveled unharmed, the Israeli military said.

Fighting continued in Hezbollah-held areas around Marjayoun, a strategic hub overlooking valleys used as Hezbollah rocket bases.

Israeli commando units and guerrillas engaged in close combat in a valley near El-Ghandourieh, about 10 miles southwest of Marjayoun, according to Lebanese security officials.

Other Israeli ground forces, backed by aircraft and drones, met stiff resistance as they tried to reach the Litani River, about 20 miles north of the border.

Israel said its troops destroyed several rocket batteries and killed more than 40 Hezbollah fighters in the last 24 hours. The guerrilla group announced four deaths Friday and none Saturday.

After a morning free of Hezbollah rocket strikes in northern Israel, a barrage of 20 missiles at midafternoon injured two people in Amirim and three in Kiryat Shemona. Hezbollah had been averaging nearly 200 hits each day in the monthlong conflict.

The Litani is seen by Israel as a crucial boundary in its attempt to push back Hezbollah. Israel repeatedly has insisted that the proposed peacekeeping force cannot allow Hezbollah weapons south of the river.

But it will be nearly impossible to rid south Lebanon of the Islamic guerrillas, who are now in the Lebanese Cabinet and run clinics and other charities that are considered essential in rebuilding the region. Their ability to withstand the Israeli military assault has also made Hezbollah heroes across the Arab and Islamic worlds.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LEBANON_ISRAEL?SITE=ORBEN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Darth Vidar]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749479.html

Last update - 16:39 12/08/2006IDF troops operating deep in Lebanese territoryBy Amos Harel (contact@haaretz.co.il), Yoav Stern (stern@haaretz.co.il) and Eli Ashkenazi (elia@haaretz.co.il), Haaretz Correspondents, and AgenciesIsrael Defense Forces troops were engaged in heavy exchanges of fire with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on Saturday, as troops pushed northward to the Litani River under cover of intense artillery fire.

A large number of IDF troops landed deep in Lebanese territory on Saturday, participating in the largest operation of its kind since 1973.

Israel has nearly tripled the number of forces in Lebanon as part of its expanded ground war in Lebanon, and expects to fight for another week, despite a United Nations cease-fire resolution (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749631.html), IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz on Saturday.
Halutz said IDF troops would stay in Lebanon until an international force arrives.

"We have almost tripled our forces that are operating in Lebanon," Halutz told reporters.

UN special envoy for the Middle East said Saturday that the UN expected the IDF assault to wind down in one to two days and an expanded international force to begin deploying in a week to 10 days.

Some 23 soldiers were hurt in the fighting Saturday, five of them moderately and the rest lightly, and were taken to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for treatment.

After the unanimous United Nations Security Council vote Friday on the cease-fire resolution, Israel launched an expanded ground offensive in south Lebanon. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will present the cease-fire resolution to the cabinet Sunday.

With the expansion of the ground offensive in Lebanon, four divisions were operating in south Lebanon and most of the activity was focused in areas from where Hezbollah has been firing short-range rockets into Israel. Sources in the IDF General Staff said 4-7 days would be needed to complete the occupation of the area, though it is unclear whether the operation will be completed, as the cabinet is scheduled to vote Sunday.

An IDF soldier was killed in clashes with Hezbollah in the village of Rashef in south Lebanon on Friday and another sustained moderate wounds. According to the IDF, at least ten Hezbollah militants were killed overnight.

IAF strikes and ground assaults kill at least 19 across Lebanon
Israel Air Force air strike and IDF ground attacks continued on Saturday, with missiles and artillery killing at least 19 people across Lebanon, mostly in the south.

The deadliest attack was on homes in the village of Rashef, some 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the Israeli border, where at least 15 civilians were killed, security officials said.

Israeli missiles also hit a vehicle in Kharayeb, a village in the Zahrani region about halfway between Beirut and the Israeli border, killing three people and wounding five, officials said.

A Lebanese soldier was killed overnight in an air raid near an army base in the western Bekaa Valley, the army said.

An IAF strike destroyed a road leading to the only remaining border crossing to Syria - Arida, on the northern coast - severing the last escape route for besieged Lebanese and for humanitarian aid entering the country.

AIF jets targeted the highway linking Arida with the northern city of Tripoli, at a point about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the border, officials said. The crossing remained open, but the road leading to it was impassable, and vehicles were spotted driving off-road through ditches early Saturday.

A separate raid destroyed a bridge linking the southern cities of Tyre and Nabatiyeh with Sidon.

Shrapnel from missiles fired on the village of Insariyeh, halfway between Sidon and Tyre, hit a vehicle carrying Lebanese journalists working for a Swedish television channel, and one of them was wounded, security officials said.

IAF jets struck an apartment buildings that house a Hezbollah charity organization in the heart of the eastern city of Baalbek, wounding three people. Another four people were injured in an airstrike on a house west of Baalbek, officials said.

Electricity was out in Tyre and Sidon, after IAF jets struck transformers at power plants in both coastal cities. An official at the power plan in Sidon, George Makhoul, said it could be 10 days before power was restored.

Security officials reported several air strikes in Akkar province, located about 97 kilometers (60 miles) north of Beirut.......
..........

Looks like a lot of paratroopers have been airlifted up to the Litani-river area!!! woot

[alexz]

Israeli Army in Race against a UN Ceasefire in Lebanon
DEBKAfile Exclusive Military Report

August 12, 2006, 3:52 PM (GMT+02:00)

Israeli forces are pressing forward with the wide-scale operation against Hizballah which DEBKAfile reports was launched four days ago on Wednesday, Aug. 8.

The campaign will continue until the ceasefire called for in Security Resolution 1701 approved Friday, Aug. 11, is enforced on the ground – if and when that happens.

It is carried forward by four expanded divisions of 11 brigades, about 12,000 fighting men. Head of the Ground Forces Branch Maj.-Gen Benny Gantz is leading the IDF’s South Lebanon command.

The first stage of the new operation has succeeded in its objective of encircling Hizballah’s 1,500-strong force in a large swathe stretching from the Litani River in the north, to Tyre in the southwest.

This tactic follows Israel’s 1982 Lebanon War stratagem of pushing Palestinian forces out of South Lebanon up to Beirut and then holding them to siege.

Now, Israeli troops are pushing Hizballah into the Tyre enclave that also encompasses the Palestinian refugee camps of Rashidiya and Bourj al-Shamali, in order to contain it there. In central and northern Lebanon, Hizballah strength will be left intact with two of its three rocket brigades - medium and long range - for the time being. They will be left to the Air Force to destroy.

In the last few hours, Hizballah’s command and control in the south is showing signs of distress after finding itself cut off from reinforcements and re-supply from the north by the rapid Israeli advances of the last four days.

DEBKAfile’s military sources update Israel military movements:

The Northern Division: From Wednesday, this division has been advancing north from Israel’s northernmost town of Metulla towards the plain of Nabatea, north of the Litani River, taking the town of Marjayun en route. Early Friday Aug. 11, when Israeli PM Ehud Olmert and defense minister Amir Peretz gave the go ahead for the expanded offensive, the division split in two. One headed north and entered the village of Blat east of the crook in the Litani River – a vantage point for artillery control of the Nabatean plain to the west, and Hasbaya to the east.

The second segment of the Northern Division has been positioned since Thursday on the southern bank of the Litani after capturing Qantara.

For the moment, this division is positioned on a number of hilltops along the river bank with fire control over parts of the Nabatea plain.

Saturday or Sunday morning, these troops should reach the Hardaleh bridge, one of the two linking central Lebanon to the south.

In this part of the front, Israeli troops are fighting Hizballa’s Sector No. 5.

Our military sources report that the Northern Division has encountered little Hizballah resistance in its push north. They are estimated to have gone to ground to await their moment to counter-attack. Local inhabitants in this area are friendly, some even point Israeli troops to possible Hizballah hideouts and arms caches.

Division 162: Since Wednesday, this division under the command of Brig.-Gen Guy Tsur, has been driving north along the eastern bank of Wadi Saluki in the Eastern Sector of South Lebanon up to the Central Sector. Saturday, this division fetched up at Froun village on a hilltop opposite the Litani and west of Taibe and Deir Mimas. This high point affords the division fire control of the Qeaqea bridge, the second most important one spanning the Litani.

The bridge was destroyed by an Israeli air strike at the outset of the war.

This division is fighting Hizballah’s Sectors 3 and 4.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the division commanded by Tsur is now following a westerly route along the Litani’s southern bank up to the Mediterranean coast and a place called Burj el Haoua, which is midway between Sidon and Tyre south of Beirut.

Once in position there, the IDF will be able:

1. To tighten the siege of Tyre from the north.

2. Be ready to cross the Litani and head north of the river if ordered to do so.

Division 91: Under the command of Brig. Gen Gal Hirsch, this division has also been in motion since Wednesday heading west to the Mediterranean coast from a point north of Bin Jubeil. The members of this division fought heavy battles at Ras Baida north of the Israeli town of Rosh Hanikra, and at the villages of Shmaa, Majdel Zun and Mansura south of Tyre. By Saturday morning, this division had managed to stabilize a line south of Tyre from a point north of Bin Jubeil up to Ras Baida, thereby completing the siege of Tyre from the south.

A fourth division operating mostly undercover with special operations units took control Friday and Saturday of sections of the dividing seam between Divisions 162 and 91. This gap covers the war arenas of Qana village, Jouiya and Maarake. This division has been entrusted with tightening the eastern section of the siege enclosing Tyre and preventing Hizballah harassing the flanks and rear of the two divisions.

Late last week, Hassan Nasrallah managed to rush several hundreds of fighters of his Bader Force to reinforce this arena.

DEBKAfile’s exclusive sources report that this broad IDF campaign is planned to proceed over the weekend and early next week, on the assumption that Washington and the United Nations will step in at some early point and threaten to declare Israel in violation of the ceasefire resolution until it is stopped.

http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1200

[Snoshi]

Nasrallah commented that HA approved the UN resolution 1701.
But he added that HA will fight Israeli troops as long as they are on the Lebanese soil.

He also showed a dissatisfaction because UNSC dint condemn the "Israeli aggression"
http://newsru.co.il/mideast/12aug2006/nasrala.html

[Snoshi]

Israelis 'triple Lebanon force'
Israeli troops in Lebanon are now thought to number 30,000
Israel says it has tripled the number of its troops in southern Lebanon in an expanded offensive, despite a United Nations vote backing a ceasefire.

The soldiers are moving towards the strategically significant Litani River, the military said.

Hezbollah's leader has said the group will abide by the UN Security Council resolution, which calls for a "full cessation of hostilities".

Israel's Cabinet will discuss the issue on Sunday.

It says it will only halt military action after taking a vote.

Lebanese ministers will discuss the UN plan on Saturday. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora indicated he would back the truce call, saying: "This resolution shows that the whole world stood by Lebanon."

Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, said on the group's al-Manar TV channel on Saturday that it would abide by the plan.

But referring to Israel's insistence it has the right to continue military operations in Lebanon in self-defence, Sheikh Nasrallah said: "As long as there is Israeli aggression, it is our right to fight them and defend our land."

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is asking his Cabinet to endorse the resolution, describing it as positive and acceptable.

More than 1,000 Lebanese and more than 120 Israelis have been killed in the conflict since Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers on 12 July in a cross-border raid.

Hilltop village

Israel's army chief, Lt Gen Dan Halutz, said Israeli troops would remain in Lebanon until the arrival of the UN peacekeeping force - expected to be 15,000-strong.






Gen Halutz did not give a figure for the new number of Israeli troops currently in Lebanon, but Israeli sources put it at about 30,000.

Israel radio said the troops had been ordered to seize ground as far as the Litani River, up to 30km (18 miles) from the Israeli border.

The Israeli army confirmed it had airlifted hundreds of troops by helicopter into positions in south Lebanon.

Full details of the new offensive are unclear but several sources confirm heavy clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters at the village of Ghandouriyeh, 11km inside Lebanon.

Ghandouriyeh is a key strategic point, a hilltop village overlooking Hezbollah positions that are just 2.5km from the Litani.

Israeli jets also raided the city of Sidon - north of the Litani - destroying facilities at a power station. It is only the second time Sidon has been hit in the conflict, which began more than four weeks ago.

Smoke rises from electricity plant east of port city of Sidon after Israeli air strike 12 Aug
An Israeli strike on Sidon reportedly cut off power to the port city

According to Lebanese security sources, up to 15 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on the village of Rshaf in south Lebanon.

Israel has said it has killed more than 40 Hezbollah fighters in the past 24 hours.

Hezbollah has also fired more rockets into northern Israel, but Israeli sources say the number is far fewer than in recent days.

The UN special envoy to the Middle East, Alvaro de Soto, said he expected Israel to wind down its operations in the next couple of days.

No timetable has been agreed for a ceasefire.

UN Security Council resolution 1701 was passed unanimously in New York after an impassioned speech from Secretary General Kofi Annan.


HAVE YOUR SAY
The UN needs to be firm but fair in its handling of the emerging situation
Peter Hewitt, Borehamwood, UK

Send us your views
On Saturday, US President George W Bush praised the UN move, adding: "I now urge the international community to turn words into action and make every effort to bring lasting peace to the region."

The new resolution says Hezbollah must end attacks on Israel while Israel must end "offensive military operations" in Lebanese territory.

Other key points of the plan include:

* Some 15,000 peacekeeping troops from the existing UN Interim Force in Lebanon, Unifil, to receive a strengthened mandate to monitor and enforce the ceasefire

* Lebanon's government to deploy troops to the south of the country, previously the domain of Hezbollah fighters

* Israel to withdraw troops currently in southern Lebanon as UN and Lebanese forces are deployed

* The drawing up of plans for the disarmament of Hezbollah and the final settlement of the Israel-Lebanon border area, including the disputed Shebaa farms area.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4786871.stm

[Darth Vidar]

http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Security/9148.htm

73 wounded IDF soldiers so far today as army triples forces in Lebanon.

By Israel Insider staff and partners August 12, 2006

The IDF acted massively in southern Lebanon, with hundreds of soldiers airlifted by more than 50 helicopters and columns of armor moving north. More than 70 wounded soldiers have already been flown to Israeli hospitals.

Hezbollah sources reported 7 soldiers killed and 20 tanks destroyed, but there is no external confirmation of either claim. The IDF claims that more than 40 Hezbollah fighters have been killed so far today.

Four divisions were reported operating in south Lebanon. Most of the activity was focused in areas from where Hezbollah has been firing short-range rockets into Israel, Haaretz reported. Sources in the IDF General Staff said up to a week would be needed to complete the occupation of the area, even though the ceasefire is likely to take effect on Monday. Israeli political sources said that "cleansing" operation to rid Hezbollah from southern Lebanon would require weeks.

[Darth Vidar]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3290188,00.html

7 soldiers killed in various incidents in Lebanon
It has been cleared for publication that throughout Saturday, seven IDF soldiers were killed and 11 severely injured in various incidents in southern Lebanon. The injured were evacuated to receive medical treatment in Israel. (Hanan Greenberg)

[Snoshi]

IDF reaches the Litani river, from Al-Arabiya

Israeli television stations said that seven Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon, Saturday, 12-8-2006. The five were killed in clashes with Hezbollah fighters and two door to death beneath an Israeli tank. Sources in the Israeli army, more than 50 soldiers were wounded.

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Adam took the commander of the Northern Command Israel Radio that the Israeli forces reached the Litani River in southern Lebanon on Saturday in an attack against Hizbullah fighters and the army killed so far, 500 of them at least .

Adam added that the losses in the ranks of Hezbollah helped in the success of the process. He said, "we were able to kill between 500 and 550 fighters. This is what helps this attack definitely. " But Hezbollah asserts that loss amounts to only a few dozens of combatants.

The Litani River, which lies about 20 kilometers from the border between Lebanon and Israel of the line, which is expected to pull out Hezbollah, backed by a Security Council resolution aimed at putting an end to the war a month ago.
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ar&u=http://www.alarabiya.net/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dal%2Barabia%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG

[Darth Vidar]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3290211,00.html

Halutz: It took time to build ground move

In Channel 10 interview, army chief deals with question why it took IDF so long to enter ground operation; 'if alternative was to attack Lebanon from the ground, we would have found ourselves being disgracefully expelled,' he says. Northern command chief, however, says plans were ready for several days, waiting for approval
Miri Chason

Why did it take the Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284752,00.html) Defense Forces so long to head toward Litani River with large forces? IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Dan Halutz (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284188,00.html) said Saturday evening in a Channel 10 interview that "if the alternative was to attack Lebanon (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284170,00.html) from the ground, we would have found ourselves being disgracefully expelled with disgrace. A ground move also has to be built.

Northern Command Chief Major-General Udi Adam said during a press briefing that "the plans were ready for several days now, and in general before the recent events. The moment we received the approval, we were on our way."

Halutz said commissions of inquiry do not scare him, "I was not born an army chief and will not die an army chief."

However, he said that "there are a lot of things which have to be looked into. How did we reach such a reality in six years. How did the defense budget reach a situation in which it cannot meet the defense means necessary for the State of Israel, this is exactly the source of failure to improve."


Israel at war - full coverage (http://www.ynetnews.com/home/0,7340,L-4289,00.html)The army chief spoke after dozens of helicopters brought large forces into southern Lebanon as part of the expansion of the military operation, which was the largest landing operation (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3290077,00.html) since the Yom Kippur War.


A large number of aircraft participated in the mission, including Yanshuf and Yasur helicopters flown by reserve and standing army pilots. Simultaneous to landing the forces, supplies for soldiers were also airdropped from the helicopters.


IDF soldiers in Lebanon (Photo: AP)

Halutz answered a question regarding the delay in the ground entry: "We were in Lebanon on the ground, for all those who have forgotten, in a very large operation, and we stayed there for 18 years. Therefore this statement if why we did not enter on the force earlier is a question which before it is answered, all its aspects should be examined and this is not the main thing. At what price? That is also a question which should be asked."


Halutz noted that the IDF knew from the start that it has no answer for the short-range rockets.

Regarding the incidents in which IDF soldiers were killed, Halutz said: "I think that to consider the events in Maroun a-Ras and Bint Jbeil as decisive and environment-shaping is not correct."


"There were many comparable incidents in other Israeli wars, I don't remember them influencing the Israeli consciousness in the way they are trying to make out of these incidents. The sense that we are carrying out a quick blitz here is mistaken. I am the last to say we are an organization innocent of errors. We do make mistakes," he added.


According to the chief of staff, the army has made significant achievements in south Lebanon.

"The first is the position and state of Hizbullah. The second – the demolition of long-range rockets and launchers. The third – hitting Hizbullah itself. More than 500 Hizbullah operatives were killed, we hit weapons arsenals and Hizbullah territory," he said.


"The targets we did not yet achieve are the short-range Katyushas. To reach each and every one of them, you need to put your hand on them. This process is extremely demanding, and we need to reach a state in which the other side has no motivation to fire them," Halutz added.


When asked at which point he decided something was not right in the Northern Command, Halutz answered: "Everything is fine with the Northern Command. We work as a team. I have already said what I have to say in the matter of Udi Adam. I have thus far no complaints against him."



Northern Command chief: IDF waited 10 days for green light



Northern Command Chief Udi Adam put the ball in the political court again Saturday, saying the army was ready to enter south Lebanon in greater force for over a week and was only awaiting a go-ahead from the government.

Replying to charges that the expanded military operation in south Lebanon launched Saturday could have started weeks ago, Adam said, "the Northern Command had and has a number of plans against the Hizbullah organization. The plans were prepared a while ago, before the most recent events. The moment we got authorization, we set out."

According to Adam, "Most of this has been planned for ten days. The moment the political ranks passed their decision to the army, we launched the offensive. Unequivocally – the Northern Command was ready the moment it was told to be ready for the offensive."

Adam was speaking during a press briefing on the army's achievements in Lebanon .

"On Monday I hope the achievements will be such that we will reach a large number of the rocket launch sites, and we'll take command of part of the territory as we planned – if not over most of the territory, and we'll be in a better situation than we are in now. Assuming the ceasefire will take effect, we will stop when we are told, and if it does not go into effect – we can also continue," he said.

"This means that whether there is a ceasefire or not does not need to interest the fighting soldier. What should interest him is only that he has a mission and must perform it," Adam added.

The Northern Command head noted that "just today (Saturday) forces managed to killed more than 40 terrorists. We are finding weapons stores, rockets. Today a Golani Brigade force found hundreds of rockets in one house. We found surveillance and listening equipment. Every day there are such surprises. We will continue to clean out all these strongholds."

During the briefing Adam was asked whether the risk to soldiers was worth the effort, seeing as the territories conquered will be very quickly returned to Lebanese hands. In response, Adam said: "The risk is worthwhile. A ceasefire may not take effect and the (rocket) fire could continue, and then what? The attempt to stop the firing and reach more Hizbullah cells seems to me appropriate and necessary."

[Snoshi]

Al-Jazeera: IDF chooper went down with 4 crew onboard

[Snoshi]

Ynet:It is cleared for publication that an IAF Sikorsky CH 53 helicopter crashed in Lebanese territory. The circumstances of the crash have yet to be clarified and whether the crash was caused by technical failure, or by enemy fire. (Hanan Greenberg)

[gilgoul]

Ynet:It is cleared for publication that an IAF Sikorsky CH 53 helicopter crashed in Lebanese territory. The circumstances of the crash have yet to be clarified and whether the crash was caused by technical failure, or by enemy fire. (Hanan Greenberg)

According to channel 10, an ATGM (weird, but they used the term "atni tank missile) destroyed the aircraft wich wasn't carrying troops.

[Kaplanr]

According to channel 10, an ATGM (weird, but they used the term "atni tank missile) destroyed the aircraft wich wasn't carrying troops.

Why not? If it's hovering or flaring to land a good RPGis could hit it, or a TOW operator.

Someone in Logistics and Planning will be up for the next several years taking all the lessons from this one and countering the dangers.

[Snoshi]

IDF confirmed that its chooper was shot down with a ATGM.

It is known that the crews of the chopper ejected before the crash.
http://newsru.co.il/mideast/12aug2006/masok.html

[Snoshi]

Ynet:The IDF reports that the helicopter that crashed in Lebanon was apparently hit by what seems to have been an anti-tank missile shot at it.

It was also reported that the helicopter managed to let off the fighters it was carrying, take off, and then it was hit. (Hanan Greenberg)

[Snoshi]

Ynet:A senior officer in the IAF referred to the crash of an IDF helicopter in Lebanon and said, "The helicopter was hit by fire shot toward it, hit the ground and went up in flames."

"There is massive shooting at helicopters in all the zones. The operations we are undertaking are dangerous, but there are also successes," said the officer who refused to say where the crash occurred and whether there were Hizbullah members in the area. "The site of the crash is under our control," he said. (Hanan Greenberg)

[DeltaWhisky58]

Hezbollah 'will observe UN truce'


Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said the UN draft was "unjust"

Hezbollah's leader has said his group will abide by a ceasefire plan agreed at the UN to end fighting with Israel.

However, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said on TV that Hezbollah would continue fighting as long as Israeli soldiers remained in Lebanon.
Lebanon has now also approved the UN resolution, which calls for a "full cessation of hostilities".
Israel has backed the plan too but has extended an offensive in south Lebanon, tripling its ground troops there.
Some Israeli troops have reached the key target of the Litani River, the army says.
Seven Israeli soldiers were killed and more than 70 wounded in the fighting on Saturday.
Israel also confirmed a helicopter had been shot down in southern Lebanon, causing some casualties. It is the first such loss to hostile fire in the conflict.
Israel's Cabinet will discuss the UN resolution on Sunday and Israel says it will only halt military action after taking a vote.

'War not ended'

On Hezbollah's al-Manar TV channel on Saturday, Sheikh Nasrallah said the UN resolution was "unfair" in holding his group responsible for the fighting.



The Security Council emphasises the need for an end of violence, but at the same time emphasises the need to address urgently the causes that have given rise to the current crisis
UN resolution text



Text of resolution (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4785963.stm)
Ceasefire: next steps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4786385.stm)
UN vote backs truce (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4785001.stm)
Mid East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)


But he added: "We will not be an obstacle to any decision taken by the Lebanese government."
And referring to Israel's insistence it has the right to continue military operations in Lebanon in self-defence, Sheikh Nasrallah said: "As long as there is Israeli aggression, it is our right to fight them and defend our land."
He added: "The war has not ended. There have been continued strikes and continued casualties. Today nothing has changed and it appears tomorrow nothing will change."
Sheikh Nasrallah said Hezbollah would co-operate with the deployment of UN and Lebanese troops in the south.
The BBC's Nick Childs in Beirut says this appears a very conditional acceptance, aimed at maintaining Lebanese political unity.
After the Lebanese cabinet meeting that approved the UN resolution, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the approval was "a unanimous decision, with some reservations".
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is also asking his Cabinet to endorse the resolution, describing it as positive and acceptable.


The Israeli troops in Lebanon are now estimated at about 30,000


More than 1,000 Lebanese and more than 120 Israelis have been killed in the conflict since Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers on 12 July in a cross-border raid.
Israel's army chief, Lt Gen Dan Halutz, said on Saturday Israeli troops would remain in Lebanon until the arrival of a UN peacekeeping force - expected to be 15,000-strong.
Gen Halutz did not give a figure for the new number of Israeli troops currently in Lebanon, but Israeli sources put it at about 30,000.
Israeli radio on Saturday quoted the head of the northern command, Maj-Gen Udi Adam, as saying "some of the forces have reached the line of the Litani" - up to 30km (18 miles) from the Israeli border.
In the helicopter incident, Hezbollah said it had shot down the aircraft with a new Waad missile over the southern Lebanese village of Yater. The number of casualties is not known.
In other military developments:

Several sources confirmed heavy clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters at the village of Ghandouriyeh, 11km inside Lebanon
Israeli jets also raided the city of Sidon - north of the Litani - destroying facilities at a power station
According to Lebanese security sources, up to 15 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on the village of Rshaf in south Lebanon
Israel said it had killed more than 40 Hezbollah fighters in the past 24 hours
Hezbollah fired more rockets into northern Israel, but Israeli sources said the number was fewer than in recent days.The UN special envoy to the Middle East, Alvaro de Soto, said he expected Israel to wind down its operations in the next couple of days. No timetable has been agreed on the truce.

UN Security Council resolution 1701 says Hezbollah must end attacks on Israel while Israel must end "offensive military operations" in Lebanese territory. On Saturday, US President George W Bush praised the UN move, adding: "I now urge the international community to turn words into action and make every effort to bring lasting peace to the region." Mr Bush also added more condemnation of Hezbollah, saying it shared the same "totalitarian ideology" as those arrested in a suspected plot to blow up US-bound jets from Britain.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4787179.stm)

[Darth Vidar]

A totale of 11 IDF soldiers killed Saturday.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3290268,00.html

4 more soldiers killed in Lebanon

It has been cleared for publication that four more soldiers have been killed during exchanges of fire in south Lebanon on Saturday.

An officer and two Armored Corps troops were killed when a missile struck their tank as they were operating in the Wadui Sluki region in south Lebaon’s eastern sector.

In the village of Randouria in the western sector a Nahal Brigade soldier was killed by Hizbullah fire toward at a building; seven other soldiers were killed in Lebanon on Friday. (HananGreenberg)

(08.13.06, 00:34)

[JVeld]

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah said Saturday its guerrillas shot down an Israeli military helicopter in southern Lebanon. The Israeli army confirmed the shootdown and said there were an unspecified number of wounded.
The aircraft was shot down in the Maryamein valley near the village of Yater, and other helicopters scrambled to the area to try to rescue the crew.
Four hours after the downing of the aircraft, Hezbollah reported a gunbattle was still raging as Israeli troops were trying to retrieve the casualties from the burning wreckage, according to a statement issued by the group.
Reports from some Arab media that several Israeli soldiers had been killed could not immediately be verified.
The Hezbollah claim, carried on Hezbollah's al-Manar TV, said the helicopter was brought down by a new missile, the "Waad" (Arabic for Promise) in the guerrilla arsenal. Israel (http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Israel)'s Channel 10 TV reported the helicopter brought down by anti-tank missile.
The area had seen heavy ground combat Saturday during which hundreds of Israeli troops were airlifted to positions deep inside southern Lebanon and tanks punched across terrain in an attempt to grab more territory before an expected cessation of hostilities Monday morning.
It was Israel's first loss of a helicopter in Lebanon in the monthlong conflict. Two helicopters collided and crashed and a third crashed separately in northern Israel early on in the fighting.
Hezbollah guerrillas have crippled an Israeli warship with a missile July 15.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060812/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_fighting_helicopter_downed;_ylt=At99OcbKoAjAOduC832mZ8FvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-

[Decebalus]

Israel suffers highest 1-day toll of war

8 minutes ago

Nineteen Israeli soldiers were killed Saturday during an expanded offensive in Lebanon, the army said, making it the highest one-day toll for the Jewish state since the war against Hezbollah erupted.
The deaths, which occurred in several battles in Lebanon throughout the day, brought to more than 100 the number of Israeli troops killed so far.
In its statement Sunday, the military also said that a five-member crew of a downed helicopter was missing.
The transport helicopter was shot down by Hezbollah guerillas. Only the crew were on board at the time, the army said.
On Saturday, more Israeli tanks and soldiers surged into southern Lebanon, reaching the Litani River and engaging in some of the heaviest ground combat of the monthlong war just hours after the U.N. Security Council adopted a cease-fire plan.
The leader of the Islamic militant group Hezbollah grudgingly joined Lebanon's government in accepting the U.N. resolution but vowed to keep fighting until Israeli troops leave and hand over territory to a muscular U.N. peacekeeping force intended to separate the antagonists.
Israel also signaled its intention to approve the plan, at a Cabinet meeting Sunday, and a senior official predicted fighting would stop Monday morning, but there was no slowing in the bloodshed.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced early Sunday that a cease-fire would take effect at 8 a.m. Beirut time Monday (1 a.m. EDT), saying both Israeli and Lebanese leaders agreed to the start time. In his statement, Annan called for an immediate halt to the fighting.
Israel was determined to batter Hezbollah until the end, while the guerrillas seemed to be fighting as fiercely as ever after a month of intense Israeli air, artillery and ground assaults.





http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060813/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_israel

[Argyll]

This is going nowhere........if these pissing contests return, ALL Lebanon/Israel topics will be locked and removed.........including the news only page......if you want to keep up to date with it all, see Reuters, we're doing you a favour here, so cowboy the fcuk up, or you lose it all!!

[JasonH]

A U.N.-brokered cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel will begin at 8 a.m. (1 a.m. ET) Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Saturday in a taped statement.

But late Saturday five Israeli soldiers died after Hezbollah fighters shot down their helicopter in southern Lebanon.


From CNN.com main page

[DeltaWhisky58]

Leaders agree to UN truce timing


An estimated 30,000 Israeli troops are now in Lebanon

A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah will come into force at 0500 GMT on Monday, the UN Secretary General has said.

Kofi Annan announced the timing after discussions with the prime ministers of Lebanon and Israel.
However, Israel is likely to continue operations in Lebanon on Sunday in an effort to clear the south of Hezbollah.
Nineteen Israeli soldiers were killed on Saturday, and five on a helicopter downed by Hezbollah are feared dead.
Hezbollah's leader has said his group would abide by the ceasefire plan agreed unanimously at the UN Security Council on Friday.
However, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said on TV that Hezbollah would continue fighting as long as Israeli soldiers remained in Lebanon.


Lebanon has now also approved the UN resolution, which calls for a "full cessation of hostilities", although Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the government had "some reservations".
Lebanese officials said that after the truce only Lebanese forces would be authorised to carry weapons in southern Lebanon.
Mr Siniora said the area south of the Litani River, beyond which Hezbollah is expected to withdraw under the terms of the agreement, should be demilitarised.
"There won't be any weapons in the country starting from the area which is the zone, which will be south of the Litani. There won't be any weapons other than the weapons of the central government."

Fighting goes on

Announcing the agreed terms of the ceasefire, Kofi Annan said he was "very happy", but added that "preferably, the fighting should stop now".
He insisted that the UN would work with the Lebanese and Israeli governments to ensure the ceasefire held.



The Security Council emphasises the need for an end of violence, but at the same time emphasises the need to address urgently the causes that have given rise to the current crisis
UN resolution text



Text of resolution (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4785963.stm)
Ceasefire: next steps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4786385.stm)
UN vote backs truce (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4785001.stm)
Mid East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)

Israel expanded its military operation on Saturday as the clock ticked towards the implementation of the agreement, tripling the number of troops in southern Lebanon.
Some Israeli estimates put the number of Israeli troops now in southern Lebanon at 30,000.
Some Israeli troops have reached the key target of the Litani River, the army says, but 19 Israeli soldiers were killed and more than 70 wounded in the fighting on Saturday.
It was Israel's highest number of casualties in a single day since the conflict began.
Israeli jets hit a string of targets in Lebanon on Saturday, saying it killed some 40 Hezbollah fighters. There were heavy clashes elsewhere in the country, and reports from Lebanese sources that some 15 civilians were killed in an air strike.
Israel also confirmed a helicopter had been shot down in southern Lebanon, the first such loss to hostile fire in the conflict.
It says a crew of five were on board, and all are reported missing.
Hezbollah fired more rockets into northern Israel, but Israeli sources said the number was fewer than in recent days.
Israel's cabinet will discuss and take a formal vote on the UN ceasefire resolution on Sunday.

'War not ended'

On Hezbollah's al-Manar TV channel on Saturday, Sheikh Nasrallah said the UN resolution was "unfair" in holding his group responsible for the fighting.


Sheikh Nasrallah said the UN resolution was "unjust"

But he said: "We will not be an obstacle to any decision taken by the Lebanese government," adding that Hezbollah would continue to resist Israel's presence in Lebanon.
Sheikh Nasrallah also said Hezbollah would co-operate with the deployment of UN and Lebanese troops in the south.
More than 1,000 Lebanese and more than 120 Israelis have been killed in the conflict since Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers on 12 July in a cross-border raid. UN Security Council resolution 1701 says Hezbollah must end attacks on Israel while Israel must end "offensive military operations" in Lebanese territory. US President George W Bush praised the UN move, but once again criticised Hezbollah, saying the group shared the same "totalitarian ideology" as those arrested in a suspected plot to blow up US-bound jets from Britain.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4787857.stm)

[Darth Vidar]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1411A733-ABE9-4E3A-BCEC-1A9D55A5B6D8.htm


Aljazeera reports that the helicopter was downed near the village of Yasar, about 6 km north of the Lebanese-Israeli border. From the map it looks like the village lies on a mountain ridge north of the Israeli border villages of Zarit and Shetula.

[Umm-Qasr]

24 soldiers killed as fighting rages in s. Lebanon


Twenty-four IDF soldiers were killed on Saturday in the bloodiest day of clashes in southern Lebanon since the fighting began over a month ago.
Among the dead was a female soldier, St.-Sgt. (res.) Keren Tendler, 26, from Rehovot, who served as a meachnic on board the IAF helicopter that was shot down by a Hizbullah missile. Keren is the first woman who died in combat during the war.

link (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525858767&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

[Snoshi]

Iran has set up a fund to compensate the families of Hezbollah fighters killed or wounded in the conflict with Israel, Lebanese security officials have disclosed.

Iran's Shaheed Foundation is making initial payments of $1,000 to relatives, in a program that was originally set up in the 1980s to compensate the families of Iranian soldiers killed during the country's eight-year war with Iraq.

Tehran is believed to have set aside $2 million for its Lebanon compensation fund, and further payments will be made to bereaved families when Iranian officials have assessed their needs.

Although Hezbollah has refused to make public the extent of the casualties it has suffered, Lebanese officials estimate that up to 500 fighters have been killed in the past three weeks of hostilities with Israel, and another 1,500 injured.

Lebanese officials have also disclosed that many of Hezbollah's wounded are being treated in hospitals in Syria to conceal the true extent of the casualties.They are said to have been taken through al-Arissa border crossing with the help of Syrian security forces.

Iran's compensation payments offer further proof of its close ties with Lebanon's radical Shiite Muslim militia.

Although Tehran has denied having any direct involvement in the hostilities in southern Lebanon, Lebanese security officials say the Shaheed Foundation has sent a number of representatives from Iran to set up temporary offices in local schools and kindergartens — closed for the summer holidays — to assist with the payments. An estimated 20 commanders from Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps are already based in Lebanon, helping Hezbollah with the Iranian-made rockets being fired into Israel.

Iran has previously paid compensation to the families of Palestinian Arab suicide bombers who have hit Israeli targets.

Hezbollah's operational council has drawn up casualty lists that have been passed to the Shaheed Foundation. Copies have been seen by the Daily Telegraph and have also been obtained by Lebanese newspapers, which have been pressured by Hezbollah not to publish them.
"Hezbollah is desperate to conceal its casualties because it wants to give the impression that it is winning its war," a senior security official said. "People might reach a very different conclusion if they knew the true extent of Hezbollah's casualties."

http://www.nysun.com/article/37320

[DeltaWhisky58]

Latest summary of related BBC news articles (DW58)

[/URL]


LATEST NEWS

Leaders agree to UN truce timing (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/default.stm)
UN vote backs Lebanon ceasefire (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4785001.stm)
Blair urges 'immediate ceasefire' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4785959.stm)
In pictures: No peace yet (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4787049.stm)
UN rights body backs Israel probe (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4783511.stm)
Day-by-day: Lebanon crisis (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4776627.stm)


DESPATCHES



[URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4781551.stm"]No-drive zone (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4781551.stm)
Residents walk in fear as Israeli vehicle threat empties streets
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4781551.stm)Hints of Israel dissent (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4784801.stm)
Caught in middle (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4778163.stm)
Syria's welcome to Lebanese (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4778131.stm)


ANALYSIS

Lebanon exposes wider fault lines (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4786965.stm)
Israel fights under Iraq shadow (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4780847.stm)
Pro-Israel pressure strong in US (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5258240.stm)
Conflict one month on (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4777337.stm)
Q&A: Israeli offensive (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4778035.stm)
France plays key role (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5257602.stm)


BACKGROUND

Ceasefire: Next steps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4786385.stm)
Text: UN Lebanon resolution (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4785963.stm)
Who stands where? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5253146.stm)
Lebanon's seven-point proposal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5256936.stm)


VOICES

Israeli answers your questions (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/5255496.stm)
Diary: Getting aid in (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4783047.stm)


VIDEO AND AUDIO

Reports and analysis (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4787857.stm#)


HAVE YOUR SAY

What's the future for Lebanon? (http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=2901&edition=1)

RELATED INTERNET LINKS

Israeli foreign ministry (http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/mfa/home.asp)
Lebanese government portal (http://www.informs.gov.lb/EN/Main/index.asp?)
UN Security Council (http://www.un.org/docs/sc/)

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

[Darth Vidar]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3290389,00.html

Injured Hizbullah operative: Didn't hear of ceasefire

Moderately injured operative hospitalized in Israel, says Hizbullah fighters in the field were not informed of ceasefire. Deputy hospital director: 'Any patient that enters our hospital receives best treatment possible'
Hagai Einav

The hospital in Nahariya received hundreds of injured Israeli civilians and soldiers in the recent month. Sunday morning, after receiving a 5:30 a.m. call from the IDF, the hospital received a patient of a different nationality: A Hizbullah operative, aged 27, suffering from shrapnel wounds in his chest and arms. After preliminary tests, the man's condition was declared moderate.


A number of hours later, the operative was transferred to the 'Poriya' hospital in Tiberias, in order to distance him from wounded IDF soldiers who are hospitalized in Nahariya. As expected, the operative's arrival in an Israeli hospital caused quite a reaction in the Israeli and international media. The man underwent medical tests with military policemen standing guard at all times.

Originally, the operative seemed to be under the impression that he was in a Lebanese hospital or UN outpost on Lebanese soil, however, due to the Hebrew conversations around him, he eventually understood that he had been taken prisoner. To the journalists straining to interview him, he released only one sentence: "Tell my family I am alive, injured, and receiving medical treatment."

A number of hours later, a few hospital workers managed to get a little information from the operative. "My name is Abdullah Nasser and I only ask that my family be told that I'm alive and wounded," he said. "Believe me, I'm sorry about this war and everything it's caused. Now I only hope for peace and that I'll be able to return home. We didn't hear of a ceasefire, our fighters in the field were told nothing of such a thing."

Dr. Moshe Daniel, deputy director of the hospital in Nahariya, told Ynet that "'Any patient that enters our hospital receives the best treatment possible, regardless of his nationality, Hizbullah operative or Lebanese civilian, Israeli soldier or civilian. From our perspective, as doctors, we have a duty to provide the best medical treatment at all times."

"This is not the first time we've been asked to treat enemy combatants. From my experience in the past three wars, I can say confidently, that if our soldiers, who were taken prisoner by the enemy, received the type of medical treatment that our hospital provides enemy soldiers, most of them would have remained alive and those who did return would have arrived in much better physical condition," he added.

[daily666]

Arab League criticizes U.N. resolution


By MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press Writer Sun Aug 13, 2:33 AM ET

CAIRO, Egypt - Arab countries criticized a
U.N. Security Council resolution for not clearly labeling
Israel the main aggressor in the conflict with Hezbollah, but expressed cautious hopes that an end to the monthlong conflict could be nearing.

Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak was to meet Sunday with the foreign minister of
Iran — Hezbollah's top ally — to stress that the region could not bear any more tension and push for the implementation of the U.N. resolution, a state-run Egyptian newspaper reported Saturday.

The meeting comes a day before the cease-fire is to take effect at 8 a.m. Beirut time Monday (1 a.m. EDT).

The Arab League criticized the U.N. Security Council for not labeling Israel as the main aggressor, but said the peace plan was the best option to halt fighting that has claimed nearly 900 lives.

"The resolution is the best that can be achieved in the mean time under the unbalanced international equation," said Ahmed bin Heli, the league's assistant secretary-general.

Qatar, the only Arab League member on the 15-nation Security Council, voted in favor of the resolution, which passed unanimously Friday.

Jordan called the cease-fire plan a critical "first step," and Turkey suggested Saturday that it could send peacekeeping troops.

The plan calls for expanding the U.N. force in Lebanon and adding Lebanese soldiers to patrol a buffer zone between the Israeli military and Hezbollah guerrillas. Lebanon's Cabinet unanimously voted to accept the plan, and Israel was expected to do the same Sunday.

Israel, however, has said it will not withdraw its troops until a strong peacekeeping mission is in place, while Hezbollah has made clear it won't stop fighting until the Israelis leave.

"This is the first step to stop the bloodshed — which is an imperative priority," Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit said after talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. "What's happening in Lebanon is one of the repercussions of the Palestinian issue. We must revive efforts to resolve this problem."

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said his country will look "very favorably" toward sending peacekeepers to Lebanon after a full cease-fire is achieved.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit urged Israel to acknowledge the international will by calling an immediate end to the attacks and pulling out of Lebanon.

"Israel now should be committed and show total commitment by (announcing) an immediate cease-fire so that the elements of political settlement — which were reached after a big effort and after a heavy price was paid by the families and civilians — can take place," he said.

He also demanded investigations into "massacres" by Israeli forces during the war.

____

AP correspondent Dale Gavlak in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

[TheMacedonian]

After 5 weeks warfare 120+ Israeli dead, 1000 Lebanese dead, billions of dollars of destroyed infrastructure .....

The israeli prime minister Olmert sais that "Israel will negotiate with Hezbollah over the release of the soldiers"

WHY DIDN'T ISRAEL DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!??

If the aim of all this was to bring International troops on the border with Lebanon Israel succeded but if the aim was to free those soldiers then Israel failed (back to square one) and Olmert should resign.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749923.html

The UN resolution on cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon calls for the unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers, but is not included as a binding section in the resolution.

Olmert said that Israel will negotiate with Hezbollah over the release of Israel Defense Forces soldiers Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser, abducted on July 12.

A senior diplomatic source said Israel has no information on the fate of Regev and Goldwasser, but it is assumed they are still alive. The source said the IDF has launched high-risk operations to obtain information on the abductees, but they were all unsuccessful.

The source said also that Israel did not condition the cease-fire on the release of the soldiers because it would have led to the continuation of the fighting and the loss of more life.

[DeltaWhisky58]

Israeli cabinet backs truce deal


An estimated 30,000 Israeli troops are now in Lebanon

The Israeli cabinet has endorsed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a end to fighting in southern Lebanon.

A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is due to come into force at 0500 GMT on Monday.
But Israel's army says it will not leave southern Lebanon until regular Lebanese troops are deployed there, supported by an expanded UN force.
Hezbollah says it has the right to continue attacks until the last Israeli soldier has left Lebanese soil.
The UN says it could take 10 days to insert a bolstered peacekeeping force.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had urged the cabinet to accept the UN resolution.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced the timing of the ceasefire after talks with Mr Olmert and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.


Announcing the agreed terms of the ceasefire, Mr Annan said he was "very happy", but added that "preferably, the fighting should stop now".
He insisted that the UN would work with the Lebanese and Israeli governments to ensure the ceasefire held.
But Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he had serious concerns about whether the ceasefire could last unless Hezbollah was disarmed.
Heavy fighting is continuing near the border between Lebanon and Israel, particularly around the Lebanese city of Tyre.
Sunday saw Israeli planes and artillery bombard hills and villages to the south and east of the city, hitting most of the remaining petrol stations in the area.
A mother and her three children were among those who died in one village.
Hezbollah guerrillas fired more rockets into northern Israel, killing at least one person in the town of Yaara and wounding several in Safed.

Security Council resolution

Mr Annan's announcement followed the UN Security Council's unanimous adoption on Friday of a resolution designed to end four weeks of fighting.

Ceasefire: next steps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4786385.stm)
UN vote backs truce (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4785001.stm)
Mid-East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)

Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, said on Saturday that his group would abide by the resolution, which has also been endorsed by the Lebanese government.
But he added: "As long as there is Israeli military movement, Israeli field aggression and Israeli soldiers occupying our land... it is our natural right to confront them, fight them and defend our land, our homes, and ourselves."
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman told BBC Radio Five Live that Israeli forces would respond if attacked by Hezbollah.
"If Hezbollah decides to violate the resolution and declare their own terms... well the Israeli army will certainly not stand aside and fail to respond, that's for sure," Ylgal Palmor said.
Some Israeli estimates put the number of Israeli troops now in southern Lebanon at 30,000.
On Saturday, Israeli troops reached the key target of the Litani River, while its jets hit a string of targets in Lebanon, killing some 40 Hezbollah fighters.
The Israeli army suffered its highest number of casualties in a single day since the conflict began, with 19 troops confirmed killed and a further five presumed dead after their helicopter was shot down. One of the five was a woman, Sgt Maj Keren Tendler. Her death, if confirmed, would make her the first female soldier killed in action in the conflict. More than 1,000 Lebanese and more than 120 Israelis have been killed in the conflict since Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers on 12 July in a cross-border raid.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4788523.stm)

[DeltaWhisky58]

Australian PM: 'Disarm Hezbollah'


John Howard said he had serious concerns about the UN deal

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has said Hezbollah must be disarmed if the UN truce in Lebanon is to last.

Mr Howard said the UN Security Council resolution to end hostilities was not specific enough and needed a clear authority to disarm Hezbollah.
He also said he was undecided about whether Australia would send troops to support a UN peacekeeping mission in the Middle East.
He added that any Australian deployment would likely be very limited.
"If we were to make a decision to make a commitment, it would be a very small, niche commitment," Mr Howard told reporters in Sydney. "We have other responsibilities."
Australia has about 500 troops in Afghanistan and more than 1,300 troops in and around Iraq.

Doubts raised

Mr Howard said he had serious concerns about whether the UN-brokered truce between Israel and Hezbollah could last.
"It looks good on the surface but I am, myself, a little discomfited by the lack of specificities and the language regarding the disarming of Hezbollah," the prime minister said.
"Unless there's a clear determination and a clear authority to disarm Hezbollah this isn't going to work.
"I have real and serious reservations about the effectiveness and the lasting character of this resolution," Mr Howard added.

Limited mandate

The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah is due to come into force at 0500 GMT on Monday. The UN resolution, drafted by the US and France, says Hezbollah must stop attacks on Israel and calls for the disarmament of armed groups in Lebanon. But French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy has said the mandate of the expanded UN force would not include disarming Hezbollah.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4787943.stm)

[DeltaWhisky58]

Opened by special request.

Post your breaking news here, do not open any further threads.

Anything remotely flaming/trolling will be removed and the offenders banned.

Abuse this thread and it will be closed.



Only news here please

This has not changed. Please keep this thread news only, no discussion posts.

[GiladS]

First woman killed in Lebanon: Keren Tendler

Ynet

The final tragic incident in the IDF's hardest day of fighting yet was a CH-53 Sikorsky helicopter crash in Lebanon Saturday night. Sergeant First Class Keren Tendler, an air force mechanic on board, was the first woman soldier to be killed in the current conflict.

Along with Keren, Maj. Sammy Ben Naim, 39, from Rehovot, Maj. (res) Nisan Shilo, 36, from Kibbutz Evron, Capt. Daniel Gomez, 25, from Nahalim, and Sergeant Maj. Ron Mashiah, 33, from Gadera were also on the helicopter. All crew members were declared "missing, presumed dead."


Proud to be in the reserves

At approximately 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning, IDF representatives arrived in Rehovot, in order to inform Keren's parents – Reona and Dan – that their daughter was missing. The quiet that characterizes the neighborhood was shattered by shouts of grief. Concurrently, IDF representatives arrived at the home of Keren's grandmother in Ashdod, to tell her the news.

Keren, friends said Sunday, was often seen arriving home in uniform, following routine reserves service. A number of days ago, she was called up once more. Neighbor Asher Dayan recalls that, only Thursday, Keren came to visit him. "She was so friendly, always smiling," he said. "She said that after a friend's party, she was going to 'special party' in the army. She didn't elaborate, but it wasn't the first time we'd seen her in uniform. She was always happy to serve and proud to do so, but I'm simply in shock upon learning of her service (in Lebanon)."

Keren leaves behind parents and a younger brother, age 16.


Ron and Sivan were expecting their first son in 3 months

Sergeant Maj. Ron Mashiah (33) from Gadera, had barely seen his wife, Sivan, or other family members, since the onset of the conflict in Lebanon. Sivan is sixth months pregnant and, in addition to expecting their first child, the couple planned to celebrate her birthday this Saturday.

Sivan and Ron married two and a half years ago, after meeting in the Tel Nof squadron. "She arrived at the squadron as a personnel officer," says brother-in-law, Guy. "They hit it off right away. The whole squadron came to their wedding. She personally knows the entire crew that was killed."

Ron's father, Avraham, said: "The whole family was supposed to meet Saturday. In the morning, Ron called and said that he was on high alert. We're a combat family so we don't elaborate about these things on the phone. We don't discuss secrets the way the blabbermouths do on TV."

Not only did Ron's father not know what his son was up to, neither did Sivan. "She didn't know and, I told him, it's better that she only know in retrospect," said Guy, adding "You could see in his eyes what a good person Ron was. His 'baby' in recent days was his aquarium at home."

Two weeks ago, Ron participated in operations in Baalbek, during which special units were air lifted into enemy territory. His brother, Dov, recalled: "I didn't even have time to hear details. The last time we spoke, he only said he was glad to go out on missions."

Ron's father said that his son did not express worries about operations in Lebanon. "He was confident, knew what he wanted. He was a meticulous boy, straight as an arrow, organized and loyal to his wife and family."

Ron leaves behind his wife, Sivan, parents – Avraham and Rebecca – and two older brothers.


Made her dream come true

Capt. Daniel Gomez (25), one of the two helicopter pilots, recently celebrated his wedding anniversary to his wife, Sarit. A day before he died, he surprised her and bought her the piano she'd always dreamed of. Sarit is six months pregnant with the couple's first child.

Daniel's friend since the age of 14, Matan, said today: "He was raised in Nahalim, went to the pre-military academy in Atzmona and, for as long as I can remember, dreamed of being a pilot. He loved the army, especially the air force, and wanted to go into Lebanon. When asked if he was afraid, Daniel said he was more worried about the soldiers fighting on the ground. He was modest, unpretentious, quiet and gentle."

In addition to his wife, Daniel leaves behind parents – Patrick and Miriam – and four siblings – Ayelet, Orli, Liora and Yair.


Eli Senior, Meital Beit-Or and Vered Luvich contributed to the writing of this article


Link (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3290609,00.html)
....

[DeltaWhisky58]

Lebanon falters over truce detail


The port city of Tyre saw heavy Israeli bombardment on Sunday

Crucial Lebanese cabinet talks on disarming Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon under a UN-brokered ceasefire have been put off.

A truce between Israel and Hezbollah is due to come into force at 0500 GMT.
The postponement, amid reported divisions, seriously complicates the establishment of a stable ceasefire, the BBC's Nick Childs in Beirut says.
Israel's cabinet has backed the truce, but says its forces will not leave until peacekeepers are deployed.
Mark Malloch Brown, the UN's Deputy Secretary General, said it might take a month before a joint UN-Lebanese force was fully in place.
"It's going to be weeks, not days and may even, before you hit the full total, be a month or so," he told the BBC's Have Your Say programme.
An unrelenting barrage of rockets and shells from both sides of the on Sunday suggest that Israel and Hezbollah will continue to attack each other until the deadline, the BBC's Adam Mynott reports from the Israel-Lebanon border.
The Israeli military have intensified their assault, determined to try to achieve a military success at the eleventh hour, our correspondent says.

Major tensions

Lebanon's cabinet indefinitely postponed its meeting.

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4785963.stm)
Ceasefire: next steps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4786385.stm)
UN vote backs truce (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4785001.stm)
Mid-East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)


After five hours of discussions on Saturday, it had agreed to accept a UN Security Council ceasefire resolution with reservations.
The second gathering was meant to consider the details of implementation.
However, the issue of Hezbollah's disarmament and its military presence in southern Lebanon continues to cause major tensions within the fragile government, our correspondent reports.
He says that without a meeting and an agreed plan, it seems that the deployment of 15,000 Lebanese army troops to the south is unlikely to go ahead.
Even if the planned ceasefire happens, the prospects of continuing skirmishes on the ground will remain high, he adds.
Hezbollah, a member of the government, says it will abide by the resolution but retains the right to continue attacks until the last Israeli soldier has left Lebanese soil.

Crescendo of violence

At least 15 Lebanese people, including a mother and her three children, were killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, Lebanese officials said.


David Grossman's son Uri was killed in fighting on 12 August

Israeli emergency services reported that a Hezbollah rocket - one of some 250 fired during the day - had killed a civilian in northern Israel.
And the Israeli military said that five of its soldiers had died in fighting on Sunday.
The son of David Grossman, a well-known Israeli novelist and peace activist, was killed on Saturday while serving in Lebanon.
Staff Sgt Uri Grossman, 20, was killed by an anti-tank missile just days after his father joined an appeal by leading Israeli intellectuals for an end to the war.
Sunday's Israeli assault saw warplanes bomb petrol stations in Tyre, sending up thick clouds of smoke.
The BBC's Jim Muir described a crescendo of violence in the hills near the city as shells, bombs and rockets smashed into their targets.
And the sound of huge explosions reverberated across Beirut as the Israeli air force carried out a new raid on southern districts of the city.
Rescue workers said that several multi-storey buildings had collapsed.

Hezbollah rockets hit Yaara in northern Israel, killing the civilian, and Haifa's city centre and suburbs also came under bombardment.
Earlier, Israel's cabinet voted 24-0 with one abstention to accept the UN resolution.
Speaking after the meeting, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni stressed that Israeli forces would not leave Lebanon until the international force had been deployed. "We desire... to leave parallel to the move south of the international forces with the Lebanese army," she told reporters. More than 1,000 Lebanese have been killed in the conflict since Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers on 12 July in a cross-border raid. Israel's official death toll stood at 163 on Sunday, including 43 civilians.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4789083.stm)

[NimDod]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3290800,00.html


IAF downs Hizbullah drone in Lebanon

One drone sent by terror group crashes near Tyre, another shot down by Air Force over south Lebanon
Hanan Greenberg

Just hours before the ceasefire is expected to go into effect, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah planned another attack on the Israeli home front Sunday with two drones that may have been packed with explosives.

One drone crashed, apparently due to a malfunction, near the Lebanese city of Tyre, while the other was shot down by the IAF over south
Lebanon.

Hizbullah is in possession of several Mirsad-type drones, some of which were flown over Israel on a number of occasions. Sunday’s incident marked the fourth time a Hizbullah drone has infiltrated Israeli skies in the past two years; just last week the IAF shot down a drone just 10 kilometers (about six miles)off the coast northwest of Haifa. The drone, which was not booby-trapped, was heading south when it was spotted by IAF forces.

Security officials estimate that the previous attempt to fly a drone over Israel was carried out by Hizbullah as part of its psychological warfare efforts.

Sharon Roffe-Ofir contributed to the report

(08.13.06, 23:17)

[shocker1]

Fighting between Israel and Hizbollah intensifies with UN positions hit again

13 August 2006 – On the eve of a planned cessation of hostilities set to end the fighting that has engulfed Lebanon and northern Israel for the past month, violence in the region intensified today, according to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which sustained extensive material damage but suffered no additional casualties.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Saturday had announced that following talks with the leaders of both countries, “the cessation of hostilities and the end of the fighting will enter into force on 14 August, at 0500 hours GMT.”

Today, UNIFIL reported that over the past 24 hours, fighting worsened throughout southern Lebanon. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) “intensified shelling and aerial bombardment across the south,” while Hizbollah “fired rockets in significant numbers.”

There were five incidents of firing from the Israeli side directly inside UNIFIL positions in the areas of At Tiri, Bayt Yahun and Tibnin (3) yesterday and this morning, and one incident of firing from the Hizbollah side directly inside a UNIFIL position in the area of Ghanduriyah yesterday.

The impacts caused extensive material damage in all the positions, but no casualties, the mission said in a news release. There were nine other incidents of firing from the Israeli side close to UN positions in the areas of At Tiri (4), Ghanduriyah (2), Bra****, Tibnin and Ibil as Saqi.

“UNIFIL strongly protested all the incidents to the Israeli and Lebanese authorities respectively.”

The Force's freedom of movement and the ability to re-supply positions and provide humanitarian assistance were denied because of the lack of security clearance from the IDF and due to the intensive hostilities on the ground. For a week now, a humanitarian convoy to distribute food to the villages in the western sector, and other humanitarian activities planned by UNIFIL, could not proceed because the IDF has denied consent.

Blue helmets were able to facilitate medical assistance to a wounded girl who they relocated to the UNIFIL hospital in Naqoura. Three other wounded Lebanese civilians were relocated from the UNIFIL hospital in Naqoura to the hospital in Tyre for further medical treatment yesterday.

On Friday, weeks of intensive diplomacy culminated in the unanimous adoption by the Security Council of a resolution calling for the cessation of hostilities. The text welcomed the Lebanese Government's plan to deploy 15,000 troops across the south of the country as Israel withdraws behind the Blue Line. It also backed the simultaneous deployment of UNIFIL with up to 15,000 peacekeepers from the current strength of some 2,000.

The mission will be tasked with monitoring the cessation of hostilities, helping to ensure humanitarian access to civilians and the safe return of displaced persons, and supporting the Lebanese armed forces as they deploy in the south and enforce their responsibilities under the resolution.

In announcing the cessation of hostilities on Saturday, Mr. Annan said there should be an immediate end to the fighting “to respect the spirit and intent of the Council decision, the object of which was to save civilian lives, to spare the pain and suffering that the civilians on both sides are living through.”
Civilians make up the overwhelming majority of the victims of this conflict, which broke out following Hizbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers on 12 July. According to the Lebanese Higher Relief Council, over 1,000 Lebanese have been killed and 3,600 wounded, while Israel's Government reports that more than 40 Israeli civilians have been killed. An estimated one fourth of the entire population of Lebanon has been forced to flee their homes.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=19499&Cr=Leban&Cr1=

[hist2004]

IDF Publishes Names of Killed Terrorists in Lebanese Media


Sunday 13/08/2006

The IDF has been distributing leaflets across Lebanon containing names of killed Hezbollah terrorists. The list includes names of 180 terrorists that have been identified with certainty by the forces. IDF withholds many more names of killed terrorists.

In the last days the IDF has been broadcasting the list of names in the "Noor" radio station, the Hezbollah organization radio station, and in "Al Manar", the organization's television station, by taking over all broadcasting channels. According to IDF evaluation, over 530 terrorists have been killed so far.

During IDF ground and aerial operations today, as part of the second day of military operational expansions in Lebanon, many Hezbollah terrorists have been injured.

During the morning hours, IDF reserve forces operating in Ayta A-Shab, in the western sector of southern Lebanon, destroyed about twenty structures used in hiding weapons, among them dozens of "Sagger" missiles and anti-tank missiles.

In the village of A-Teibeh in the eastern sector, IDF forces exposed and destroyed rockets and launchers. The Israel Air Force fired artillery at a structure in the village of A-Tiri, in which IDF forces identified two armed terrorists.

In the village of Rav A-Taltin, in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon, Idf forces exposed many weapons, among them launchers, RPG anti-tank missiles, explosives, and light arms.

In the village of A'andoria, in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon, IDF forces uncovered different weapons, among them mortar shells, RPG missiles, anti-tank missiles, and light arms. Propaganda items were also found, including video tapes and computer equipment.

In the village of Aitaron, in the western sector of southern Lebanon, IDF reserve forces destroyed two rocket launchers. Later on the forces identified a terror cell operating from within the village, and fired at the cell. Aerial fire was also conducted at two terrorists identified in the village. Additionally, the IDF attacked two rocket launchers close to the city of Tzor.

The IDF will continue to operate with determination in order to protect the citizens of Israel from terror directed at them from Lebanese territory and in order to create conditions leading to the safe return of the kidnapped soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.

Source: (http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/mainpage.asp?sl=EN&id=7&docid=56667.EN)

Hist2004

[DeltaWhisky58]

Mid-East hope as ceasefire begins


Thousands of Israeli troops are in Lebanon as the ceasefire begins

A UN-brokered ceasefire ending more than a month of fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, has come into force.

Israeli air strikes continued until 15 minutes before the truce began, hitting areas in the east and south of Lebanon.
Israel has said its troops will remain in Lebanon until an international peacekeeping force can take control.
More than 1,000 Lebanese and 155 Israelis have been killed since the conflict began on 12 July.
As the ceasefire came into effect at 0500 GMT, Israel said it would continue to maintain an air and sea blockade of Lebanon. It also said troops would return fire if they came under attack.

RESOLUTION: KEY POINTS
Hezbollah must end attacks on Israel
Israel must end offensive military operations
15,000 peacekeepers to enforce ceasefire
Lebanese troops to be deployed to south
Israel to withdraw troops as international force deployed
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4785963.stm)
Mid-East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)

There was no immediate comment after the ceasefire began from Lebanese officials or from Hezbollah.
Israel's cabinet overwhelmingly approved the ceasefire plan on Sunday, but Lebanese cabinet talks about disarming Hezbollah were postponed, as fierce fighting continued.
Overnight Israeli raids killed at least seven Lebanese in the east, and one person died in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp near the southern city of Sidon.
Israeli still has thousands of troops deep inside southern Lebanon after expanding its ground offensive throughout the weekend. However, some Israeli forces did start withdrawing as the ceasefire came into effect.
This is not a war of clear-cut positions and front-lines, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from the Lebanese city of Tyre, and the chances of incidents happening despite the truce are very high.
Most of the many thousands of people who have fled the area will be cautious about starting to return until they have seen the ceasefire hold for at least some days, he adds.
The start of the ceasefire was preceded by a violent day on both sides of the border.
At least 23 civilians were killed in Lebanon, while five Israeli soldiers were killed in action, and Hezbollah fired 250 rockets into Israel.

Fragile truce

According to the Haaretz newspaper, Mr Olmert ordered Israeli forces to begin observing the terms of the ceasefire at 0200 on Monday (2300 GMT) after meeting with Defence Minister Amir Peretz and senior army staff.


Southern Beirut continued to take hits from Israel on Sunday

However, the breakdown of Lebanese government discussions could hamper the implementation of the ceasefire, which calls for 15,000 Lebanese troops to replace a disarmed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, vowed over the weekend that his fighters would respect the ceasefire but would resist any continued Israeli presence in Lebanon after the deal came into force, raising fears of further clashes.
Some Israeli troops will remain in southern Lebanon to hand over to an international force, and few expect the hours and days after the ceasefire begins to be entirely peaceful.
"You can't move from black to white easily - there will be a period of grey," said Major General Benny Gantz, the head of Israel's ground forces.

Overall the language from both sides suggests nervous times ahead, with both sides on tenterhooks, ready to pounce on anything they see as a ceasefire violation, says the BBC's Rob Norris in Jerusalem.
Mark Malloch Brown, the UN's Deputy Secretary General, told the BBC it might take a month before a joint UN-Lebanese force was fully in place.
But EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana suggested that the first international troops could be in place within the next week. He told Reuters that European nations, notably France and Italy, were ready to send troops to the region. Other countries, including Malaysia and Indonesia, which do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, were also willing to contribute troops to an international force, Mr Solana said.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4789569.stm)

[Mr. Nielsen]

IDF general: Soldiers may steal food from south Lebanon stores

"If our fighters deep in Lebanese territory are left without food our water, I believe they can break into local Lebanese stores to solve that problem," Brigadier General Avi Mizrahi, the head of the Israel Defense Forces logistics branch, said Monday.

Mizrahi's comments followed complaints by IDF soldiers regarding the lack of food on the front lines.
Haaretz: IDF general: Soldiers may steal food from south Lebanon stores (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/750384.html)

[Jaguar]

New Yorker lenghty article by Seymour Hersh where he "says that sources knowledgeable about Israeli and Bush administration planning maintain that the Israelis laid out last spring in Washington and gained administration support for a plan for a bombing campaign against Hizbullah in Lebanon based on the Kosovo campaign. Moreover, the exercise was intended as a demonstration project and a preparation for a Bush administration war on Iran. The campaign against Hezbollah would have two major benefits. It would remove Hezbollah's rocket capability, which was a form of deterrence against Israeli or American bombing of Iran. And, what Israel learned from attacking Hezbollah would be useful in formulating tactics in the American assault on Iran."


http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060821fa_fact

[DeltaWhisky58]

New Yorker lenghty article by Seymour Hersh where he "says that sources knowledgeable about Israeli and Bush administration planning maintain that the Israelis laid out last spring in Washington and gained administration support for a plan for a bombing campaign against Hizbullah in Lebanon based on the Kosovo campaign. Moreover, the exercise was intended as a demonstration project and a preparation for a Bush administration war on Iran. The campaign against Hezbollah would have two major benefits. It would remove Hezbollah's rocket capability, which was a form of deterrence against Israeli or American bombing of Iran. And, what Israel learned from attacking Hezbollah would be useful in formulating tactics in the American assault on Iran."


http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060821fa_fact

In cases such as this, please post the full article as otherwise partial quotes such as this may be taken out of context.

[Jaguar]

Sorry :-( , so here it is ;) :


WATCHING LEBANON
Washington’s interests in Israel’s war.

by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
Issue of 2006-08-21
Posted 2006-08-14

In the days after Hezbollah crossed from Lebanon into Israel, on July 12th, to kidnap two soldiers, triggering an Israeli air attack on Lebanon and a full-scale war, the Bush Administration seemed strangely passive. “It’s a moment of clarification,” President George W. Bush said at the G-8 summit, in St. Petersburg, on July 16th. “It’s now become clear why we don’t have peace in the Middle East.” He described the relationship between Hezbollah and its supporters in Iran and Syria as one of the “root causes of instability,” and subsequently said that it was up to those countries to end the crisis. Two days later, despite calls from several governments for the United States to take the lead in negotiations to end the fighting, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that a ceasefire should be put off until “the conditions are conducive.”

The Bush Administration, however, was closely involved in the planning of Israel’s retaliatory attacks. President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were convinced, current and former intelligence and diplomatic officials told me, that a successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah’s heavily fortified underground-missile and command-and-control complexes in Lebanon could ease Israel’s security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American preëmptive attack to destroy Iran’s nuclear installations, some of which are also buried deep underground.

Israeli military and intelligence experts I spoke to emphasized that the country’s immediate security issues were reason enough to confront Hezbollah, regardless of what the Bush Administration wanted. Shabtai Shavit, a national-security adviser to the Knesset who headed the Mossad, Israel’s foreign-intelligence service, from 1989 to 1996, told me, “We do what we think is best for us, and if it happens to meet America’s requirements, that’s just part of a relationship between two friends. Hezbollah is armed to the teeth and trained in the most advanced technology of guerrilla warfare. It was just a matter of time. We had to address it.”

Hezbollah is seen by Israelis as a profound threat—a terrorist organization, operating on their border, with a military arsenal that, with help from Iran and Syria, has grown stronger since the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon ended, in 2000. Hezbollah’s leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has said he does not believe that Israel is a “legal state.” Israeli intelligence estimated at the outset of the air war that Hezbollah had roughly five hundred medium-range Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 rockets and a few dozen long-range Zelzal rockets; the Zelzals, with a range of about two hundred kilometres, could reach Tel Aviv. (One rocket hit Haifa the day after the kidnappings.) It also has more than twelve thousand shorter-range rockets. Since the conflict began, more than three thousand of these have been fired at Israel.

According to a Middle East expert with knowledge of the current thinking of both the Israeli and the U.S. governments, Israel had devised a plan for attacking Hezbollah—and shared it with Bush Administration officials—well before the July 12th kidnappings. “It’s not that the Israelis had a trap that Hezbollah walked into,” he said, “but there was a strong feeling in the White House that sooner or later the Israelis were going to do it.”

The Middle East expert said that the Administration had several reasons for supporting the Israeli bombing campaign. Within the State Department, it was seen as a way to strengthen the Lebanese government so that it could assert its authority over the south of the country, much of which is controlled by Hezbollah. He went on, “The White House was more focussed on stripping Hezbollah of its missiles, because, if there was to be a military option against Iran’s nuclear facilities, it had to get rid of the weapons that Hezbollah could use in a potential retaliation at Israel. Bush wanted both. Bush was going after Iran, as part of the Axis of Evil, and its nuclear sites, and he was interested in going after Hezbollah as part of his interest in democratization, with Lebanon as one of the crown jewels of Middle East democracy.”

Administration officials denied that they knew of Israel’s plan for the air war. The White House did not respond to a detailed list of questions. In response to a separate request, a National Security Council spokesman said, “Prior to Hezbollah’s attack on Israel, the Israeli government gave no official in Washington any reason to believe that Israel was planning to attack. Even after the July 12th attack, we did not know what the Israeli plans were.” A Pentagon spokesman said, “The United States government remains committed to a diplomatic solution to the problem of Iran’s clandestine nuclear weapons program,” and denied the story, as did a State Department spokesman.

The United States and Israel have shared intelligence and enjoyed close military coöperation for decades, but early this spring, according to a former senior intelligence official, high-level planners from the U.S. Air Force—under pressure from the White House to develop a war plan for a decisive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities—began consulting with their counterparts in the Israeli Air Force.

“The big question for our Air Force was how to hit a series of hard targets in Iran successfully,” the former senior intelligence official said. “Who is the closest ally of the U.S. Air Force in its planning? It’s not Congo—it’s Israel. Everybody knows that Iranian engineers have been advising Hezbollah on tunnels and underground gun emplacements. And so the Air Force went to the Israelis with some new tactics and said to them, ‘Let’s concentrate on the bombing and share what we have on Iran and what you have on Lebanon.’ ” The discussions reached the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, he said.

“The Israelis told us it would be a cheap war with many benefits,” a U.S. government consultant with close ties to Israel said. “Why oppose it? We’ll be able to hunt down and bomb missiles, tunnels, and bunkers from the air. It would be a demo for Iran.”

A Pentagon consultant said that the Bush White House “has been agitating for some time to find a reason for a preëmptive blow against Hezbollah.” He added, “It was our intent to have Hezbollah diminished, and now we have someone else doing it.” (As this article went to press, the United Nations Security Council passed a ceasefire resolution, although it was unclear if it would change the situation on the ground.)

According to Richard Armitage, who served as Deputy Secretary of State in Bush’s first term—and who, in 2002, said that Hezbollah “may be the A team of terrorists”—Israel’s campaign in Lebanon, which has faced unexpected difficulties and widespread criticism, may, in the end, serve as a warning to the White House about Iran. “If the most dominant military force in the region—the Israel Defense Forces—can’t pacify a country like Lebanon, with a population of four million, you should think carefully about taking that template to Iran, with strategic depth and a population of seventy million,” Armitage said. “The only thing that the bombing has achieved so far is to unite the population against the Israelis.”



Several current and former officials involved in the Middle East told me that Israel viewed the soldiers’ kidnapping as the opportune moment to begin its planned military campaign against Hezbollah. “Hezbollah, like clockwork, was instigating something small every month or two,” the U.S. government consultant with ties to Israel said. Two weeks earlier, in late June, members of Hamas, the Palestinian group, had tunnelled under the barrier separating southern Gaza from Israel and captured an Israeli soldier. Hamas also had lobbed a series of rockets at Israeli towns near the border with Gaza. In response, Israel had initiated an extensive bombing campaign and reoccupied parts of Gaza.

The Pentagon consultant noted that there had also been cross-border incidents involving Israel and Hezbollah, in both directions, for some time. “They’ve been sniping at each other,” he said. “Either side could have pointed to some incident and said ‘We have to go to war with these guys’—because they were already at war.”

David Siegel, the spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, said that the Israeli Air Force had not been seeking a reason to attack Hezbollah. “We did not plan the campaign. That decision was forced on us.” There were ongoing alerts that Hezbollah “was pressing to go on the attack,” Siegel said. “Hezbollah attacks every two or three months,” but the kidnapping of the soldiers raised the stakes.

In interviews, several Israeli academics, journalists, and retired military and intelligence officers all made one point: they believed that the Israeli leadership, and not Washington, had decided that it would go to war with Hezbollah. Opinion polls showed that a broad spectrum of Israelis supported that choice. “The neocons in Washington may be happy, but Israel did not need to be pushed, because Israel has been wanting to get rid of Hezbollah,” Yossi Melman, a journalist for the newspaper Ha’aretz, who has written several books about the Israeli intelligence community, said. “By provoking Israel, Hezbollah provided that opportunity.”

“We were facing a dilemma,” an Israeli official said. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert “had to decide whether to go for a local response, which we always do, or for a comprehensive response—to really take on Hezbollah once and for all.” Olmert made his decision, the official said, only after a series of Israeli rescue efforts failed.

The U.S. government consultant with close ties to Israel told me, however, that, from Israel’s perspective, the decision to take strong action had become inevitable weeks earlier, after the Israeli Army’s signals intelligence group, known as Unit 8200, picked up bellicose intercepts in late spring and early summer, involving Hamas, Hezbollah, and Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader now living in Damascus.

One intercept was of a meeting in late May of the Hamas political and military leadership, with Meshal participating by telephone. “Hamas believed the call from Damascus was scrambled, but Israel had broken the code,” the consultant said. For almost a year before its victory in the Palestinian elections in January, Hamas had curtailed its terrorist activities. In the late May intercepted conversation, the consultant told me, the Hamas leadership said that “they got no benefit from it, and were losing standing among the Palestinian population.” The conclusion, he said, was “ ‘Let’s go back into the terror business and then try and wrestle concessions from the Israeli government.’ ” The consultant told me that the U.S. and Israel agreed that if the Hamas leadership did so, and if Nasrallah backed them up, there should be “a full-scale response.” In the next several weeks, when Hamas began digging the tunnel into Israel, the consultant said, Unit 8200 “picked up signals intelligence involving Hamas, Syria, and Hezbollah, saying, in essence, that they wanted Hezbollah to ‘warm up’ the north.” In one intercept, the consultant said, Nasrallah referred to Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz “as seeming to be weak,” in comparison with the former Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Barak, who had extensive military experience, and said “he thought Israel would respond in a small-scale, local way, as they had in the past.”



Earlier this summer, before the Hezbollah kidnappings, the U.S. government consultant said, several Israeli officials visited Washington, separately, “to get a green light for the bombing operation and to find out how much the United States would bear.” The consultant added, “Israel began with Cheney. It wanted to be sure that it had his support and the support of his office and the Middle East desk of the National Security Council.” After that, “persuading Bush was never a problem, and Condi Rice was on board,” the consultant said.

The initial plan, as outlined by the Israelis, called for a major bombing campaign in response to the next Hezbollah provocation, according to the Middle East expert with knowledge of U.S. and Israeli thinking. Israel believed that, by targeting Lebanon’s infrastructure, including highways, fuel depots, and even the civilian runways at the main Beirut airport, it could persuade Lebanon’s large Christian and Sunni populations to turn against Hezbollah, according to the former senior intelligence official. The airport, highways, and bridges, among other things, have been hit in the bombing campaign. The Israeli Air Force had flown almost nine thousand missions as of last week. (David Siegel, the Israeli spokesman, said that Israel had targeted only sites connected to Hezbollah; the bombing of bridges and roads was meant to prevent the transport of weapons.)

The Israeli plan, according to the former senior intelligence official, was “the mirror image of what the United States has been planning for Iran.” (The initial U.S. Air Force proposals for an air attack to destroy Iran’s nuclear capacity, which included the option of intense bombing of civilian infrastructure targets inside Iran, have been resisted by the top leadership of the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps, according to current and former officials. They argue that the Air Force plan will not work and will inevitably lead, as in the Israeli war with Hezbollah, to the insertion of troops on the ground.)

Uzi Arad, who served for more than two decades in the Mossad, told me that to the best of his knowledge the contacts between the Israeli and U.S. governments were routine, and that, “in all my meetings and conversations with government officials, never once did I hear anyone refer to prior coördination with the United States.” He was troubled by one issue—the speed with which the Olmert government went to war. “For the life of me, I’ve never seen a decision to go to war taken so speedily,” he said. “We usually go through long analyses.”

The key military planner was Lieutenant General Dan Halutz, the I.D.F. chief of staff, who, during a career in the Israeli Air Force, worked on contingency planning for an air war with Iran. Olmert, a former mayor of Jerusalem, and Peretz, a former labor leader, could not match his experience and expertise.

In the early discussions with American officials, I was told by the Middle East expert and the government consultant, the Israelis repeatedly pointed to the war in Kosovo as an example of what Israel would try to achieve. The NATO forces commanded by U.S. Army General Wesley Clark methodically bombed and strafed not only military targets but tunnels, bridges, and roads, in Kosovo and elsewhere in Serbia, for seventy-eight days before forcing Serbian forces to withdraw from Kosovo. “Israel studied the Kosovo war as its role model,” the government consultant said. “The Israelis told Condi Rice, ‘You did it in about seventy days, but we need half of that—thirty-five days.’ ”

There are, of course, vast differences between Lebanon and Kosovo. Clark, who retired from the military in 2000 and unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for the Presidency in 2004, took issue with the analogy: “If it’s true that the Israeli campaign is based on the American approach in Kosovo, then it missed the point. Ours was to use force to obtain a diplomatic objective—it was not about killing people.” Clark noted in a 2001 book, “Waging Modern War,” that it was the threat of a possible ground invasion as well as the bombing that forced the Serbs to end the war. He told me, “In my experience, air campaigns have to be backed, ultimately, by the will and capability to finish the job on the ground.”

Kosovo has been cited publicly by Israeli officials and journalists since the war began. On August 6th, Prime Minister Olmert, responding to European condemnation of the deaths of Lebanese civilians, said, “Where do they get the right to preach to Israel? European countries attacked Kosovo and killed ten thousand civilians. Ten thousand! And none of these countries had to suffer before that from a single rocket. I’m not saying it was wrong to intervene in Kosovo. But please: don’t preach to us about the treatment of civilians.” (Human Rights Watch estimated the number of civilians killed in the NATO bombing to be five hundred; the Yugoslav government put the number between twelve hundred and five thousand.)

Cheney’s office supported the Israeli plan, as did Elliott Abrams, a deputy national-security adviser, according to several former and current officials. (A spokesman for the N.S.C. denied that Abrams had done so.) They believed that Israel should move quickly in its air war against Hezbollah. A former intelligence officer said, “We told Israel, ‘Look, if you guys have to go, we’re behind you all the way. But we think it should be sooner rather than later—the longer you wait, the less time we have to evaluate and plan for Iran before Bush gets out of office.’ ”

Cheney’s point, the former senior intelligence official said, was “What if the Israelis execute their part of this first, and it’s really successful? It’d be great. We can learn what to do in Iran by watching what the Israelis do in Lebanon.”

The Pentagon consultant told me that intelligence about Hezbollah and Iran is being mishandled by the White House the same way intelligence had been when, in 2002 and early 2003, the Administration was making the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. “The big complaint now in the intelligence community is that all of the important stuff is being sent directly to the top—at the insistence of the White House—and not being analyzed at all, or scarcely,” he said. “It’s an awful policy and violates all of the N.S.A.’s strictures, and if you complain about it you’re out,” he said. “Cheney had a strong hand in this.”

The long-term Administration goal was to help set up a Sunni Arab coalition—including countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt—that would join the United States and Europe to pressure the ruling Shiite mullahs in Iran. “But the thought behind that plan was that Israel would defeat Hezbollah, not lose to it,” the consultant with close ties to Israel said. Some officials in Cheney’s office and at the N.S.C. had become convinced, on the basis of private talks, that those nations would moderate their public criticism of Israel and blame Hezbollah for creating the crisis that led to war. Although they did so at first, they shifted their position in the wake of public protests in their countries about the Israeli bombing. The White House was clearly disappointed when, late last month, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, came to Washington and, at a meeting with Bush, called for the President to intervene immediately to end the war. The Washington Post reported that Washington had hoped to enlist moderate Arab states “in an effort to pressure Syria and Iran to rein in Hezbollah, but the Saudi move . . . seemed to cloud that initiative.”



The surprising strength of Hezbollah’s resistance, and its continuing ability to fire rockets into northern Israel in the face of the constant Israeli bombing, the Middle East expert told me, “is a massive setback for those in the White House who want to use force in Iran. And those who argue that the bombing will create internal dissent and revolt in Iran are also set back.”

Nonetheless, some officers serving with the Joint Chiefs of Staff remain deeply concerned that the Administration will have a far more positive assessment of the air campaign than they should, the former senior intelligence official said. “There is no way that Rumsfeld and Cheney will draw the right conclusion about this,” he said. “When the smoke clears, they’ll say it was a success, and they’ll draw reinforcement for their plan to attack Iran.”

In the White House, especially in the Vice-President’s office, many officials believe that the military campaign against Hezbollah is working and should be carried forward. At the same time, the government consultant said, some policymakers in the Administration have concluded that the cost of the bombing to Lebanese society is too high. “They are telling Israel that it’s time to wind down the attacks on infrastructure.”

Similar divisions are emerging in Israel. David Siegel, the Israeli spokesman, said that his country’s leadership believed, as of early August, that the air war had been successful, and had destroyed more than seventy per cent of Hezbollah’s medium- and long-range-missile launching capacity. “The problem is short-range missiles, without launchers, that can be shot from civilian areas and homes,” Siegel told me. “The only way to resolve this is ground operations—which is why Israel would be forced to expand ground operations if the latest round of diplomacy doesn’t work.” Last week, however, there was evidence that the Israeli government was troubled by the progress of the war. In an unusual move, Major General Moshe Kaplinsky, Halutz’s deputy, was put in charge of the operation, supplanting Major General Udi Adam. The worry in Israel is that Nasrallah might escalate the crisis by firing missiles at Tel Aviv. “There is a big debate over how much damage Israel should inflict to prevent it,” the consultant said. “If Nasrallah hits Tel Aviv, what should Israel do? Its goal is to deter more attacks by telling Nasrallah that it will destroy his country if he doesn’t stop, and to remind the Arab world that Israel can set it back twenty years. We’re no longer playing by the same rules.”

A European intelligence officer told me, “The Israelis have been caught in a psychological trap. In earlier years, they had the belief that they could solve their problems with toughness. But now, with Islamic martyrdom, things have changed, and they need different answers. How do you scare people who love martyrdom?” The problem with trying to eliminate Hezbollah, the intelligence officer said, is the group’s ties to the Shiite population in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and Beirut’s southern suburbs, where it operates schools, hospitals, a radio station, and various charities.

A high-level American military planner told me, “We have a lot of vulnerability in the region, and we’ve talked about some of the effects of an Iranian or Hezbollah attack on the Saudi regime and on the oil infrastructure.” There is special concern inside the Pentagon, he added, about the oil-producing nations north of the Strait of Hormuz. “We have to anticipate the unintended consequences,” he told me. “Will we be able to absorb a barrel of oil at one hundred dollars? There is this almost comical thinking that you can do it all from the air, even when you’re up against an irregular enemy with a dug-in capability. You’re not going to be successful unless you have a ground presence, but the political leadership never considers the worst case. These guys only want to hear the best case.”

There is evidence that the Iranians were expecting the war against Hezbollah. Vali Nasr, an expert on Shiite Muslims and Iran, who is a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and also teaches at the Naval Postgraduate School, in Monterey, California, said, “Every negative American move against Hezbollah was seen by Iran as part of a larger campaign against it. And Iran began to prepare for the showdown by supplying more sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah—anti-ship and anti-tank missiles—and training its fighters in their use. And now Hezbollah is testing Iran’s new weapons. Iran sees the Bush Administration as trying to marginalize its regional role, so it fomented trouble.”

Nasr, an Iranian-American who recently published a study of the Sunni-Shiite divide, entitled “The Shia Revival,” also said that the Iranian leadership believes that Washington’s ultimate political goal is to get some international force to act as a buffer—to physically separate Syria and Lebanon in an effort to isolate and disarm Hezbollah, whose main supply route is through Syria. “Military action cannot bring about the desired political result,” Nasr said. The popularity of Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a virulent critic of Israel, is greatest in his own country. If the U.S. were to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, Nasr said, “you may end up turning Ahmadinejad into another Nasrallah—the rock star of the Arab street.”



Donald Rumsfeld, who is one of the Bush Administration’s most outspoken, and powerful, officials, has said very little publicly about the crisis in Lebanon. His relative quiet, compared to his aggressive visibility in the run-up to the Iraq war, has prompted a debate in Washington about where he stands on the issue.

Some current and former intelligence officials who were interviewed for this article believe that Rumsfeld disagrees with Bush and Cheney about the American role in the war between Israel and Hezbollah. The U.S. government consultant with close ties to Israel said that “there was a feeling that Rumsfeld was jaded in his approach to the Israeli war.” He added, “Air power and the use of a few Special Forces had worked in Afghanistan, and he tried to do it again in Iraq. It was the same idea, but it didn’t work. He thought that Hezbollah was too dug in and the Israeli attack plan would not work, and the last thing he wanted was another war on his shift that would put the American forces in Iraq in greater jeopardy.”

A Western diplomat said that he understood that Rumsfeld did not know all the intricacies of the war plan. “He is angry and worried about his troops” in Iraq, the diplomat said. Rumsfeld served in the White House during the last year of the war in Vietnam, from which American troops withdrew in 1975, “and he did not want to see something like this having an impact in Iraq.” Rumsfeld’s concern, the diplomat added, was that an expansion of the war into Iran could put the American troops in Iraq at greater risk of attacks by pro-Iranian Shiite militias.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on August 3rd, Rumsfeld was less than enthusiastic about the war’s implications for the American troops in Iraq. Asked whether the Administration was mindful of the war’s impact on Iraq, he testified that, in his meetings with Bush and Condoleezza Rice, “there is a sensitivity to the desire to not have our country or our interests or our forces put at greater risk as a result of what’s taking place between Israel and Hezbollah. . . . There are a variety of risks that we face in that region, and it’s a difficult and delicate situation.”

The Pentagon consultant dismissed talk of a split at the top of the Administration, however, and said simply, “Rummy is on the team. He’d love to see Hezbollah degraded, but he also is a voice for less bombing and more innovative Israeli ground operations.” The former senior intelligence official similarly depicted Rumsfeld as being “delighted that Israel is our stalking horse.”

There are also questions about the status of Condoleezza Rice. Her initial support for the Israeli air war against Hezbollah has reportedly been tempered by dismay at the effects of the attacks on Lebanon. The Pentagon consultant said that in early August she began privately “agitating” inside the Administration for permission to begin direct diplomatic talks with Syria—so far, without much success. Last week, the Times reported that Rice had directed an Embassy official in Damascus to meet with the Syrian foreign minister, though the meeting apparently yielded no results. The Times also reported that Rice viewed herself as “trying to be not only a peacemaker abroad but also a mediator among contending parties” within the Administration. The article pointed to a divide between career diplomats in the State Department and “conservatives in the government,” including Cheney and Abrams, “who were pushing for strong American support for Israel.”


Bush’s strongest supporter in Europe continues to be British Prime Minister Tony Blair, but many in Blair’s own Foreign Office, as a former diplomat said, believe that he has “gone out on a particular limb on this”—especially by accepting Bush’s refusal to seek an immediate and total ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. “Blair stands alone on this,” the former diplomat said. “He knows he’s a lame duck who’s on the way out, but he buys it”—the Bush policy. “He drinks the White House Kool-Aid as much as anybody in Washington.” The crisis will really start at the end of August, the diplomat added, “when the Iranians”—under a United Nations deadline to stop uranium enrichment—“will say no.”

Even those who continue to support Israel’s war against Hezbollah agree that it is failing to achieve one of its main goals—to rally the Lebanese against Hezbollah. “Strategic bombing has been a failed military concept for ninety years, and yet air forces all over the world keep on doing it,” John Arquilla, a defense analyst at the Naval Postgraduate School, told me. Arquilla has been campaigning for more than a decade, with growing success, to change the way America fights terrorism. “The warfare of today is not mass on mass,” he said. “You have to hunt like a network to defeat a network. Israel focussed on bombing against Hezbollah, and, when that did not work, it became more aggressive on the ground. The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing and expecting a different result.”

[Jaguar]

30 Tanks Wiped Out in Lebanon
12:01 Aug 11, '06 / 17 Av 5766


(IsraelNN.com) IDF officials admit that the biggest surprise of the ongoing war against Hizbullah is the ease by which terrorists have destroyed IDF tanks.

At least 30 tanks have been totally destroyed or seriously damaged in bomb and anti-tank rocket attacks involving state-of-the-art Russian anti-tank rockets.

About one-half of the military personnel killed in southern Lebanon were inside tanks.


http://israelnn.com/news.php3?id=109793

[madpendos]

It's a repost I think.

Also, I remember russian official say "Why invest millions in tanks when it can be stopped by $300 rocket ?!".

[DeltaWhisky58]

Israel warns foes despite truce


Roads were jammed as some Lebanese risked returning home

Israel will pursue Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon despite the ceasefire ending the month-long war, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has warned.

He also told parliament his government would do its utmost to secure the release of two soldiers whose capture by Hezbollah sparked the conflict.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the ceasefire, which came into force early on Monday, seemed to be holding.
Thousands of people are returning to southern Lebanon following the truce.
Fighting ended at 0500 GMT, although in one later clash, Israeli soldiers shot at a group of Hezbollah fighters in the southern Lebanese town of Hadatha, killing one of them, the army said.
A spokesman said an Israeli patrol felt "under threat" when the fighters approached it and had not broken the terms of the ceasefire.



We will continue pursuing [Hezbollah leaders]... and we do not intend to ask anyone's permission
Ehud Olmert



Mid-East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)
Ceasefire in pictures (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4790761.stm)




In his speech to parliament, Mr Olmert said Hezbollah's "state within a state" and "terror organisation" in southern Lebanon had been destroyed in the conflict.
However he added that the group's leaders would "not be left alone".
"We will continue pursuing them anywhere, all the time and we do not intend to apologise or ask anyone's permission," he added.
Mr Olmert - who was heckled by some MPs - admitted Israel had made mistakes but took full responsibility for the war.
He advised patience for his critics, who believe the war did not achieve Israel's original goal of dismantling Hezbollah.

Shattered

The prime minister also said his government would work to secure the release of the two soldiers seized by the group on 12 July.
Lebanese and Israeli military commanders are discussing their fate, an Israeli political sources told the BBC.

IMPACT: 34 DAYS OF FIGHTING

Lebanon deaths:
About 1,000 - mostly civilians
No precise data on Hezbollah dead
Israeli deaths:
Soldiers: 114 (IDF)
Civilians: 43 (IDF)
Lebanon displaced:
700,000 - 900,000 (UNHCR; Lebanese govt)
Israeli displaced:
500,000 (Human Rights Watch)
Lebanon damage:
$2.5bn (Lebanese govt)
Israel damage:
$1.1bn (Israeli govt)


The ceasefire so far (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4790205.stm)
Press unconvinced by truce (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4790219.stm)

Informal talks are also taking place within the Lebanese government about how to implement the deployment of UN and Lebanese troops in the south, which is called for in the UN ceasefire resolution.
Israel has said its troops will remain in Lebanon until an international peacekeeping force can take control, and that its forces would return fire if attacked.
Mark Malloch Brown, the UN's Deputy Secretary General, told the BBC it might take a month before a joint UN-Lebanese force was fully in place.
Hezbollah also claimed victory in the conflict - it distributed leaflets congratulating Lebanon on its "big victory" and thanking citizens for their patience during the violence.
Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, said over the weekend that his fighters would respect it but would resist any continued Israeli presence in Lebanon after the deal came into force.
Mr Annan said the truce appeared to be holding and urged both sides to "continue to consolidate the cessation".


Roads leading from Beirut and Sidon were jammed with the cars of people returning to inspect their properties and homes.
The BBC's Jim Muir in the town of Bint Jbeil, the site of some of the fiercest fighting, described a scene of devastation with few signs of life.
The body of a woman wrapped in plastic had been left in a shattered building for two weeks, our corresponded added. The only local residents he found were one man and his disabled wife who had been sheltering in the hospital. Some 1,000 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis, 114 of them soldiers, have died in the 34-day conflict.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4791125.stm)

[Darth Vidar]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3291204,00.html

IDF officer: Hizbullah men were crying for help

Senior army official describes state of crisis faced by Hizbullah fighters north of Bint Jbeil; another officer admits Lebanese group's anti-tank missiles surprised IDF
Hanan Greenberg

The nascent ceasefire has left IDF forces in Lebanon in a waiting game – at this time nobody talks about "taking over" or "moving forward," but rather, deploying at areas already captured.

"We're prepared both for a situation where we need to move forward and or a situation where we're asked to move back towards Israel," said Division 162 commander Guy Zur, who heads forces operating in southern Lebanon's eastern sector.

Meanwhile, a senior IDF officer told Ynet about the difficulties faced by Hizbullah following a month of fighting.

"During the battles over the weekend, Hizbullah men who were in genuine distress were crying out for help," the officer said, referring to battles in the western sector. The IDF official added that throughout the fighting it was easy to spot Iranian assistance to Hizbullah.

"It was an Iranian front," the officer told Ynet.

Following the ceasefire declaration Monday morning, southern Lebanon residents who left their homes because of the fighting began their journey back home. Commanders in Lebanon were ordered to be extra careful with returning civilians that may serve as cover for Hizbullah members.

"Commanders in the field were ordered not to open fire at Hizbullah unless they're facing an immediate threat, in order to avoid any kind of contact," Zur said, and added commanders will have to consider their moves based on the circumstances they face. In any case, as a result of the ceasefire the IDF will refrain from hitting Hizbullah infrastructure and weapons, he said.

Meanwhile, IDF troops hit six Hizbullah terrorists in several clashes in southern Lebanon following the truce declaration. The army said in all case forces fired at armed fighters who constituted a genuine threat to soldiers.

'Best guerilla force in Mideast'

A senior IDF official admitted Monday that the extent and quality of anti-tank missiles used by Hizbullah surprised the army.

"Hizbullah is the best guerilla force in the Middle East and even beyond," the officer said.

Meanwhile, most forces who entered southern Lebanon over the weekend are still there, with the exception of members of the Herev regiment, who operated in the western sector for 30 straight days. The troops returned to Israel for a break but may still be called upon to return to Lebanon.

"They said their beards are longer than Nasrallah's," a senior officer said.

Commander Zur also discussed the difficult battle that claimed the lives of 12 IDF troops south of the Litani River over the weekend.

"It was a difficult, complex battle, we had to move through a mountainous path while facing constant fire," he said. "At the end we managed to reach a target Hizbullah didn't believe we'd be able to reach, an area where numerous arms were found…dozens of anti-tank missiles, as well as sniping and explosive means."

Zur also rejected criticism regarding the necessity of the battle in light of the ceasefire decision and said the battle's results had important operational implications that also led to the accomplishment of diplomatic achievements.

The senior officer said the forces will need four to five more days to take over the area south of the Litani if ordered to do so and another several weeks to clear the area of rocket launchers. However, such operation is unlikely to get underway as a result of the truce.

Still, IDF officials are ready for any possibility. "We mustn't be surprised and we're ready for any scenario," Zur concluded.

(08.14.06, 19:14)

[DeltaWhisky58]

Buoyed Hezbollah plans next move

By Martin Asser
BBC News website


As a member of Lebanon's multi-confessional government, the militant Shia Muslim movement Hezbollah is formally committed to its own removal as a military presence in south Lebanon.


Hezbollah may demand Israeli concessions before disarming

Successive UN resolutions leave no room for doubt - Hezbollah must give up control of the south, allowing government forces and UN peacekeepers to hold sway at Israel's northern borders.
But what Resolutions 1559, 1655, 1680 and the latest ceasefire text, Resolution 1701, fail to stipulate is just how this is going to happen.
Hezbollah is Lebanon's most significant military power, drawing a considerable part of its support from the Shia Muslim population living in the territory it is being told to vacate.
In 2000, its guerrillas were credited with forcing the Israeli army to end a bloody 18-year occupation of the south.
Once again, in the summer of 2006, they have fought the region's military superpower to a standstill.

'Right to resist'

In the last six years, Hezbollah's magnanimity towards the large Christian population in the south - including many who are seen as collaborators with Israel - has broadened its support, as has this latest round of what many Lebanese regard as armed resistance.


Many Lebanese believe Hezbollah scored a victory against Israel


Indeed, in the minds of many supporters, Hezbollah has a natural right to monopolise land it liberated and whose protection it continues to guarantee without assistance.
However, many other Lebanese are angry about the death and destruction brought about by Hezbollah's defiance of Israel.
The question is, how do Hezbollah and its charismatic leader Hassan Nasrallah want to take things forward now?
On the one hand, they are committed to disarm and leave the border region, but on the other they claim the right to resist Israel's continued presence in the south.
Given Hezbollah's military strength, there will be no disarmament without a political agreement at the national level in Lebanon.
For such a deal, Hezbollah might demand further concessions from Israel, such as prisoner releases and a handover of the Shebaa Farms, an area which Lebanon claims, but which Israel (backed by the UN) says is part of the Golan Heights - captured from Syria in 1967 and annexed by Israel.
And Hezbollah still has as bargaining chips the two Israeli soldiers it captured in a cross-border raid on 12 July - and whose release Israel said its bombardment was meant to secure.

Position of strength

The initial signs in Beirut do not indicate a trouble-free course ahead. Hezbollah's cabinet ministers threatened to boycott a cabinet meeting on Sunday set up to discuss the ceasefire, causing it to be postponed.
They are in a position of strength, because as far as its Islamic Resistance armed wing is concerned, Hezbollah has scored a great victory against the Israeli army.
In their martyrdom-orientated philosophy, victory is the fight itself - victory is emerging from four weeks of battling it out, toe-to-toe, against Israel's vastly superior weaponry.
Meanwhile, Israel - with strong backing from Washington (and somewhat more unusually from London) - is determined not to allow Hezbollah the kind of pre-eminence it has enjoyed in the south in recent years.
For the time being, it says it will keep up the air and sea blockade of Lebanon to prevent supplies to Hezbollah.
All this means there will be plenty of fuel for further conflict, with UN resolutions making little difference. In the last hours before the ceasefire, Hezbollah militants were still killing Israeli soldiers in their tanks and raining death and destruction down on northern Israel in the form of Katyusha rockets. It is not clear how much of Hezbollah's guerrilla and missile capability has been affected by Israel's bombing campaign and ground offensive, but it will be the focus of great scrutiny in the coming weeks and months.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4791873.stm)

[LRPV]

Israel stronger despite 'defeat'

Hezbollah should not get too carried away with its so-called victory, writes Tim Hames August 15, 2006

IF only Israel were as effective at public relations as at military operations, the results of the conflict on and around its border with Lebanon would be so much starker.


As it is, however, the real meaning of the UN resolution that came into force yesterday is being misrepresented. Hezbollah is hailing a victory of sorts, albeit one of a presentational character. In a bizarre situation, Israeli politicians on both the hard Left and the hard Right appear to agree with the terrorists. All are profoundly mistaken.
What, after all, does this Hezbollah claim consist of? The organisation considers it a triumph that it has not been "destroyed" after just four weeks of fighting. It contrasts this with the dismal record of several Arab armies combined in 1967.
It has not yet been disarmed and may not be formally neutralised in the near future. Nor has it been discredited on the Arab street, where it has enhanced its popularity. Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, thus proclaims himself a "new Nasser", referring to the Arab nationalist and longtime Egyptian leader.
As victories rank, not being destroyed, disarmed or discredited is not that impressive. It is hardly Henry V at Agincourt. The idea that the Six-Day War represents the military standard for the Arab world is a somewhat humiliating notion. Allowing for the feeble record of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Israelis should not be too disturbed by the prospect of another incarnation.
The facts now evident on the ground suggest an entirely different assessment.
First, the damage inflicted by the Israeli Defence Forces on Hezbollah's infrastructure and resources is far, far greater than the equivalent harm that it has suffered. A sizeable proportion of Hezbollah rocket launchers and fighters have been eliminated, while the Israeli army has lost no more than a few tanks and about 100 soldiers. For a body that is used to incessant combat, this is not a spectacular setback.
Second, Hezbollah has deployed a huge percentage of its missile arsenal to very little advantage. Only in the Alice in Wonderland world of the Middle East could it be seen as a "triumph" for a terrorist organisation simply to launch Katyusha missiles in the direction of Israel and roughly 95 per cent of them to hit nothing of any value. It took Hezbollah six years to accumulate a stockpile that, fundamentally, it has wasted.
Third, the administration in Lebanon, which had ostentatiously refused to send its soldiers to the south of that country for the past six years, has been obliged to pledge to the UN that it will now do so.
It will, furthermore, be under the de facto control of a much larger international force than has been assembled in that region before - one that will be judged by the extent to which it keeps the place quiet.
The wider strategic consequences of these recent events are yet more significant.
Hezbollah was, until July 11, a problem exclusively for Israel. That dilemma has been internationalised. It is now of paramount importance to the Lebanese Government and the UN Security Council. If Lebanon's troops cannot pacify Hezbollah, then ministers there well know that Israel's air force will be back over Beirut.
This is an important breakthrough for Israel. If Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had been told six weeks ago that Hezbollah would cease to be the principal militia in southern Lebanon by the start of September, he wouldn't have believed it possible.
Further, Israel's security has been improved more than has been acknowledged.
Less than three years ago, Israel's northern border was exposed to Hezbollah; its eastern boundary with the West Bank was so porous that suicide bombers regularly broke through it; and its military was engaged in a bitter and often futile attempt to contain Hamas in Gaza.
As of now, it can be confident of pushing Hezbollah back beyond the Litani River in Lebanon; the barrier it erected around the West Bank has reduced the number of suicide blast atrocities to the level of an unfortunate irritation; and Hamas, whose military command was decapitated by Israel in a series of strikes in 2004, is more likely to engage in a civil war with the rival Fatah movement than it is to seriously inconvenience Olmert.
The final dimension to this saga may nevertheless prove the most compelling. The past few weeks have exposed Iran's role as the political patron of terrorism as well as the extent of its ambitions to shape Islam in its image.
None of this has taken Israel by surprise. It has, however, been a severe blow to Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Jews constitute no threat to mainstream Sunni Islam. But the Shia challenge is another matter.
Once the crocodile tears for Lebanon have dried up (which will take a month at most) and the mood on the Arab street has moved on (which will not take much longer), it will become obvious to Sunni regimes that Israel is an ally against Iran. The rhetoric directed against Israel will not abate, but it will be increasingly irrelevant.
In the end, Israel's survival does not depend on Arab "hearts and minds" or opinions expressed by television viewers. It relies instead on winning battles.
If this is a defeat, then Israel can afford many such outcomes.
The Times

Print Friendly Version (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,20130760,00.html) Email this story (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20130760-601,00.html#)


Privacy (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) Terms (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) © The Australian







[/URL]
(http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/) [URL="http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/"]

[LRPV]

Army can't disarm Hezbollah fighters

Daniel McGrory August 15, 2006

IT was supposed to be the day the maligned Lebanese army took control of the country's borders and policed the UN ceasefire.


Instead, the military commanders were left humiliated and troops stranded as Hezbollah told them not to disarm its fighters. The first infantry units were preparing to head south when Hezbollah showed who controls the area by announcing it would not surrender its weapons.
General Michel Sleiman, commander-in-chief of the Lebanese army, and his lieutenants had been invited to join cabinet meetings to finalise plans to deploy the 15,000-strong force south of the Litani River.
But they were lectured by Hezbollah's two ministers in the coalition Government on what the army could and could not do.
In Beirut, Western diplomats said the standoff raised concerns about the army's ability to deal with Hezbollah. The Lebanese Government is left struggling to maintain a united front after unanimously backing the UN resolution on Saturday.
"The Government can't force Hezbollah to abide by the ceasefire," Economics Minister Sami Haddad said.
"It's unnatural to have an armed political party in cabinet that does not abide by what the Government of Lebanon wants."
Nabih Berri, the Speaker of the Lebanese parliament and the Shia politician best placed to negotiate with Hezbollah, asked for 48 hours to broker a deal.
The standoff came after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his fighters would respect the ceasefire, describing the deployment of Lebanese and foreign troops to the south as "an honourable move".
But without Lebanese troops or the planned international force in the intended demilitarised zone, there is little prospect of the ceasefire holding.
There were optimistic murmurs about trying to integrate Hezbollah fighters into the army. But Hezbollah seems to have decided that the demand for its fighters to disarm and leave the 20km arms-free zone would show it as losers in the conflict.
The army has lost 20 men in the Israeli assault, despite not firing a shot. Two more soldiers were wounded on Sunday near the Syrian border when an Israeli airstrike hit their vehicle.
Defence Minister Elias Murr said in the early days of the war: "We will defend our land until the last soldier, and we will pay any price for our land."
But troops retreated to their barracks or lounged on armoured vehicles in a token effort to police checkpoints around the capital or protect key buildings.
Elias Hanna, a retired Lebanese general, said: "Sending 15,000 troops south is a political solution, not a military one. It's more a PR stunt. The army needs the international force to help it.
"The key objective is to keep the army united and not have it split on factional lines, as it did in the civil war."
The army's equipment is poor, and no match for the Israelis. Lebanon has no air force or navy.
One soldier said Hezbollah was better armed and organised, and that he was reluctant to confront "the resistance fighters".
Another soldier said his brother and a cousin were fighting for Hezbollah. "I can't turn a gun on the resistance, because they are family," he said.
The Times

Print Friendly Version (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,20130753,00.html) Email this story (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20130753-601,00.html#)


Privacy (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) Terms (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) © The Australian







[/URL]
(http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/) [URL="http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/"]

[DeltaWhisky58]

Fragile truce holding in Lebanon


Hezbollah supporters have been celebrating victory

The truce between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah remains intact despite sporadic violence in southern Lebanon.

Israel's army said Hezbollah fired several mortars overnight but it did not respond as none landed over the border and no-one was injured.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert defended his leadership, saying Hezbollah had been dealt a harsh blow.
But Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is claiming a historic victory.
Wider political recriminations are also taking the place of violence on the ground, with the presidents of the US and Iran blaming each other for fuelling the conflict.
President George W Bush accused Iran of backing armed groups in Lebanon and Iraq "in the hope of stopping democracy from taking hold".
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed Washington for providing Israel with weapons which he said had been used to target women and children in Lebanon.
Since the ceasefire began on Monday morning, thousands of Lebanese refugees have been surging back to their homes.
The International Red Cross has warned that the country's humanitarian needs remain urgent.

Fragile truce

Israeli military sources say that between five and 10 mortars were fired southwards on Monday night and early on Tuesday morning.




IMPACT: 34 DAYS OF FIGHTING
Lebanon deaths:
About 1,000 - mostly civilians
No precise data on Hezbollah dead
Israeli deaths:
Soldiers: 114 (IDF)
Civilians: 43 (IDF)
Lebanon displaced:
700,000 - 900,000 (UNHCR; Lebanese govt)
Israeli displaced:
500,000 (Human Rights Watch)
Lebanon damage:
$2.5bn (Lebanese govt)
Israel damage:
$1.1bn (Israeli govt)


The ceasefire so far (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4790205.stm)
Mid-East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)


The Israeli military has said repeatedly that it wants the ceasefire to succeed and it is playing down this incident, says the BBC's Rob Norris in Jerusalem.
Earlier, Israeli troops clashed with Hezbollah fighters several times across southern Lebanon, killing at least one guerrilla.
Hezbollah has always maintained that it will attack any Israeli forces in Lebanon even though it has also said that it will abide by the terms of the ceasefire.
The head of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Gen Alain Pellegrini, warned any provocation could quickly escalate into a major confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah.
He appealed for international reinforcements to be sent as soon as possible to prevent the ceasefire from unravelling.

Israeli fury

Mr Olmert told the Israeli parliament on Monday there had been shortcomings in the conduct of the war.
But he insisted it had changed the region's strategic balance, ending what he called Hezbollah's state-within-a-state in southern Lebanon.


But his critics are angry that Israel has failed to crush Hezbollah as Mr Olmert had promised at the start of the campaign, our correspondent says.
They doubt that the group will ever actually give up its weapons and they worry that even if Hezbollah withdraws from southern Lebanon, it may still be able to fire long-range rockets from elsewhere.
Most of all, they are furious that the two captured Israeli soldiers still have not been released.
In an opinion poll of 500 Israelis by a leading Hebrew financial paper published on Monday night, more than half said the army had not achieved its aims in Lebanon.
The poll also suggested that support for Mr Olmert's Kadima party had dropped by a third.
Israeli political analysts say Mr Olmert's coalition government will probably survive for now, but mainly because no other coalition looks feasible at the moment.

Hezbollah celebrations

In an address broadcast on Hezbollah's television channel, Hassan Nasrallah said it was a great day for his movement which had, he said, achieved a victory against Israel that even big Arab armies had not managed in the past.
It was the wrong time, he added, for any discussion about disarming the movement - as laid down in the recent UN resolution.
Hassan Nasrallah spoke calmly and with modesty but his message was triumphant, the BBC's Kim Ghattas reports from Beirut.
As soon as the Hezbollah leader finished speaking celebratory gunfire broke out in Beirut.
Jubilant young men drove around the heart of the capital on motorbikes waving Hezbollah flags. The leader of the guerrilla movement was also one step ahead of the Lebanese government, our correspondent notes. He announced Hezbollah would start giving money as of Tuesday to internally displaced people to cover one year's rent while they waited for their houses to be rebuilt.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4793177.stm)

[Darth Vidar]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525874479&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

All-Druse IDF unit returns without single casualty
By YAAKOV KATZ (yaakovk@jpost.com)


They hiked over 40 kilometers, killed close to 20 Hizbullah guerrillas and spent 32 days in Lebanon without a single casualty.
But on Monday, soldiers from the Herev Battalion emerged from battle, sweaty, dusty and tired making history twice - as the first battalion to enter Lebanon and the one to spend the longest amount of time deep in enemy territory under Operation Change of Direction.

The battalion, consisting strictly of Druse soldiers from northern Israel, was on its way to take control of the northern border with Lebanon on July 12, when Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser were kidnapped in a cross-border Hizbullah attack.
Commanded by Lt.-Col. Wajdi Sahran, the battalion secured the area of the kidnapping and assisted in the evacuation of the dead soldiers from the scene of the attack. Little did he know that the kidnapping would change his battalion forever.

Several days later, OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Udi Adam decided to send Sahran and his men into Lebanon, making Herev the first full battalion to invade Hizbullah strongholds during this war. Days earlier, the elite Maglan and Egoz Units suffered heavy casualties during clashes in Lebanon and Adam sent in Herev, a battalion known for its vast experience in Lebanon and intimate familiarity with the tough terrain.

The battalion went into Lebanon during the first week of the war and was first sent to Marwahin, a known Hizbullah stronghold in the central sector of southern Lebanon. There it spent three days before being sent off to Maroun a-Ras, scene of heavy clashes between Maglan, Egoz and Hizbullah just days earlier. The battalion spent 10 days there until it was again sent off to Itoran for another week.

In every village, the routine was the same, recalled Maj. Shadi Abu Fair, the battalion's deputy commander on Monday from the lobby of the Ginossar Hotel on the banks of the Kinneret, taken over by the IDF and used to give soldiers respite before returning to battle.

Why did Herev succeed where so many other battalions appeared to have failed? "We are a strong unit that has always fought in the North," Abu Faris explained. "While other units went to fight in the West Bank we stayed in the North and are the battalion with the most experience and time in Lebanon."

Due to its success following 32 days in Lebanon, Abu Faris revealed that the Northern Command was now considering turning the battalion into an elite unit like Egoz known for its expertise in fighting Hizbullah.

For Herev, the war in Lebanon was not just a war against a fierce enemy but was a war in defense of their home - not just the State of Israel, but their homes in the literal sense. All of the soldiers, without any exception, Abu Faris said, live in northern Israel and their homes came under the incessant Hizbullah Katyusha rocket attacks during the past 30 days of fighting.
"There are soldiers here whose homes were hit by Katyusha rockets," explained one of the soldiers, St.-Sgt. Eitan Agmi, whose relative was Wasim Nazil, one of the eight soldiers killed in the July 12 cross-border Hizbullah attack that sparked the war in Lebanon. "A mother of one of the soldiers was even hospitalized for several days after she was injured in a rocket attack."

[DeltaWhisky58]

'Blame war' looms for Israel leaders

By Jonathan Marcus
Diplomatic correspondent, BBC News


A new war is about to erupt on Israel's home front; indeed the first skirmishes have already begun.


The coming struggle may decide Ehud Olmert's political future

It will be a war of recriminations and blame, but it will also be a struggle to determine the true lessons of the fighting in Lebanon.
It is a struggle from which few of Israel's political or military leaders may emerge unbruised.
And it is a struggle that will determine the fate not just of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, but also of his plan to withdraw Israeli settlers from significant parts of the occupied West Bank.
Almost from the outset, the government's conduct of this conflict confused the Israeli public and confounded many of the country's most experienced defence experts.
There was the initial reliance upon air power to deal with the Hezbollah missile threat.
Then there was a series of ground incursions a short way into Lebanon, which produced fierce skirmishes but little change to the overall strategic picture.
Then, almost at the same time as the United Nations was putting the final touches to a new Security Council resolution to end the fighting, there was Israel's last-minute push northwards towards the Litani River.

Barrage of criticism

The analysis of what went wrong and what went right has already begun in the Israeli press.
But this is only a prelude to what may come. There is a long tradition in Israel of searching, full-scale inquiries into national setbacks.


Golda Meir resigned after an inquiry into the 1973 Yom Kippur War

One obvious parallel is with the Agranat Commission, under the Chief Justice of Israel's Supreme Court. That was appointed to investigate why Israel was caught by surprise by the onslaught from Egypt and Syria at the outbreak of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
As a result of its report, the then chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was forced to resign and other senior officers were removed from their posts.
Although largely vindicated, Israel's then Prime Minister Golda Meir resigned shortly afterwards.
Today, both Israel's military and political leadership have come in for a barrage of criticism.
Many members of parliament are calling for a committee of inquiry into the conduct of the war, most recently Yossi Beilin, the chairman of the opposition Meretz party.
A whole range of issues relating to the preparedness of the civil defence infrastructure are likely to be taken up by the State Comptroller, whose regular investigations have criticised readiness in the past.

Searching questions

Professor Shai Feldman, director of the Crown Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at Brandeis University, is a leading commentator on Israeli affairs and has spent most of the conflict in Israel.


Questions may be asked about Israel's use of air power in Lebanon

"A full-scale judicial inquiry," he believes, "is more likely than not." But, one way or another, he says that the Olmert government's handling of this crisis is going to come under huge scrutiny.
Any inquiry, says Prof Feldman, will not be about the principle of a strong response to the initial Hezbollah attack.
For that, there remains a strong consensus. But he sets out a range of searching questions for which, he believes, there will need to be answers.
What exactly did Israel's military chiefs tell their political masters about what could be expected from an air assault against Hezbollah? When, a week or so into the conflict, air power was not halting the missile fire, why was the leadership's learning curve so steep?
And why, he asks, when limited ground operations proved equally ineffective was the decision to mount a major offensive taken only a short time before a likely cease-fire?

Key figures

Then there are questions about the IDF's intelligence.


The performance of Chief of Staff Dan Halutz may be examined

It seems to have known about most of the modern weapons systems deployed by Hezbollah, with the possible exception of the Iranian-supplied anti-shipping missile that hit an Israeli vessel early on in the conflict.
But the IDF did not appear to realise the scale and complexity of Hezbollah's fortifications in southern Lebanon.
"To what extent did the IDF seek to adjust its doctrine and tactics to the real challenge facing it?" asks Prof Feldman.
Any inquiry is bound to examine the performance not just of Mr Olmert himself, but also of other key figures like Defence Minister Amir Peretz, Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and other senior commanders.
The way the government was managed and the way the relationship between the military and the civilian leadership was handled is also certain to be a matter of debate.

Political legacy

This, though, is not just a battle over what happened in the recent past. It will be a battle for Mr Olmert's political project for the future - disengagement from more of the West Bank.
This project, according to many well-placed analysts, is the explanation for Israel's massive response to the Hezbollah attack.
With missiles flying into Israel from the Gaza Strip ever since Israeli troops withdrew a year ago, and now with missiles being fired from Lebanon (from which the UN is satisfied Israel withdrew in 2000), Mr Olmert determined that he was fighting for what may be his political legacy. Without a strong and effective response to the Hezbollah missile threat he would, says Prof Feldman, find it impossible to convince the Israeli public that a further withdrawal would be in Israel's interests. Indeed, Prof Feldman warns, creating a new consensus for a further pull-out could now be "mission impossible".

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4792261.stm)

[DeltaWhisky58]

US 'knew of Israel bombing plan'


Israel had planned its bombing in advance, Mr Hersh claims

Israel and the United States were in close contact about Israel's war on Hezbollah long before it began, a US investigative journalist has claimed.

"Israel had devised a plan for attacking Hezbollah, and shared it with Bush administration officials, well before" 12 July, Seymour Hersh wrote.
The article in the New Yorker magazine relies on many anonymous sources and includes denials from US officials.
It does not claim that the US put Israel up to attacking Hezbollah.
Seymour Hersh is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, whose past work includes exposing the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and Vietnam's My Lai massacre.

'Pre-emptive visit'

Israel's "immediate security issues were reason enough to confront Hezbollah, regardless of what the Bush administration wanted," Mr Hersh cites "Israeli military and intelligence experts" as saying.

We did not plan the campaign - the decision was forced on us
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman

But, Hersh says, Israeli officials visited Washington to secure US support for its plans before Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on 12 July, the ostensible cause of the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon.
"Israel began with [Vice-President Dick] Cheney. It wanted to be sure that it had his support and the support of ... the National Security Council," an unnamed US government consultant told Mr Hersh.
With Mr Cheney's backing secured, "persuading [President] Bush was never a problem, and [Secretary of State] Condi Rice was on board," the source added.

Convergent interests

Israel's plan for an air war to turn the Lebanese people against Hezbollah was "the mirror image of what the United States has been planning for Iran," the article quotes an unnamed former senior intelligence official as saying.


The Israelis got Mr Cheney's backing first, the article says

And different US government departments which do not always see eye-to-eye all had their own reasons for backing an Israeli assault on Hezbollah, Mr Hersh claims.
The State Department reportedly saw it as "a way to strengthen the Lebanese government", which does not control the south of the country dominated by Hezbollah.
The White House wanted Hezbollah's missiles eliminated so they could not be used as retaliation against Israel in case the US bombed Iran's nuclear facilities, Mr Hersh says.
But both the Pentagon and the National Security Council deny that the US knew of Israel's plans in advance.
Meanwhile, an Israeli embassy spokesman said Israel "did not plan the campaign" to attack Hezbollah, adding: "The decision was forced on us."
Ward Carroll, a retired US Navy officer and editor Military.com, was sceptical of some of Mr Hersh's claims.
Israel would not have relied on any American intelligence or support in its campaign, he told the BBC.
"If the inference is that we are fundamentally interwoven [in the Israeli air campaign], that is a flawed thesis," Mr Carroll said. He did not doubt that there had been communication between the US and Israel, but suggested Mr Hersh was reading too much into it. "This would have been a courtesy brief [from Israel to the United States], and the Bush administration saying, 'We got the message.'"

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4792961.stm)

[Darth Vidar]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525873513&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Israel: We did not plan war with US.
By ERIKA SNYDER (editors@jpost.com)

Israel's bombing of Lebanon over the past month was not merely a response to the unprovoked attack by Hizbullah on July 12 but a planned operation coordinated ahead of time with the Bush administration - this, at least, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, in an article published in this week's The New Yorker magazine.

Hersh wrote that Israeli officials "visited Washington separately to get a green light for the bombing," and that the IAF bombing offensive could "serve as a prelude to a potential American preemptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear installations, some of which are also buried deep underground."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev expressed outrage at the allegations.
"The whole idea that the Israeli campaign in Lebanon was a premeditated military operation that we chose to initiate in coordination with others is simply not true," he said. "We were attacked. We had no interest in the escalation of violence in the North. The escalation was forced upon us by a premeditated, deliberate and unprovoked act of aggression of Hizbullah.

"They succeeded in having tactical surprise. They killed some of our soldiers and took two as hostages. Anyone who looks at those events can clearly witness that Israel was responding to an act of aggression, the timing of which was chosen by Hizbullah."

The American Embassy did not respond to requests for a comment.

Hersh, quoting many unnamed US diplomatic and intelligence sources, elaborated his assertion that the US had prior knowledge of Israel's plans for Hizbullah.

An unnamed "Middle East expert" said the State Department "had several reasons for supporting the Israeli bombing campaign... It was seen as a way to strengthen the Lebanese government so that it could assert its authority over the south of the country."

According to the piece, the White House believed that if a "military option against Iran's nuclear facilities" became necessary, Hizbullah's arsenal must be destroyed as it could be used "in a potential retaliation at Israel."

The article began with a statement given by President George Bush at the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg on July 16: "It's now become clear why we don't have peace in the Middle East."
Bush went on to describe the relationship between Hizbullah and its supporters in Iran and Syria as one of the "root causes of instability" in the region.

The article also claimed that since Hizbullah is supported by Syria and Iran, the need to strengthen the Lebanese government is part of larger US hopes for democratizing the region. Another long-term US goal, wrote Hersh, is to set up a Sunni coalition with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, which will pressure Shi'ite Iran.

Vali Nasr, an expert on Shi'ites and Iran, is quoted as saying, "Every negative American move against Hizbullah was seen by Iran as part of a larger campaign against it. And now Hizbullah is testing Iran's new weapons. Iran sees the Bush administration as trying to marginalize its regional role, so it fomented trouble."

Regev remarked that everyone "knew of Iran's involvement with Hizbullah." But, that information did not factor into Israel's response to Hizbullah's provocation.
Shabtai Shavit, national security adviser to the Knesset and former head of the Mossad, is quoted as saying, "We do what we think is best for us, and if it happens to meet America's requirements, that's just part of a relationship between two friends. It was just a matter of time."

[Jaguar]

Nasrallah Vows His Group Would Not be Disarmed by Force as Civilians Return to their Homes En Masse

[/URL]

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed Monday that his group would not be forced to disarm by 'intimidation or pressure' as civilians defied an Israeli travel ban and streamed back to their homes in war-ravaged areas.
In a new televised address following the cessation of hostilities between Hizbullah and Israel, Nasrallah said that the issue of the group's disarmament cannot be resolved "in haste... or by intimidation, pressure or provocation."

"We are before a strategic and historic victory for all Lebanon," he said in an address broadcast on the group's Al-Manar television channel.

Nasrallah vowed to immediately begin paying money to families living in 15,000 homes completely destroyed in Israel's bombardment of Lebanon.

"From tomorrow, ... we will pay compensation, a certain amount of money for every family to rent for one year, plus furniture for those whose houses were totally destroyed."

After the cease-fire took effect, lines of cars — some loaded with mattresses and luggage — snaked slowly around bomb craters and ruined bridges as residents began heading south to find out what is left of their homes and businesses.

In some places in the south, the rubble was still smoldering from a barrage of Israeli air strikes just before the cease-fire took effect at 8 a.m. (1 a.m. EDT).

In Beirut's southern suburbs, people wrapped their faces with scarves as wind kicked up dust from the wreckage left by Israeli bombardments.

There were no reports of Israeli strikes on cars Monday, but at least one child was killed and 15 people were wounded by ordnance that detonated as they returned to their homes in the south, security officials said.

The rush to return came as Capt. Jacob Dallal, an Israeli military spokesman, said the Israeli army was urging Lebanese civilians to stay out of the south until Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers moved in to oversee the cease-fire.

Israeli soldiers killed six Hizbullah fighters in four skirmishes in Lebanon, the Israeli army said. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he took sole responsibility for the offensive, and acknowledged "deficiencies" in the way the war was conducted.

In an address to parliament, Olmert said the cease-fire agreement eliminated the "state within a state" run by Hizbullah and restored Lebanon's sovereignty in the south.

Lebanese, Israeli and U.N. officers met on the border to discuss the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the region, U.N. spokesman Milos Strugar said.

The meeting, the first involving a Lebanese army officer and a counterpart from the Israeli army since Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, marks the first step in the process of military disengagement as demanded by a U.N. Security Council resolution.

In a new development, the Israeli army withdrew from the eastern sector of the south Lebanon border region on Monday following a cessation of hostilities, Lebanese police said.

The Israeli army went back across the border, but before leaving the Christian town of Marjayoun, they destroyed a transmission tower of the Lebanese army barracks they had occupied Thursday, police said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Fouad Saniora on Monday called on the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to work to end the Israeli air and sea blockade following the announcement of a ceasefire.

Saniora summoned ambassadors of the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China and stressed the "importance of reopening the sea ports and airports as called for in UN resolution 1701," a Lebanese official said.

Saniora highlighted the "negative impact" the continuation of the blockade could have on the arrival of humanitarian assistance, the official said.

Israel said it would maintain the blockade of Lebanon imposed the day after the war began on July 12 despite a ceasefire on the ground.

"The maritime and aerial blockade will be kept in place until a mechanism is put in place to control smuggling of arms" to Hizbullah, an Israeli military source said.
(AFP-AP-Naharnet)(AFP photo shows displaced Lebanese cramped on the back of a pick up truck flashing V-signs for victory as they drive through a bombed highway in Naameh on their way home to south Lebanon)

Beirut, 14 Aug 06, 20:24

[url]http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&FA070007A8168889C22571CA005F7115 (http://imageshack.us)

[DeltaWhisky58]

Syria hails 'a new Middle East'


Displaced Lebanese are returning, but many homes no longer exist

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says a new Middle East has emerged as a result of what he called Hezbollah's victory over Israel in southern Lebanon.

He said the vision of the region the US aspired to had become an illusion.
His comments came as the truce between Israel and Hezbollah remains intact despite sporadic violence.
Thousands of displaced Lebanese are returning home after a halt to the conflict, in which both sides claimed to have been successful.
Mr Assad, speaking in Damascus a day after the UN-brokered ceasefire took effect, was giving his first speech on the crisis since it began more than a month ago.
He praised the "the glorious battle" he said had been waged by Hezbollah, and said peace in the Middle East was not possible with the Bush administration in power in Washington.
"This is an administration that adopts the principle of pre-emptive war that is absolutely contradictory to the principle of peace," he said. "Consequently, we don't expect peace soon or in the foreseeable future."



IMPACT: 34 DAYS OF FIGHTING
Lebanon deaths:
About 1,000 - mostly civilians
No precise data on Hezbollah dead
Israeli deaths:
Soldiers: 114 (IDF)
Civilians: 43 (IDF)
Lebanon displaced:
700,000 - 900,000 (UNHCR; Lebanese govt)
Israeli displaced:
500,000 (Human Rights Watch)
Lebanon damage:
$2.5bn (Lebanese govt)
Israel damage:
$1.1bn (Israeli govt)


'Blame war' looms for leaders (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4792261.stm)

The defiant speech is the clearest sign of how US opponents in the Middle East have been emboldened by the outcome of the conflict, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Damascus.
Mr Assad said there was no more need for defeatism among Arabs - a feeling echoed across the Arab world, our correspondent adds.
As Lebanese refugees continued to pour back to their homes on Tuesday, their government said it was ready to move forward with its part in securing the ceasefire.
Defence Minister Elias Murr said that by the end of the week, the Lebanese army would deploy 15,000 troops on the boundaries of the southern Litani River, some 30km (19 miles) from the border with Israel.
In the meantime, international troops currently in Lebanon would assume positions vacated by the Israeli army before handing them over to the Lebanese troops.
He said it was not the job of the Lebanese army to disarm Hezbollah fighters but he was confident they would withdraw from areas in southern Lebanon as the troops moved in.

French visit

In Israel, army officers said they expected to start giving up captured Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon within a day or two.

Overnight, Israeli troops left the southern Christian town of Marjayoun, Lebanese security sources said.
Israel's army said Hezbollah militants fired several mortars southwards overnight but it did not respond as none landed over the border and no-one was injured.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy is travelling to Lebanon to discuss the proposed deployment of an expanded United Nations force, in which France is expected to play a key role.
Meanwhile, the presidents of US and Iran have blamed each other for fuelling the crisis. US President George W Bush accused Iran of backing armed groups in Lebanon and Iraq "in the hope of stopping democracy from taking hold". Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed Washington for providing Israel with weapons which he said had been used to target women and children in Lebanon.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4794363.stm)

[Friendly_guy]

Beirut, LEBANON: Picture taken 15 August 2006 shows an Iranian flag placed over the rubble of a building where Sheikh Naim Qassim, deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah, used to live, at Hezbollah's security parameter in the southern suburbs of Beirut. A fragile ceasefire in the Lebanon war was holding despite sporadic violence as Hezbollah claimed a "historic victory" but Israeli leaders faced recriminations at home over the conflict. AFP PHOTO/Patrick BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP/***** Images)

[akd]

Ahmadinejad gives 'victory speech' before masses

In speech before thousands in city of Ardabil, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says 'Iranian people will force the powers to surrender. The stances in favor of the US and Israel harmed the Security Council's image'
Roee Nahmias

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad carried a "victory speech" before a crowd in the city of Ardabel, and sent his congratulations to "the resistance" (Hizbullah (http://www.militaryphotos.net/articles/0,7340,L-3284023,00.html) ) and to the "free Lebanese people for the major victory it obtained."

He spoke about the plan for "a new Middle East" and said that the United States "is interested in turning the Middle East into its property and not a free Middle East. What the nations of the area want is a free Middle East and that is the difference."

"The Iranian people is a strong people that won't surrender to force. We are a nation that supports dialogue, but we won't surrender to force," he said.

Ahmadinejad said there were examples for the kind of Middle East that the United States wanted – Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Lebanon (http://www.militaryphotos.net/articles/0,7340,L-3284170,00.html) .

"The problem in Lebanon did not end with the obtaining of a ceasefire. A holding of account with Israel (http://www.militaryphotos.net/articles/0,7340,L-3284752,00.html) must be held and with those who stood at its side. The stance of America and Israel harmed the image of the Security Council. The two don't have the right to be members of the Security Council," said the Iranian president. He added that "the nations of the area demand a Middle East clean from the American-British hegemony."

Regarding the nuclear issue, Ahmadinejad said that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called him and spoke with him about the Security Council's decision that gives Iran an extension to the end of the month of August.

"You are committed to this date and an answer must be given by August 31," said Annan. Ahmadinejad replied by saying that "those two (US and Israel) are harming the Security Council and they turned it into a service tool in their hands to as they please."

He added that the message of the Iranian people to the Security Council is that Iran won't surrender to force. "Those who want to take away from us what we have reached in the nuclear field must respect this nation and not force dictates on it because he will lose crushingly."

'We won't give up on Iranian [err...Uranium?] enrichment'

Ahmadinejad said that "the Security Council has no legitimacy. I told Annan – it seems they don't want to solve the problems and they want to create tensions. If so – very good. They can do what they want and we will do what we want. We will give our answer at a time that we find fit. We are a nation that respects the law, we have a certain view of things and we will declare it in the future. I told Annan that our opinion is based on the legitimate guarding of the rights of the Iranian people."

"Iran obtained technology that allows it to create nuclear fuel. The Iranian nation supports the law, but won't give up its right for nuclear enrichment for peaceful purposes," he added. Earlier, he claimed that "Hizbullah won in the war in Lebanon due to their belief and the divine help they received."

"Since they rose and acted for the sake of Allah, Allah also helped them," he said.

Since the night hours thousands of Iranians have been celebrating what they claimed was a Shiite and Hizbullah victory over the "Zionist regime."

Worshippers across Iran used the evening prayers at mosque to bless the Lebanese nation and the "Hizbullah victory." In marches to mosques, calls were heard of "Allah is great, Khamenei is the leader," "Lebanon won with the help of Hizbullah," "Lebanon is the winner, Israel is destroyed," "in the end Hizbullah won."

(08.15.06, 17:37)

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3291671,00.html

Iran: Victory celebrations, threats to Israel

Thousands of citizens take to streets chanting, 'Lebanon won, Israel destroyed'; dozens of ambulances hold procession in show of empathy with casualties of war. Senior religious figure in Iran warns: 'If Israel and US attack us, we will shoot missiles at Tel Aviv'
Dudy Cohen

Iranians find cause for celebration.

Upwards of 110 ambulances and mobile intensive care units rode through the center of Tehran Tuesday morning as a sign of solidarity with the Lebanese people, as reported by the Iranian news agency, Fars. Ambulance teams continued driving toward the mosque of Tehran University in order to show their willingness to help the Lebanese wounded in the past month.


Already Monday night thousands of Iranians took to the streets in celebration of what they defined as a Shiite and Hizbullah victory over the Zionist regime. In the streets of Iran (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284215,00.html) , believers took advantage of the evening prayers to praise the Lebanese nation on Hizbullah's victory.


In parades toward the mosques calling "Allah is great, Khamenei is the leader," "Lebanon won with Hizbullah's help," Lebanon is victorious, Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284752,00.html) is destroyed," and "Hizbullah finally won." The daily internet newspaper Rooz Online, run by exiled Iranians, added that the marchers waived flags of Hizbullah and handed out miniature flags to children.



Celebrating victory against 'Zionist enemy' in streets of Tehran (Photo: AP)

Basij, the volunteer army of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, declared a holiday following the ceasefire declaration. According to reports, most of the signs across Tehran were dedicated to blessing Hizbullah's victory, and were covered in pictures of Hizbullah's leader, Hasan Nasrallah.


Alongside the celebrations, senior religious figure Ahmad Khatamei announced Tuesday that "if the United States or Israel attack Iran, Iran will shoot rockets at Tel Aviv."

'Take into account Iranian Shihab-3 missiles'


He added: "The missiles shot by Hizbullah into Israel had a range of 70 kilometers and managed to turn Israel into a 'ghost country.' If the United States is considering attacking us, it must take into account the Iranian Shihab-3 missiles, whose range is 2,000 kilometers, and can hit the center of Tel Aviv."


Threats of this sort have been heard often in the past year within the framework of the nuclear threat, in which Iran is the center. With the end of the war in Lebanon, it seems as though the issue will still be a focal point of the agenda. Sunday Iran publicly rejected demands to halt uranium enrichment in her territory, and threatened that pressure put on her by the West is likely to change her nuclear policy.




The Red Crescent aid organization in Iran announced Tuesday morning that it is expecting to send an airplane of 30 tons of equipment to Lebanon. The aid package will include chadors (head coverings for women, obligatory under Iranian law), bedding and blankets for the people in southern Lebanon.


According to the head of field operations in the organization, Safar-Ali Nahari-Kazian, "following the establishment of the ceasefire in Lebanon, a new phase of aid to Lebanon is starting, and beside the airplane, 26 ambulances will be transferred to Lebanon on trucks by land."

(08.15.06, 14:06)



sooo...anybody else want to declare victory?

[GiladS]

UNIFIL chief: Let us use 'strong measures' to enforce resolution

By Yoav Stern (stern@haaretz.co.il), Haaretz Correspondent

The head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) called Tuesday for the United Nations to enable his force to take "strong measures" in order to enforce UN resolution 1701, which brought about the Monday cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah after more than month of fighting.

In an interview with Haaretz, Major General Alain Pellegrini urged the Lebanese authorities to take responsibility for the disarmament of Hezbollah in the area close to the Lebanon-Israel border, saying that the responsibility for such a move lies primarily with them.

When asked his soldiers would engage an armed Hezbollah activist, Pellegrini said that it was hard for him to answer.

It was possible, he said, but would depend on the rules of engagement. He said that he would prefer that the UNIFIL troops had the ability to employ "strong measures" to enforce the UN resolution.

On Thursday, the UN is set to host a formal meeting of nations that have expressed an interest in contributing to a beefed-up multinational force in southern Lebanon, and the world body is hopeful that the first announcements of new troops will be made at the meeting.

UN officials said Tuesday that so far, 45 countries have attended technical sessions for potential contributors.



Link (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/750937.html)
......

[LRPV]

This story is from our network Source: The Times
German troops may face Jews

Roger Boyes in Berlin and Richard Beeston in Beirut August 16, 2006

GERMANY was poised yesterday to shatter its most enduring postwar taboo by sending troops into the cauldron of Lebanon, where they risk coming into direct conflict with Israelis.


As troops from France, Italy, Spain, Turkey and other donor nations prepared to deploy in southern Lebanon, Germany’s late decision to participate ranked as its most delicate foreign policy move since it was held to account for the Holocaust in 1945.
Since then, it has been unthinkable that Germans would put themselves in a combat situation in which their soldiers could shoot at Jews.
The decision to deploy troops to join the 15,000-strong Unifil peacekeeping force was made by Angela Merkel, the Chancellor, in consultation with three Cabinet ministers.
They agreed to take on such a role in their first venture into the Middle East because of the difficulties of recruiting enough properly equipped peacekeepers for the mission.
“We have to do this, not in spite of the Holocaust, but because of it,” Werner Sonne, a leading commentator, said on German state television. “If German troops guard Israel’s borders, they are there to protect Jewish lives. Frankly, there has never been a better reason to bring in soldiers in German uniform.”
That set the tone yesterday of what promises to be a huge national debate, not only about Middle East policy but about how the Nazi past should inhibit Germany’s expanding role in world politics.
Frau Merkel seems ready to send some 3,000 troops, of whom about 1,000 will be Pioneers with heavy earth-moving equipment to help to rebuild airports and harbours. The navy, already in the eastern Mediterranean on Operation Active Endeavour, would be strengthened with frigates to patrol the coast of Lebanon.
The German Air Force is being put on stand-by to fly reconnaissance missions from Cyprus and the German Border Service could be put on patrol along the Lebanese-Syrian border to stop the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah. German soldiers could find themselves drawn into a firefight in any of these theatres.
France will command the force with lead elements arriving in the coming days. The French appear ready to send 5,000 soldiers, Italy 3,000 soldiers and Turkey a further 1,500. German diplomats say that one priority is to convince other Muslim countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, to commit troops as well.
Unifil is supposed to patrol the rugged region of southern Lebanon from the Israeli border north to the Litani river, an area dominated by Hezbollah.
The peacekeepers intend to offer support to 15,000 troops from the Lebanese Army. Last night the UN said it hoped that up to 3,500 of its peacekeepers would be in Lebanon within two weeks.
Hezbollah remains the most powerful military force in Lebanon and Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, its leader, dismissed any suggestion that his men should lay down their arms. The danger for the peacekeepers is that the ceasefire will break down and tit-for-tat attacks resume, leaving them with the choice of using force against the Israeli military or Hezbollah fighters, or doing nothing.
Germany has been encouraged to send a big contingent by the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, a sign that the Holocaust taboo is beginning to crumble. In an interview with the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung this month, Mr Olmert said he had told Frau Merkel that Israel had “absolutely no problem with German soldiers in southern Lebanon”.
“There is at the moment no nation that is behaving in a more friendly way towards Israel than Germany,” Mr Olmert said. “If Germany can contribute to the security of the Israeli people, that would be a worthwhile task for your country. I would be very happy if Germany participated.”
Yet some German observers believe that a degree of calculation lies behind the Israeli enthusiasm. In a fast-moving exchange of fire, German soldiers might give the Israelis the benefit of the doubt.

Print Friendly Version (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,20146873,00.html) Email this story (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20146873-601,00.html#)


Privacy (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) Terms (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) © The Australian

[LRPV]

Israel begins handover to Lebanese troops

August 16, 2006

JERUSALEM: Israel plans to start handing over occupied positions to the Lebanese army today, and hopes to complete the evacuation of its forces from Lebanon by next week.


High-ranking Israeli military officers met officials from the UN interim force in Lebanon yesterday to discuss the planned handover of occupied areas of southern Lebanon to the multinational force - made up of an upgraded UNIFIL and the Lebanese army, The Jerusalem Post reported. Senior French officers have headed to the UN in New York to discuss the beefed-up UN peacekeeping force that France is expected to lead.
"We have no formal specific commitments from troop contributors, but obviously we're continuing those discussions," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said yesterday. "We have one leg up in that there's already a UN force in south Lebanon."
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was relieved the cessation of hostilities demanded under the Security Council resolution on Lebanon "appears to be generally holding".
Mr Annan has written to Israel and Lebanon spelling out the terms for the cessation of hostilities, and warning both sides against occupying additional territory or changing the number and location of troops. The resolution, adopted on Friday, calls for an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants, and authorises up to 15,000 UN peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops control south Lebanon after Israel withdraws.
In his letters, sent on Sunday, Mr Annan asked Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his Lebanese counterpart Fouad Siniora to designate generals to meet the commander of the UN force, French Major General Alain Pellegrini, to arrange the deployment of UN and Lebanese troops and the withdrawal of the Israeli forces.
Lebanese Defence Minister Elias Murr said the Lebanese army would not disarm Hezbollah, but he expects the Shia militia to leave south Lebanon once troops are deployed there after the Israeli pullout.
"The army won't be deployed to south Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, something Israel wasn't able to do itself," the minister said on television.
"I assure you the (Hezbollah) resistance will provide maximum co-operation, and once the army is deployed there won't be any weapons or armed presence in the area except for the army and the UN forces."
UN Security Council resolution 1701 calls for Hezbollah to disarm. But Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has vowed that his fighters would not be forced to disarm by "intimidation or pressure".
Mr Murr said the question of disarming Hezbollah was an issue to be decided by Lebanon's National Dialogue Conference, which unites the nation's 14 major communities.
The conference, which began meeting in March, was due to address the question of Hezbollah's disarmament last month, but the talks were postponed due to the fighting that followed the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
AP, AFP, Reuters

Print Friendly Version (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,20144665,00.html) Email this story (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20144665-31477,00.html#)


Privacy (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) Terms (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) © The Australian

[DeltaWhisky58]

UN aims for advance Lebanon force


The UN force will boost the existing team of peacekeepers

The UN is trying to get an advance force of peacekeepers into Lebanon in 10-15 days, a senior official has said.

The force would be up to 3,500-strong, to be boosted later to the full 15,000 agreed in the UN ceasefire resolution.
Lebanon says it will start moving its own 15,000-strong force towards the south this week, while Israel says it could pull out within 10 days.
The moves come as a two-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah continues to hold, despite sporadic violence.
Meanwhile, thousands of refugees have been returning to south Lebanon, despite Israeli warnings that it is not yet safe to do so.
Aid agencies are trying to deliver badly-needed food and medicine to the area, while the UN has warned returnees of a further danger from unexploded ordnance.

Fears of delay

The advance party of peacekeepers will join an existing UN force that was already in place when the crisis erupted in July but had no mandate to intervene.

IMPACT: 34 DAYS OF FIGHTING



Israeli press turns on Olmert (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4793695.stm)

Senior officials say the initial deployment will consist of soldiers, mostly from France, but that it is hoped troops from Islamic countries will join them later.
The plan is for the UN peacekeepers to take over as Israel starts pulling out from the south, and eventually to hand over to Lebanese forces.
But UN officials acknowledge there are as yet no firm pledges of troops from any countries, despite American calls for a rapid deployment.
BBC diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall, at the UN in New York, says there is clearly concern at the apparent reluctance by so many countries to sign up.
The fear is, if there is further delay, it could put pressure on an already fragile ceasefire and increase the risks of the whole operation, our correspondent says.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy is expected to meet Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in Lebanon on Wednesday to discuss conditions for the deployment of French troops.

Beirut moves

In Beirut, Lebanese Defence Minister Elias Murr said the army would be ready within days to start moving to the area of the Litani River in the south.
He said it was not the job of the Lebanese army to disarm Hezbollah fighters, but he was confident they would withdraw from southern areas as the troops moved in.
In a separate development, the Israeli Army said it had killed a senior Hezbollah commander moments before the ceasefire went into effect on Monday.
The dead man was named as Sajed Dawayer, but no details were given about how or where he died. There was no immediate comment from Lebanon.
Israel said it had shot dead three Hezbollah fighters on Tuesday, and injured two others as sporadic post-truce violence continued.

Hezbollah praised

Earlier, Israeli politicians dismissed claims by the leaders of Iran and Syria - long-term backers of Hezbollah - that the fighting in Lebanon had resulted in a victory for Hezbollah.

God's promises have come true
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Iranian president



Excerpts: Assad speech (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4794981.stm)
Quotes: Ahmadinejad speech (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4796251.stm)
Haifa on edge (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4793619.stm)


In Damascus, President Bashar al-Assad said Israel had been defeated and Hezbollah had "hoisted the banner of victory".
The defiant speech was a clear sign of how US opponents in the Middle East have been emboldened by the outcome of the conflict, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Damascus.
In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Hezbollah had foiled plans to forge a Middle East dominated by "the US, Britain and Zionists".
"On one side, it's corrupt powers.... with modern bombs and planes. And on the other side is a group of pious youth relying on God," he said.

Israeli rejection

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, rejecting the claims of a Hezbollah victory, said she would not be provoked by Syria or Iran.

In pictures: Lebanese return (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4795109.stm)

She warned that if Israel was threatened it would take any action necessary to defend itself, just as it had done over the last few weeks. Ms Livni will hold talks with the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday about how to implement the ceasefire in full. Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz called for dialogue with Lebanon, and said Israel should also prepare conditions for talks with Syria.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4796661.stm)

[Jaguar]

Israeli army chief under attack over share sell-off
Tue 15 Aug 2006 8:11 AM ET

JERUSALEM, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Israel's armed forces chief came under political fire on Tuesday after a newspaper reported he sold off a stock portfolio just hours after Hizbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers in a raid that triggered a month-long war.

Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz, acknowledging the sale in comments to reporters, denied any impropriety.

The Maariv daily said Halutz went to his bank branch and sold shares worth 120,000 shekels ($27,460) three hours after the soldiers were seized by the Lebanese guerrilla group on July 12.

Key share indexes in Israel fell around 12 percent at the outset of fighting between Israeli forces and Hizbollah after the abduction. Share prices gradually recovered and now stand slightly below pre-war levels.

"It was my portfolio of shares, on which I had lost 25,000 shekels," Maariv quoted Halutz as saying.

"It is true that I sold the portfolio on July 12 but it is impossible to link that to the war. At the time, I did not expect or think there would be a war," he said, according to Maariv.

A day after the abduction, Israeli aircraft carried out a major attack in Lebanon, bombing runways at Beirut airport.

In separate comments to reporters, Halutz said: "This is a malicious, biased report. I do not know who is behind it and I do not plan to be dragged into a subject that besmirches my integrity."

Several legislators responded to the report by demanding Israel's attorney-general open an investigation. One lawmaker called for Halutz's resignation.

But market analysts said it did not appear Halutz had broken any insider trading laws.

Halutz has already been attacked by some Israeli military affairs commentators over his handling of the campaign against Hizbollah.

They charged the former fighter pilot put too much emphasis on an air war in Lebanon in the early stages of fighting instead of sending in large contingents of ground forces to try to halt rocket attacks on northern Israel.

http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L1599689

[DeltaWhisky58]

UN drive to agree Lebanon force


The new force will boost the Unifil peacekeepers already in Lebanon

Intense negotiations are under way to form the UN peacekeeping force planned to back up the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The UN hopes to get 3,500 troops on the ground in southern Lebanon within two weeks, mostly from France.
No countries have yet formally pledged troops, although several have said they will. UN officials say there is concern about the force's rules of engagement.
The ceasefire, in its third day, is holding despite sporadic violence.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy is in Beirut and is expected to meet Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to discuss conditions for the deployment of French troops.
Foreign ministers from Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan - other possible troop contributors - were also expected in Beirut.




Mid-East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)
Who are Hezbollah? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4314423.stm)
Lebanon: Key facts (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456976/html/nn1page1.stm)

But a spokesman for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan described the situation as "extremely precarious" and said the most urgent task was to get troops on the ground.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is in New York for talks with Mr Annan about how to implement the ceasefire resolution in full.
The UN aim is to boost the limited existing force, Unifil, as soon as possible, enabling it to take over positions as Israel withdraws and a 15,000-strong contingent of Lebanese troops moves in.
The multinational force would then later be brought up to its full contingent, also of 15,000 soldiers, that was agreed in the UN ceasefire resolution passed on Friday.
Lebanon says it will start moving its 15,000 soldiers towards the south this week, while Israel says it could pull out within 10 days.

UN PEACEKEEPING FORCE
Likely leader: France
Likely contributors: Italy, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia
Other possible contributors: Morocco, Spain, Belgium, Finland, Brunei, Germany, Portugal, Pakistan
Current Unifil force: 2,000 troops from China, France, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Ukraine

But Israel's army chief, Lt-Gen Dan Halutz told a parliamentary committee that Israeli forces would stay until the multinational force arrived, "even if it takes months", Israel radio reported.
Although 45 countries have attended UN meetings to discuss planned deployments, none has yet made a formal commitment to send troops - including France, which the UN hopes will provide the backbone for the force.
France, Italy, Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia have indicated they will make significant contributions and a dozen other countries have also expressed interest in helping.
A senior UN official said all countries wanted clarification about the rules of engagement and the hope was that if France would agree to take part, others would follow, the BBC's Bridget Kendall reports from the UN.
But there is clearly concern at the apparent reluctance to pledge soldiers, our correspondent says.

Heading back

In southern Lebanon, aid agencies are trying to deliver badly needed food and medicine, while the UN has warned returnees of the danger from unexploded ordnance.


In pictures: Lebanese return (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4795109.stm)

Tens of thousands of Lebanese have continued to return to their homes in southern Lebanon, although the Israelis say the area remains unsafe until Lebanese and UN troops are deployed.
The UN says around 250,000 people have already returned, and aid officials estimate that another 500,000 are on the move.
But the BBC's Kim Ghattas in the southern town of Tyre says in some villages many homes have been destroyed and there is no electricity or running water.
Some returnee families are heading back to Beirut after finding they have nothing to go back to, our correspondent reports.
In a separate development, the Israeli army said it had killed a senior Hezbollah commander moments before the ceasefire went into effect on Monday.
The dead man was named as Sajed Dawayer, but no details were given about how or where he died. There was no immediate comment from Lebanon. Israel said it had shot dead three Hezbollah fighters on Tuesday and injured two others as sporadic post-truce violence continued. About 1,000 Lebanese - mostly civilians - and 159 Israelis, mainly soldiers, died in 34 days of fighting which began after the militant group Hezbollah seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on 12 July.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4797187.stm)

A sumary of current BBC News pages on the Israeli/Lebanese situation:

[/URL]


LATEST NEWS

UN drive to agree Lebanon force (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/default.stm)
Israeli army chief in shares row (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4797471.stm)
Gaza hunt for seized journalists (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4792635.stm)
Crisis day-by-day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4776627.stm)


DESPATCHES



[URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4796469.stm"]Hard road home (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4796469.stm)
Lebanese displaced by fighting return to the devastated south to face more hardship
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4796469.stm)Haifa on edge (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4793619.stm)
Hezbollah buoyed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4791873.stm)
Calm as ceasefire begins (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4790205.stm)


ANALYSIS

Mid-East power struggle (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4798017.stm)
Challenges facing peace force (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4794673.stm)
'Blame war' looms for Israel (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4792261.stm)
Jury out on who won the war (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4790681.stm)


BACKGROUND

Text: UN Lebanon resolution (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4785963.stm)
Who stands where? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5253146.stm)
Lebanon's seven-point proposal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5256936.stm)


VOICES

Views on the ceasefire (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4790359.stm)
Aid diary: The rush for home (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4793861.stm)


VIDEO AND AUDIO

Reports and analysis (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4797187.stm#)


HAVE YOUR SAY

Will the ceasefire work? (http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=2901&edition=1)


RELATED INTERNET LINKS

Israeli foreign ministry (http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/mfa/home.asp)
Lebanese government portal (http://www.informs.gov.lb/EN/Main/index.asp?)
Syrian government portal (http://www.syriagate.com/Syria/Government/Ministries_And_Establishments/)
Iranian presidency (http://www.president.ir/eng/)
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites


FROM OTHER NEWS SITES

Mirror (http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/track/news/ext/-/http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z611847978&z=50237908) Hizbollah 'haswon' - 9 hrs ago
The Scotsman (http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/track/news/ext/-/http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z611703042&z=50237908)* Now the war of words starts - 12 hrs ago
Jerusalem Post (http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/track/news/ext/-/http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z611699267&z=50237904) Fight for the peace - 12 hrs ago
New York Times (http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/track/news/ext/-/http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z611411989&z=50237904) Israel Begins to Pull Reserves From Lebanon - 19 hrs ago
Los Angeles Times (http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/track/news/ext/-/http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z611238044&z=50237876)* - Israel Begins Pullout Amid Fragile Truce - 22 hrs ago
About these results (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3676692.stm)

[* Requires registration]

[DeltaWhisky58]

N.B. - Whilst other threads on the Middle East situation, i.e. Israel/Lebanon/Hezbollah etc., are now being allowed, this is still the principle news thread and as such remains strictly NEWS ONLY.

Thanks for your co-operation in this matter.

[Kaplanr]

Jerusalem Post http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525886496&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Peretz appoints inquiry committee to investigate war
By YAAKOV KATZ


Defense Minister Amir Peretz appointed former chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Amnon Lipkin-Shahak to head external inquiry commission, charged with investigating the IDF's management and preparation for the war in Lebanon

In addition to Lipkin-Shahak, former IAF commander Maj.-Gen. (res.) Herzl, former director-general of the Ministry of Defense Maj.-Gen. (res.) Ilan Biran, former head of the IDF's Logistics Directorate Maj.-Gen. (res.) Ami Sagis and the chairman of the pharmaceutical giant Teva Eli Hurvitz were also chosen to participate in the probe.

The commission was given the mandate by Peretz to investigate the IDF's level of preparation for the war in Lebanon and the management of the operations in enemy territory by the General Staff and Northern Command.

Peretz updated the chief of staff, Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz and the rest of the General Staff of his decision to establish the inquiry committee, which will publish its first report within three weeks.

Since the cease-fire went into effect between Israel and Hizbullah on Monday, there has been widespread public call for the establishment of such a committee. There have also been calls to investigative the diplomatic aspects of the campaign.

There have also been complaints by soldiers and reservists of the army's alleged failutre to supply water, food and equipment to forces fighting in Lebanon.

In anticipation of a possible probe expected to be established, Halutz was asked of his opinion on the matter. He responded in English: I don't care. I really don't care.

Defending the army against the claim that the IDF did not prepare well enough for the war, head of the army's Planning Directorate Maj.-Gen. Yitzhak Harel told Channel 1 "We were prepared. We could have prepared more, but we were busy with other things."

The store rooms were not sufficiently filled, he said, because of cuts that were made in the army's budget in recent years.

[LRPV]

Israelis ready to stay in Lebanon

Martin Chulov, Beirut August 17, 2006
Leading the way: Portraits of Shia clerics, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, centre, are displayed during the funeral of two Hezbollah figures in Nabatiyet. AFP

ISRAEL said last night its troops might remain in Lebanon well past the two-week UN deadline set for their withdrawal, as Israeli fears mounted that it had failed in its bid to crush Hezbollah.


As the tenuous truce continued to hold, officials in Jerusalem said Hezbollah had emerged emboldened from the 33-day war, with support for the guerilla group surging across the Arab world. In Lebanon, tens of thousands of family cars are heading home to the Shia-dominated south emblazoned with Hezbollah flags and posters of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, boasting in English, "The Divine Victory".
Israeli fears have heightened over the delay in mobilising an international force for southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army into what used to be a no-go zone.
The UN has indicated it will be ready to send only an advance guard of 3000 soldiers, and Lebanese troops are yet to be given their orders to move south.
And even if the Lebanese troops are ready to roll, the destruction of the country's bridges by Israeli bombers will make a widespread land deployment to the south impossible for at least a fortnight.
Up to 500,000 people are on the move in southern Lebanon, turning the 80km from Beirut to the Israeli border into the world's largest carpark.
Bottlenecks tens of kilometres long occurred at bombed-out bridges and arterial roads, where soldiers were helping each car to negotiate the rubble. Hezbollah men nearby were handing out celebratory lollies and leaflets.
Both Israel and Hezbollah have so far overlooked the fact that several so-called deal-breaking conditions are yet to take effect - a position that appears to strengthen the likelihood of the ceasefire holding.
Hezbollah had previously said it would attack Israeli troops while they continued to occupy south Lebanon, while Israel had said it would attack the Hezbollah forces if they did not disarm and remained in the area south of the Litani River.
Hezbollah's two key backers, Iran and Syria, have indicated they will begin resupplying the group's depleted stocks of missiles as soon as Lebanon's borders are reopened.
Heightening Israeli concern is the Lebanese Government's insistence this week that its army would never be drawn into combat with Hezbollah - a fight they would almost certainly lose.
The 60,000-strong Lebanese army has not taken on Hezbollah's 5000 highly trained guerilla fighters at any time during the past 18 years, and is even more reluctant to do so now they are seen by the Arabs as triumphant warriors of resistance.
UNIFIL, the force considered more likely to impose UN Security Council resolution 1701, was yesterday still compiling the size and make-up of its deployment.
Hezbollah has said it does not feel obliged to hold fire by the UN resolution, but last night the group was considered unlikely to launch large-scale attacks against the occupying Israeli forces, because this would jeopardise the safety of the tens of thousands of residents and supporters who are streaming back to their homes in south Lebanon.
Several small-scale skirmishes have erupted since the artillery guns fell silent at 8am on Monday, but none that threatened a return to all-out war.
In a letter published by The Washington Post, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the UN peace plan for Lebanon would be difficult to implement, but was a "good first step" to a lasting peace in the Middle East.
In her letter, Dr Rice said the international community was helping the Lebanese Government to "create the conditions of lasting peace, full independence, complete sovereignty, effective democracy and a weakened Hezbollah with fewer opportunities to rearm and regroup".

Print Friendly Version (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,20155287,00.html) Email this story (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20155287-601,00.html#)


Privacy (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) Terms (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) © The Australian



[/URL]



(http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/) [URL="http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/"]

[DeltaWhisky58]

Lebanon army starts to move south


The Lebanese vanguard is of about 2,000 troops

Lebanese troops have crossed the strategic Litani river to take up positions as Israel's army pulls back.

France has confirmed it is ready to command an expanded international force working along with the Lebanese army, but only under certain conditions.
Israel's military said it had passed control of half of its positions in the south to the current UN force there.
It indicated that a full withdrawal from what was a stronghold of Hezbollah could take weeks or even months.
Dozens of Lebanese army trucks, armoured personnel carriers and jeeps are on the move across the Litani using temporary bridges set up to bypass bridges damaged by Israeli shelling.
The vanguard crossed at 0600 local time (0300 GMT).




Mid-East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)
Lebanon: Key facts (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456976/html/nn1page1.stm)

Residents cheered and waved at the convoys.
"May God protect you," shouted one resident, Khadeeja Sheet. "We support nobody except for our army."
About 2,000 Lebanese troops are in the initial deployment, which will rise to the 15,000-strong force approved on Wednesday by the Lebanese cabinet, which includes two Hezbollah members.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the army deployment was to defend the country and that no weapons would be allowed outside the authority of the Lebanese state.
But senior Hezbollah figures have made it clear there is no question the army will disarm its fighters.
The BBC's Jon Leyne says there seems to be a tacit agreement for the fighters to hide their weapons and go underground.
The disarmament question is sure to be high on the agenda of a UN troop contributors meeting to be held in New York later on Thursday.

Handover

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the town of Marjayoun and its surrounding area were now in the hands of troops from Unifil, the 2,000-strong existing UN force.

UN PEACEKEEPING FORCE
Leader: France
Likely contributors: Italy, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia
Other possible contributors: Morocco, Spain, Belgium, Finland, Brunei, Germany, Portugal, Pakistan
Current Unifil force: 2,000 troops from China, France, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Ukraine

Areas close to the border town of Bint Jbeil have also been handed over though the town itself remains under Israeli control, she added.
Bint Jbeil saw heavy fighting with Hezbollah during Israel's month-long war with the militants, sparked by the abduction of two soldiers on the border.
The spokeswoman said the handover would continue gradually over the coming days but it was too early to say how soon Israeli troops would be able to pull out of Lebanon entirely.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said: "If it takes time until the international forces are organised, it takes time until Israel withdraws. This is the equation."

[/URL]
Israelis give their views on whether the Lebanese war was a success or a failure

[URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/middle_east_israeli_views_on_lebanese_war/html/1.stm"]In pictures (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/middle_east_israeli_views_on_lebanese_war/html/1.stm)

French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie has confirmed that France is ready to lead an expanded UN force in Lebanon but only with a clear mandate and sufficient resources.
France's Le Monde newspaper said on Thursday that Ms Alliot-Marie was planning to send only a small, symbolic French force and that UN officials were trying to persuade her to send a far greater contingent.
The expanded UN force's commander, Gen Alain Pellegrini, said he expected the first elements to start arriving early next week.
"This Unifil will be very different from the previous one. The old Unifil is dead," he told AFP news agency.

Hard road home

Israeli aircraft have been dropping leaflets warning refugees to stay away from southern Lebanon.
Despite these warnings, there has been a steady stream of displaced people heading home.
The UN says around a quarter of a million have already returned but hundreds of thousands are still believed to be on the move.

HAVE YOUR SAY
Make Shalom, not Jihad
Doron Archi, Boston, United States



Send us your views (http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=3221&edition=2)
Families return home (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4797775.stm)

They face a tough journey with traffic jams and the threat of unexploded bombs, the BBC's Greg Morsbach reports.
The UN found 200 cluster bombs near a hospital, in the village of Tebnin.
Many of those who managed to escape days of heavy bombardment are now faced with rebuilding their villages and Hezbollah is offering assistance, our correspondent notes. In another sign of a return to normality, an airliner from Amman in Jordan arrived at Beirut airport on Thursday - one of two scheduled for the day - the first since Israel bombed the runway on 13 July. Separately, sirens warning of a possible rocket attack were heard in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona but officials later said it was a malfunction and a false alarm.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4800949.stm)

[Jaguar]

Cabinet members spar over proposed weapons compromise

By Nada Bakri and Therese Sfeir
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, August 16, 2006


BEIRUT: A compromise agreement currently being hammered out between Hizbullah and the Lebanese government is expected to allow the party to keep hidden weapons in South Lebanon, the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported Tuesday.

While Hizbullah would need to keep the weapons it possesses south of the Litani River hidden, an agreement for areas north of the river would be "left to a long-term solution," the paper said.

If the proposed compromise is accepted by Premier Fouad Siniora's Cabinet, it would violate the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. And it is also a violation of the "one weapon" principle of Siniora's seven-point plan.

Resolution 1701 calls for Israel and Lebanon to support a solution based on previous UN resolutions requiring "the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon" apart from state security forces.

While the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) within the new resolution does not require foreign troops to disarm Hizbullah themselves, the force is authorized "to ensure that its area of operations is not utilized for hostile activities of any kind" and to support the Lebanese Army in asserting control over all of Lebanon.

Siniora's Cabinet unanimously approved the resolution last Saturday but scheduled another session to discuss Hizbullah ministers' reservations about it and the operative means to implement.

However, the session scheduled for Sunday was indefinitely postponed amid reports that Hizbullah ministers would try to pass the hidden-weapons compromise despite strong opposition from some ministers of the March 14 Forces.

"I will oppose this compromise deal to the end," said Tourism Minister Joe Sarkis, who is also a member of the Lebanese Forces. "We are committed to implementing the UN resolution, which clearly states the area south of the Litani River should be disarmed. The Lebanese can fool each other by hiding weapons but we won't be able to fool the international community."

The minister said Resolution 1701, which provides a mandate for an expanded UNIFIL of 15,000 international troops, contained "obligations" that had to be met.

"What do you want, Minister Fneish? Not to implement the decision? OK let's not implement it and the hell with the country then," said Sarkis.

Energy Minister Mohammad Fneish is Hizbullah minister in Siniora's Cabinet.

Sarkis said commitment to implement the resolution and to unite behind Siniora's Cabinet is to spare the country "a political division and problems." Government sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said private discussions are being held to convene a Cabinet session, but with no success yet.

They said the talks focus on a pre-set agreement of what the session will decide regarding Hizbullah's weapons south of the Litani River and the deployment of the Lebanese Army there.

Meanwhile Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh met Tuesday with his Brazilian counterpart, Celso Amorim.

In a joint news conference, Amorim said talks focused on the need "to establish sustainable peace in the region and deploy the governments' sovereignty over all the Lebanese territories." He said a "sustainable peace cannot be fulfilled but through a comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis."

Amorim also delivered food and medical aid from Brazil to the Lebanese government.

The Brazilian official later met with Speaker Nabih Berri and Siniora.

Separately, Berri met Tuesday with Egyptian Ambassador Hussein Darrar and Saudi Ambassador Abdel-Aziz Khoja.

Berri also received a phone call from the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Haddad Adel, who expressed his country's support for Lebanon.

In another development, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi visited the headquarters of Hizbullah's Al-Manar television station in Haret Hreik, which was completely destroyed by Israeli raids, and hailed the "steadfastness of Al-Manar reporters and employees."

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=74774

[Irish]

Uncertainty over Irish role in UN force (http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0817/lebanon.html)
(16:35) The Minister for Foreign Affairs has said he still cannot say if Irish troops will join the expanded force of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

One News: Mary Calpin reports on Lebanese involvement in peacekeeping operations in southern Lebanon (http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/2165737.smil)

[DeltaWhisky58]

Uncertainty over Irish role in UN force (http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0817/lebanon.html)
(16:35) The Minister for Foreign Affairs has said he still cannot say if Irish troops will join the expanded force of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

One News: Mary Calpin reports on Lebanese involvement in peacekeeping operations in southern Lebanon (http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/2165737.smil)

Please post the actual news story rather than just a link - see my BBC posts.

[DeltaWhisky58]

Olmert 'suspends' withdrawal plan


Olmert was elected on a platform of leaving parts of the West Bank

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has suspended his plans for a unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank, a government minister says.

Housing minister Meir Shetreet said the plan had not been abandoned entirely.
He was commenting on media reports press that the pullout was no longer at the top of Mr Olmert's agenda.
Mr Olmert was elected on a platform of withdrawal from some of the West Bank, while tightening Israel's hold on large settlements and the Jordan Valley.
The BBC's Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says the development comes at a time when support in Israel both for the withdrawal and for Mr Olmert's government appears to be slipping.

Growing criticism

Fighting and violence in Lebanon and in Gaza this summer has caused many Israelis to question the plans.
Speaking on Israel army radio the housing minister Meir Shetreet confirmed the report in the Haaretz newspaper that the pullout is now no longer at the top of Mr Olmert's agenda.
"It is my assessment the prime minister will not deal with this [the West Bank pullout] in the coming period, because it's really not on the agenda," Mr Shetreet said.
"I cannot say that the prime minister has dropped the plan. I don't think he has reached such a conclusion." Our correspondent says there has been growing criticism of Israel's political and military leadership in recent days, with many Israelis are asking what was actually achieved in the weeks of fighting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. The defence ministry has appointed a commission to investigate how the military campaign in Lebanon was conducted.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5262334.stm)

[DeltaWhisky58]

Israel alarm at UN force members


Lebanese troops have not controlled the south since the 1960s

Israel says it would be "difficult if not inconceivable" to accept nations which do not recognise its right to exist as part of a UN force in Lebanon.

Israeli UN envoy Dan Gillerman was speaking after Indonesia and Malaysia, which do not recognise Israel, pledged troops for the UN deployment.
Malaysia said Israel should have no say in the make-up of the force.
The UN has expressed cautious optimism that it can deploy an initial 3,500-strong force within two weeks.
UN deputy chief Mark Malloch Brown warned earlier that delay could threaten the ceasefire.

To expect countries who don't even recognise Israel to guard Israel's safety I think would be a bit naive
Dan Gillerman
Israeli UN envoy

But building the force has proved problematical. Mr Malloch Brown said a lot of work was needed in the coming days to meet the two-week deadline.
There is concern that the offers do not necessarily provide the right mix of troops and capabilities needed for the deployment, the BBC's Bridget Kendall in New York says.
France, which had agreed to lead the force, said it would send only 200 extra troops immediately, far fewer than expected.
Bangladesh and Nepal have also pledged troops, while Germany has offered a maritime task force.

UN TROOP PLEDGES
France - leadership and 200 troops
Bangladesh - two battalions (up to 2,000 troops)
Malaysia - one battalion (up to 1,000 troops)
Indonesia - one battalion, an engineering company
Nepal - one battalion
Denmark - at least two ships
Germany - maritime and border patrols

Sources: UN diplomats


The UK and the US say they will provide logistical support, while Italy and Belgium have also indicated a willingness to contribute.
The UN had been planning for a stronger European contingent, and is disappointed by France's offer.

"We had hoped - we make no secret of it - that there would be a stronger French contribution," Mr Malloch Brown said.
The French government has expressed concern that the mission and mandate of the force are not yet sufficiently clear and has been seeking clarification.

Disappointment

As the UN's efforts to build the force continued, Mr Gillerman made clear Israel's unhappiness with some of the contributors.




Mid-East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)
Lebanon: Key facts (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456976/html/nn1page1.stm)

"It would be very difficult if not inconceivable for Israel to accept troops from countries who do not recognise Israel, who have no diplomatic relations with Israel," he told the BBC.
He said they would be "very happy" to accept troops from Muslim countries they have friendly relations with.
"But to expect countries who don't even recognise Israel to guard Israel's safety I think would be a bit naive," he said.
His comments were dismissed by Malaysia, which, along with Indonesia, has a Muslim majority population.
"We're going to be on Lebanese territory ... We're not going to be on Israeli territory," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said.

'Positive sign'

Under the terms of the UN ceasefire resolution which ended the month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the expanded UN force should work alongside the Lebanese army in the south to keep the peace.
Each force should eventually number 15,000.

[/URL]
In the rubble of southern Beirut

In pictures (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/in_pictures_in_the_rubble_of_southern_beirut_____/html/1.stm)


The Lebanese army is continuing its move south after crossing the Litani river on Thursday into areas previously controlled by Hezbollah.
It was the army's first move back into some parts of the south since the 1960s.
As the troops arrived in the devastated town of Khiam, near the Israeli border, one resident hailed it as a "positive sign".
"We hope that the two parties, Hezbollah and the Lebanese army, have an agreement on this [deployment]," Ahmed Zoghbi said.
Israel says it has now withdrawn from two-thirds of its positions in southern Lebanon, including the port city of Tyre and villages of Qana, Hadatha and Beit Yahoun. The Lebanese government has been accused of being slow to seize the initiative over reconstruction efforts in the south, accusations it rejects. Senior Lebanese reconstruction official, Al-Fadel Chalak, said Hezbollah had filled the gap, with potential political repercussions.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5262490.stm)




LATEST NEWS

Israel alarm at UN force members (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/default.stm)
Troops pledged for Lebanon force (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5261112.stm)
Olmert 'suspends' withdrawal plan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5262334.stm)
Hariri in bitter attack on Syria (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5259842.stm)
Crisis day-by-day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5259576.stm)


DESPATCHES


[URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5261686.stm"]Post-war post mortem (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5261686.stm)
Israeli PM Ehud Olmert faces disappointment as a wartime leader
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5261686.stm)
Historic Byblos polluted by war (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5259102.stm)
Hard road back for displaced (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4796469.stm)
Haifans on edge after conflict (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4793619.stm)


ANALYSIS
Challenges facing peace force (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4794673.stm)
France uneasy about mandate (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4800185.stm)
Mid-East power struggle (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4798017.stm)
Tough task for Lebanese army (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4798497.stm)


BACKGROUND
Text: UN Lebanon resolution (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4785963.stm)
Who stands where? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5253146.stm)
Lebanon's seven-point proposal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5256936.stm)


VOICES
Bloggers fear for the future (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5260472.stm)
Israeli-Lebanese debate (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4801317.stm)
Returning home after truce (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4797775.stm)
Aid diary: Long road to recovery (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5259532.stm)


VIDEO AND AUDIO
Reports and analysis (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5262490.stm#)

[GiladS]

Saving a soldier's life under fire in a helicopter

By YAAKOV KATZ (yaakovk@jpost.com)



News of the wounded came in the middle of the night, with just several hours left before dawn. St.-Sgt. Avraham, a paramedic with the Air Force's elite 669 search and rescue unit, boarded a Yanshuf transport helicopter at a base in the North and began making his way deep into Lebanese territory.

As the helicopter crossed into Lebanese airspace, for the first time in the war, Avraham said he saw anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles whiz by the aircraft, which, backed up by Apache attack helicopters, took sharp turns and dives to avoid enemy fire.

After a short flight, the pilot dipped into the southern Lebanese village of Ayta a-Sha'ab and found the group of paratroopers he was looking for. One of the soldiers had been shot in the face by a Hizbullah sniper and was in serious condition.

The helicopter hovered two meters above the ground as the wounded soldier was hauled on board.

"Bullets and missiles whizzed by as we hovered over the ground," recalled Avraham, whose family immigrated to Israel from Maine when he was three years old. "It is certainly an extreme situation."

Once the soldier was aboard the helicopter, Avraham got to work. "He had taken a gunshot to the face," he said Wednesday. "I started to open his airways and began to put him on a drip. By the time we landed at Rambam Hospital, he was stabilized."

Avraham is one of dozens of specially-trained medical personnel who work with the IDF's Medical Corps and unit 669. The team, made up of doctors and paramedics like Avraham, undergo advanced and intense training to learn how to treat the wounded while flying in a helicopter in complete darkness under enemy fire. The team flew over 100 operational sorties into Lebanon during the 33 days of fighting there and evacuated and treated over 300 wounded soldiers.

The unit was established following the Yom Kippur War in 1973, but according to Chief IDF Medical Officer Brig.-Gen Dr. Hezi Levy, the unit has never worked as intensely as it did during the past month of fighting.

"The work this medical team does is unlike any other medical team in Israel," Levy said. "They risk their lives by getting into a helicopter, in the dark and under enemy gunfire. With all that going on, they then need to begin treating the wounded."

To learn how to insert a tube or an IV into a wounded soldier's body while flying in a noisy, moving helicopter, unit 669 developed a special simulator several years ago in which the medical personnel undergo rigorous training sessions that test their ability to work on the wounded under such conditions.

"The ability to perform surgical and medical procedures in a noisy and shaky place like a helicopter requires a high-level of professionalism," Levy said. "You need to be able to keep someone alive under difficult conditions."

Not every doctor, explains Maj. Ophir, commander of the 669 airborne medical team, is suitable to be a member of the unit. "You could be the best doctor in your hospital," he said, "but that doesn't necessarily make you qualified to perform medical procedures in a helicopter."


Link (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525888157&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)
....

[Jaguar]

Hezbollah leads way in rebuilding Lebanon

THE GUARDIAN , BEIRUT
Friday, Aug 18, 2006,Page 6

As refugees flood back to their war-ravaged villages, Hezbollah has flung itself to the front of the burgeoning reconstruction effort in southern Lebanon, funded with a deluge of petro-dollars from neighboring Iran.

"We want to bring south Lebanon back to life and rebuild it better than it was before the war," said Nabil Kaouk, Hezbollah's top official in southern Lebanon, standing before the group's flattened headquarters building in Tyre.

In nearby villages, his supporters were already hard at work. Hezbollah activists in T-shirts and green caps cleared rubble-strewn roads and piles of rotting refuse and ferried the dead and wounded through the scrub-covered hills in shiny modern ambulances.

But the most extravagant element of Hezbollah's plan is to provide a year's rent and a set of new furniture for every family whose house has been destroyed. The promise was made by Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, within hours of Monday's ceasefire.

The housing scheme will benefit 15,000 families, Nasrallah said, and will cost up to US$150 million, according to one estimate. Funding will come from oil-rich Iran, which until now has mostly supplied Hezbollah with thousands of missiles used against Israel.

On Wednesday in Beirut, hun-dreds of refugees shuffled through a registration center where officials noted their losses and made promises of help. The cash will be spent in towns such as Bint Jbail, near the southern border, where entire neighborhoods have been razed.

"There is no central government presence here. Hezbollah is doing everything," said local official Hamed Harab, standing outside the bomb-pocked town hospital.

Behind him stood a group of trim young men in dark t-shirts who refused to have their photographs taken. They watched a stream of overloaded cars carrying residents home.

"The people want things to move quickly. They know that we can deliver," he said.

This multimillion dollar aid drive marks a new phase in Hezbollah's struggle. The militant group has already won admiration across the Arab world for its fierce resistance to Israeli attack.

Now it is fighting to retain the support of Lebanon's Shia Muslims, who constitute about one-third of the population, and to maintain the "state within a state" that allowed the militant group to develop the military arsenal and network of village bunkers that thwarted the Israeli invasion.

The success of this strategy is evident from the proclamations of undying loyalty, even from families who have lost everything.

"When Sayed Hassan [Nasrallah] speaks, we listen," said Amar Balhas outside the remains of his house. "If he asks, I will give my life for Hezbollah."

But other residents are shocked by the destruction that Hezbollah's belligerence has wrought on their already impoverished lives.

"I will be sleeping in the streets tonight," said Nohead Hamoud, 46, on Wednesday after arriving in Bent Jbail to find a pile of broken bricks and furniture where her home once stood.

She cringed in fear as an Israeli fighter jet roared overhead.

Asked her opinion of Hezbollah's popularity, she replied, tersely: "That is a question I cannot answer."

Some fear the housing scheme will further weaken the influence of the central government in Hezbollah strongholds, deepening rifts between Lebanon's rival religious confessions.

Some Christian and Druze leaders resent Hezbollah's autonomy and have called for it to disarm.

That tension is one of several problems facing the 30,000-strong peacekeeping force in the process of deployment. Of this pool, foreign countries are due to contribute a total of 13,000 troops.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/08/18/2003323671

[askDNA]

Israeli troops criticize army, equipment

By BENJAMIN HARVEY, Associated Press Writer 56 minutes ago

Israeli soldiers returning from the war in Lebanon say the army was slow to rescue wounded comrades and suffered from a lack of supplies so dire that they had to drink water from the canteens of dead Hezbollah guerrillas.
"We fought for nothing. We cleared houses that will be reoccupied in no time," said Ilia Marshak, a 22-year-old infantryman who spent a week in Lebanon.
Marshak said his unit was hindered by a lack of information, poor training and untested equipment. In one instance, Israeli troops occupying two houses inadvertently fired at each other because of poor communication between their commanders.
"We almost killed each other," he said. "We shot like blind people. ... We shot sheep and goats."
In a nation mythologized for decisive military victories over Arab foes, the stalemate after a 34-day war in Lebanon has surprised many.
The war was widely seen in Israel as a just response to a July 12 cross-border attack in which Hezbollah gunmen killed three Israeli soldiers and captured two. But the wartime solidarity crumbled after Israel agreed to pull its army from south Lebanon without crushing Hezbollah or rescuing the captured soldiers.
A total of 118 Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting, and the army was often caught off guard by a well-trained guerrilla force backed by Iran and Syria that used sophisticated weapons and tactics. Soldiers, for instance, complained that Hezbollah fighters sometimes disguised themselves in Israeli uniforms.
Military experts and commentators have criticized the army for relying too heavily on air power and delaying the start of ground action for too long. They say the army underestimated Hezbollah, and that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert set an unrealistic goal by pledging to destroy the guerrilla group.
This week, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz appointed a former army chief to investigate the military's handling of the war.
Some of the harshest criticism has come from reservists, who form the backbone of the army. Israeli men do three years of mandatory service beginning at age 18, but continue to do reserve duty several weeks a year into their 40s.
Israeli newspapers quoted disgruntled reservists as saying they had no provisions in Lebanon, were sent into battle with outdated or faulty equipment and insufficient supplies, and received little or no training.
"I personally haven't thrown a grenade in 15 years, and I thought I'd get a chance to do so before going north," an unidentified reservist in an elite infantry brigade was quoted as telling the Maariv daily.
Israel's largest paper, Yediot Ahronot, quoted one soldier as saying thirsty troops threw chlorine tablets into filthy water in sheep and cow troughs. Another said his unit took canteens from dead guerrillas.
"When you're thirsty and have to keep fighting, you don't think a lot, and there is no time to feel disgusted," the unidentified soldier was quoted as saying.
The newspaper said helicopters were hindered from delivering food supplies or carrying out rescue operations because commanders feared the aircraft would be shot down. In some cases, soldiers bled to death because they were not rescued in time, Yediot Ahronot said.
The Israeli military said it was aware of the complaints, had tried to address them in the course of the fighting and was still looking into them. It had no comment on specific complaints.
Comrades of the two soldiers captured by Hezbollah sent a petition to the prime minister Thursday accusing the government of abandoning the men.
"We went to reserve duty with the certainty that all of Israel's citizens, and the Israeli government, believe in the same value that every combatant learns from his first day in basic training — you don't leave friends behind," the soldiers wrote. "This is a moral low point. The Israeli government has abandoned two IDF (Israeli Defense Force) combatants that it sent on a mission."
The petition was being circulated Friday; it was unclear how many soldiers had signed it.
While such sentiments aren't shared by all soldiers, even some senior commanders acknowledge the army came up short in Lebanon.
When soldier Gil Ovadia returned home, his commander made no mention of victory in an address to their battalion. Instead, the commander told them the war was over, said they did a good job, and advised that they be prepared to come back soon and fight again.
"We'll be back in Lebanon in a few months, maybe years," Ovadia said.





:|1234567890-

[daily666]

Israel confirms forces in Lebanon





By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer 40 minutes ago

BEIRUT - Israeli special forces operated deep in Lebanon early Saturday, the army confirmed, making it the broadest violation of a five-day-old U.N.-brokered cease-fire that put an end to 34 days of fighting between
Israel and Hezbollah guerillas.
ADVERTISEMENT

The army said its commandos entered Lebanon "to prevent and interfere with terror activity against Israel, especially the smuggling of arms from
Iran and
Syria to Hezbollah."

In Lebanon, Hezbollah said it foiled the Israeli commando raid early Saturday near its stronghold of Baalbek. But the Israeli army said the force completed its mission successfully, and that such operations would be carried out until a multinational force is in place to prevent Hezbollah's rearmament.

Lebanese security officials confirmed a report on Hezbollah TV that Israeli commandos were dropped off by helicopter outside the village of Boudai west of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release information to the media, said the Israelis apparently were seeking a guerrilla target in a school. The officials also reported heavy Israeli overflights.

The provincial government official, Bekaa Valley Gov. Antoine Suleiman, told the privately owned Voice of Lebanon radio station that Israeli soldiers landed outside Baalbek and brought two vehicles with them.

The raid marks the first time Israel launched a military operation on such a scale since the cease-fire went into effect Monday. Israeli troops have killed several Hezbollah fighters who threatened their troops in south Lebanon since the cease-fire, and warplanes have flown over the country. The cease-fire allows for self-defense.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the Israeli commando force landed before dawn and was driving into Boudai when it was intercepted by guerrillas, who forced it to retreat under the cover of warplanes, which staged mock raids.

The Hezbollah report said blood-soaked bandages were found later at the landing site outside Boudai, about 10 miles west of Baalbek, indicating there were casualties among the Israelis.

Hezbollah officials on the scene said overflights from Israeli jet fighters drowned the clatter of helicopters as they flew into the foothills of the central Lebanese mountains, dropping commandos and two vehicles they used to drive into the village when the Hezbollah fighters intercepted them in a field. The commandos identified themselves as the Lebanese army, but the guerrillas grew suspicious and gunfire erupted.

Israeli helicopters fired missiles as the commandos withdrew and were flown out of the area an hour later, the Hezbollah officials said.

Witnesses reported seeing bandages and syringes at the site. They also said a bridge had been destroyed about 500 yards from the landing site. The witnesses said they believed it was destroyed by Israeli missiles.

Israel said late Friday its warplanes have not attacked Lebanon since an Aug. 14 cease-fire halted 34-days of fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli forces.

Baalbek is the birthplace of the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah. The area in the eastern Bekaa Valley, 60 miles north of the Israeli border, is a major guerrilla stronghold.

The
U.N. Security Council cease-fire resolution calls for an immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations.

In letters to Lebanese and Israeli leaders, U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan has warned the two countries against occupying additional territory and told them to refrain from responding to any attacks "except where clearly required in immediate self-defense."

Annan also told Israel and Lebanon that once the cessation of hostilities took effect there must be no firing from the ground, sea or air into the other side's territory or at its forces.

[DeltaWhisky58]

Israel mounts fresh Lebanon raid


Lebanese troops have reached the southern border with Israel

Israel carried out an overnight raid inside Lebanon aimed at disrupting an arms transfer, the Israeli army says.

The raid took place in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanese security sources and Hezbollah said. Three militants died, sources told Reuters news agency.
The incident came hours after UN chief Kofi Annan warned of a "fragile" situation on the ground.
Meanwhile, 50 French troops arrived in the Lebanese port of Naqoura, the first soldiers to bolster the UN force.
They are among 200 extra troops promised by France, as the UN struggles to build its force.
The UN wants 3,500 troops on the ground speedily, to be built up later to 15,000. It says it is disappointed with the French contribution and wants other European nations to offer more help too.




Mid-East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)
Lebanon: Key facts (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456976/html/nn1page1.stm)


Israel's fresh operation inside Lebanon came five days after the UN-brokered ceasefire came into effect.
The Israeli army said the raid was to prevent arms being delivered to Hezbollah by Iran and Syria.
Reports on Hezbollah's TV station say Israeli commandos were flown into the area, some 100km (60 miles) north of the Israeli border, but were repulsed by Hezbollah fighters. Israeli missile strikes in the area were also reported.
The operation reportedly centred on Bodai, west of the city of Baalbek.
Israel said it would continue to carry out such actions until an expanded international military force was in place to prevent Hezbollah's re-armament.
It is the first major incident between the two sides since the UN-brokered ceasefire came into effect on Monday.
The resolution said Israel should end all offensive military action and Hezbollah should end all attacks.


View a 360-degree panorama taken in Beirut

[/URL]


Earlier Lebanese troops reached the southern border with Israel - a vehicle carrying a Lebanese flag made a symbolic pass a few metres from the border at Kfar Kila.
The UN says 400,000 people have returned to homes in the south and in the heavily bombed southern suburbs of Beirut.
Pro-Syrian Lebanese President Emile Lahoud has praised what he called the victory of Hezbollah against Israel in a televised address to the nation.
He said he saluted Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah "who willed this victory to be a victory for all Lebanese and all the Arab peoples". At his presidential retreat in Camp David, President George W Bush again condemned Hezbollah as a "force of instability". "Sometimes it takes people awhile to come to the sober realisation of what forces create stability and what don't," he said.

[URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5265934.stm"]BBC News Online (http://javascript<b></b>: void window.open('/1/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/06/lebanon360/html/360.stm','opportunity','toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=0,width=400,height=360,left=312,top=100');)

[Mobydog]

Israel raid in Lebanon tests U.N. truce
By Nadim Ladki

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Helicopter-borne Israeli commandos raided a Hizbollah bastion in eastern Lebanon on Saturday in the first major attack since a U.N.-backed truce halted Israel's 34-day war with the Shi'ite Muslim group.

Lebanese security sources said three Hizbollah guerillas were killed in a firefight. The Israeli army said it had suffered one dead and two wounded. The security sources said commandos in two vehicles unloaded from helicopters were on their way to attack an office of senior Hizbollah official Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek in the village of Bodai when they were intercepted. After the gunbattle, the Israelis pulled out under cover of fierce air strikes.

Israel said the raid aimed to disrupt arms supplies to Hizbollah from Syria and Iran. Both deny arming the group.

"Special forces carried out an operation to disrupt terror actions against Israel with an emphasis on the transfer of munitions from Syria and Iran to Hizbollah," Israel's army said.

Bodai is 15 km (9miles) northwest of the ancient city of Baalbek and 26 km (16 miles) from the Syrian border.

The Israeli raid coincided with a Lebanese army drive to tighten its grip on the border with Syria. Thousands of troops deployed on the eastern border on Saturday, security sources said. Hundreds deployed on the northern frontier on Friday. Nevertheless, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said continued Hizbollah arms shipments and the absence of Lebanese and international troops on the border had made the raid necessary

"The ceasefire in Lebanon is based on U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 which calls for a total international arms embargo on Hizbollah," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.
"Israel reserves the right to act in order to enforce the spirit of the resolution."

LEBANESE COMPLAINT Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said he had complained about the assault to U.N. envoys Terje Roed-Larsen and Vijay Nambiar during talks in Beirut about the truce.

"We asked them to convey a question to Israel: how is it going to stick by resolution 1701 while it is trying to breach it at any moment?" Salloukh told reporters.

The resolution adopted on August 11 ordered a "cessation of hostilities" that took effect on Monday, halting a war in which at least 1,183 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis were killed.

It ordered Israel to end "all offensive military actions" and Hizbollah to end all attacks. It also called for an embargo on arms supplies not authorized by the Lebanese government and for the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south alongside a strengthened UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force in the area.

Fifty French military engineers arrived at UNIFIL's main base in Naqoura on the south Lebanese coast, the first contingent of reinforcements since the war. The engineers were among 200 pledged by France, which has disappointed U.N. and U.S. hopes that it would form the backbone of the expanded U.N. force to supervise the truce, support the Lebanese army and monitor the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Report con't
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-08-19T103956Z_01_L13492527_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage3

[CPLHUNTER]

Israeli forces operate deep inside Lebanon

Raid marks broadest violation of 5-day-old cease-fire with Hezbollah

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah fighters battled Israeli commandos who landed near the militants’ stronghold deep inside Lebanon early Saturday, killing one soldier, in the first large-scale violation of the U.N.-brokered cease-fire between the sides.

Hezbollah said its guerrillas foiled the raid after a gunbattle, and the Israeli army said one soldier was killed and two were wounded but that the commando team completed its mission.

Three Hezbollah guerillas were also killed, Lebanese security sources said.

Witnesses said Israeli missiles destroyed a bridge during the raid — the first major violation of the U.N.-imposed cease-fire that took effect Monday following 34 days of fighting.

The Israeli army said the special forces operation aimed “to prevent and interfere with terror activity against Israel, especially the smuggling of arms from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah.”

The army said that such operations would be carried out until “an effective monitoring unit” of Lebanese or multinational troops was in place to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its arsenal.

Hezbollah TV and Lebanese security officials said Israeli helicopters dropped off a commando team outside the village of Boudai west of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release information to the media, said the Israelis apparently were seeking a guerrilla target in a nearby school but had no other details.
The officials also reported heavy overflights of Israeli jets.

Such a bold operation risked the cease-fire, and suggested Israel was going after a major target near Baalbek -- perhaps to rescue two Israeli soldiers snatched by Hezbollah on July 12, or to try to capture a senior guerrilla official to trade for the soldiers.

[DeltaWhisky58]

Beirut fury at 'ceasefire breach'


The commandos were airlifted from a cornfield, witnesses say

Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora has accused Israel of a "naked violation" of the five-day-old ceasefire, after a raid by Israeli commandos deep inside Lebanon.

The raid, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, left one Israeli dead and two injured.
Israel said it was trying to disrupt the movement of weapons from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah, and insisted the ceasefire was still intact.
The operation came hours after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned of a "fragile" situation on the ground.
The Israeli raid centred on the village of Bodai, west of the city of Baalbek, some 100km (60 miles) north of the Israeli border.
It is the first incident of its kind since the ceasefire came into effect.


Apparent remnants of the raid were found at the scene

Israeli helicopters are believed to have dropped off the commandos and two vehicles during the night.
The Israelis seem to have met more resistance than they expected, with one local fighter describing a gun battle lasting more than two hours, says the BBC's Jon Leyne at the scene.
Two helicopters landed in a cornfield and took away the soldiers, while Israeli fighter jets circled overhead, witnesses say.
There is speculation locally is that the Israelis may have been trying to capture a senior Hezbollah figure who lives in the village, our correspondent adds.
Lebanese sources earlier told Reuters agency that three militants died in the incident.

Government responses

In Beirut, the raid prompted an angry response from Mr Siniora.
"It is a naked violation of the cessation of hostilities declared by the Security Council," he told reporters.




Mid-East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)
Lebanon: Key facts (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456976/html/nn1page1.stm)
Send us your views (http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=3221&edition=2)

He said a complaint had been made to visiting UN envoys about the operation.
But Israel insisted it had not breached the ceasefire.
"We had specific information of arms transfers taking place and we acted to prevent that violation, so that violation is not from the Israeli side - we were responding to a violation of the resolution by Hezbollah," said Israeli spokesman Mark Regev.
Israel has said it will continue to carry out such actions until an expanded international military force is in place to prevent Hezbollah's re-armament.
The resolution which stopped the conflict said Israel should end all offensive military action and Hezbollah should end all attacks.

Reinforcements

Meanwhile, 50 French troops arrived in the Lebanese port of Naqoura, the first soldiers to bolster the UN peacekeeping force.

They are among 200 extra troops promised by France, as the UN struggles to build its expanded force.
The UN wants 3,500 troops on the ground speedily, to be increased later to 15,000. It says it is disappointed with the French contribution and wants other European nations to offer more help too. In a separate development, an Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian gunman in the West Bank, the army said. The gunman was then shot dead, officials say. The incident happened at a checkpoint near the city of Nablus.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5266688.stm)

[GiladS]

Multinational force 'can shoot'

Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem say multinational force in Lebanon will have right to open fire
Ronny Sofer

Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said Monday evening that a report to be published Monday by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will grant the multinational force operating in Lebanon (http://www.militaryphotos.net/articles/0,7340,L-3284170,00.html) the right to open fire, thereby complying with Israeli demands. Sources in Jerusalem expressed satisfaction over the decision.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (http://www.militaryphotos.net/articles/0,7340,L-3283691,00.html) spoke with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, over the issue of the multinational force in Lebanon, and asked that Italy be the country that leads the force. France asked Finland, currently holding the EU presidency, to hold a conference over the issue of the makeup of the force sent by the European Union.


UN forces on the northern border (Photo: Niv Kaldron)

The prime minister stressed that Israel viewed the sending of Italian forces as vital to the realization of Security Council Resolution 1701, "and this will be an important contribution to peace and stability in the Middle East."

Olmert added that it was important the force reach the area as soon as possible, and that Italy should also send forces to monitor one of the border passages between Syria and Lebanon.

The Italian prime minister said he intended on sending a significant army force, to carry out the mission, and that he planned on passing the issue in the Italian parliament as soon as possible. The two prime ministers agreed that the issue should be brought forward quickly and agreed to remain in touch in the coming days.



Link (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3293640,00.html)




UN: UNIFIL troops can open fire on armed Hezbollah men

By Shlomo Shamir (secretary@haaretz.co.il) and Yoav Stern (stern@haaretz.co.il), Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies

United Nations troops in south Lebanon are authorized to open fire on armed Hezbollah men, a UN spokesman said Sunday evening.

The UN spokesman said that if the international troops encounter armed individuals who refuse to lay down their weapons, they are permitted to use force.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday told his Italian counterpart, Prime Minister Romano Prodi, that he wishes to see Italy lead the contingent of foreign soldiers which would comprise the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.


AdvertisementIn a telephone conversation between the two leaders, Olmert also requested that Rome dispatch troops to serve as border inspectors to be stationed at crossing points between Syria and Lebanon.

The Italian premier said that his government plans to send a significant number of soldiers to Lebanon, adding that he intends to pass the matter along for discussion in the Italian parliament as soon as possible.

Olmert said it was vital for the international force to arrive in the region within as short a timeframe as is feasible. Both premiers agreed that the issue must be given high priority.

"If UN headquarters asks us to lead the force, we won't refuse even if we are not asking [to lead the force]," Pierro Pasino, the leader of the largest party in Prodi's governing coalition, told the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero.

Pasino noted that Italy is geographically situated near the Middle East, and that "a large nation like Italy can't evade its responsibility."

"It may well be that Italy will be ready to take France's place as the leader of the UN force in southern Lebanon," Italian Defense Minister Arturo Parisi said.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has criticized European member states for failing to send troops to expand the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) as mandated under Resolution 1701.

While states such as Bangladesh and Nepal are already committed to sending troops, the leading European countries with the best-equipped armies and logistics operations have been slow to respond to Annan's urgent pleas for personnel.

Saturday's IDF commando raid (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/752185.html) near Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, purportedly to prevent arms deliveries to Hezbollah, is not expected to make the UNIFIL recruitment operation any easier.

Annan also criticized the raid, accusing Israel of violating the terms of UN cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Aides to Annan envision a three-stage scenario for recruiting reinforcement for UNIFIL, to be completed within 10 to 12 weeks.

In the first stage, efforts will be made to send a contingent of 3,500 soldiers to southern Lebanon by August 28. A month later, a few thousand more troops will be sent, and by late October the full complement of 15,000 should be deployed.

In the first report on the cease-fire he submitted to the Security Council, Annan said Friday that UNIFIL would not wage war against Israel, Lebanon or Hezbollah. He reiterated his request that member states provide "desperately needed soldiers" for the UN peace force.

"It is not expected to achieve by force what must be realized through negotiation and an internal Lebanese consensus," Annan told the Security Council.

UN Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown, who is in charge of recruiting reinforcements to UNIFIL, emphasized the force's policing mandate.

"It is not an offensive force," Brown said. "It's not going to go in there and attempt large-scale disarmament. Rather it is going to police the political agreement that triggers disarmament, called for under the resolution, and therefore it will make a prudent use of force."

The Lebanese Army continued Saturday to redeploy along the country's border with Israel. Brigade 10 reached villages close to the Israeli border in the west, including Shaba and Al-Hiam. Approximately three battalions were deployed along Lebanon's northern border with Syria in an effort to prevent cross-border smuggling.

The redeployments are coordinated with UNIFIL and with the Israel Defense Forces. By arrangement, the IDF is withdrawing from areas where UNIFIL is deployed, with the Lebanese Army taking over afterward. There were reports over the weekend of IDF forces penetrating a few kilometers into Lebanese territory, where they arrested a young Lebanese man and raided the home of a religious leader.

Britain's Guardian newspaper published a report Saturday, based on sources close to senior Lebanese Army officials, that the army has agreed with Hezbollah that any weapons the militia displays in public would be confiscated. The army does not intend to raid homes to search for arms, however.

"The army knows there is a gun in every household, they are not going to go out and look for them ... What we are concerned about is the launchers. There is an agreement with Hezbollah that any weapons found will be handed over," retired general Nizar Abdel-Kader, a former deputy chief of staff for army personnel who is in close communication with the army command, told the Guardian.

According to reports at UN headquarters, Italy has promised to send a large number of troops to UNIFIL. France, meanwhile, was roundly criticized on Friday for backing out its commitment of troops to the force.


Link (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/752252.html)
.....

[Mangusta CBT]

Olmert asks Italy to lead UN force

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has called for Italy to lead a U.N. peacekeeping force for Lebanon, his office said in a statement on Sunday.

The call was made in a telephone conversation between Olmert and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and indicated Italy's chances of leading the force had increased following France's apparent reluctance to commit more than 200 additional troops to Lebanon.

"It is important that Italy should lead the international force and send troops to also oversee the Lebanon-Syria border crossings," the statement said.

France has pledged to send only 200 extra troops to Lebanon, disappointing Washington and the United Nations, which had hoped the French contingent would form the backbone of an expanded U.N. force.

The Italian government has not specified how many troops it is prepared to contribute, but officials in Rome say the figure could be up to 3,000, making it one of the biggest contributors.

Italy's Defense Minister Arturo Parisi said in a written statement on Friday that "eventually our country could assume the responsibility of leading the operation," although Prodi himself has not yet spoken of Italy taking command.

Prodi's office said on Sunday he discussed the force in separate telephone conversations with Olmert and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

Both men told Prodi they appreciated that Italy was ready "to assume a role of primary importance" in the mission.

A Lebanese government source said further talks were needed.

"They (Italy) have a positive readiness and are more enthusiastic than other parties but the discussions need more calls with the Italians and the French," the source said.

The statement from Olmert's office said he saw Italy's contribution to the force as "vital to the implementation of (U.N.) Security Council resolution 1701 and it will be an important contribution to peace and stability in the Middle East."

The U.N.-brokered cease-fire ending a 34-day war between Israel and the Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon came into effect last Monday.

Nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis were killed during the conflict, in which villages in southern Lebanon and Beirut suburbs were damaged by Israeli air strikes, and northern Israel was shut down by Hizbollah rockets fired across the border.

[shocker1]

Lebanon Warns Against Inciting Israel

By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer

52 minutes agoUPDATED 27 MINUTES AGO
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's defense minister said Sunday he is certain Hezbollah will not break the cease-fire but warned all militant groups of harsh measures and a traitor's fate if they incite Israeli retaliation by firing rockets into the Jewish state.

Defense Minister Elias Murr's strong remarks indicated concern that Syrian-backed Palestinian militants might try to restart the fighting by drawing retaliation from Israel. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, meanwhile, toured the devastated Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut and decried the destruction by Israeli bombs as a "crime against humanity." Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Shiite and Hezbollah backer, stood at the Sunni premier's side and said they spoke with one voice.

In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would name a panel to investigate the military and government's performance during the war, which has been criticized by many Israelis as weak and indecisive. A day after Israeli commandos staged a pre-dawn raid deep into Lebanon, prompting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to declare the Israelis in violation of the Security Council cease-fire resolution, no new clashes were reported.

Residents in the mountains east of Beirut, however, described continued overflights by Israeli warplanes on the truce's seventh day.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Saturday's raid was aimed at disrupting arms shipments to Hezbollah and such operations may continue until international peacekeepers arrive to enforce an arms embargo."In the situation where there was a flagrant violation of the embargo, Israel had the right to act. Had there not been a violation, Israel would not have to respond," he said Sunday, expressing impatience with the slow international response in offering troops for the peacekeeping force.

Siding with Jerusalem, the U.S. government also said the Israeli raid underscored the importance of quickly deploying an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.
"We've seen the press reports and noted the Israeli statement saying that the operation was a reaction to arms smuggling," White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said, adding that preventing the resupply of weapons to Hezbollah by Syria and Iran is a key provision of the cease-fire plan.

The Lebanese defense minister insisted that Hezbollah would hold its fire."We consider that when the resistance (Hezbollah) is committed not to fire rockets, then any rocket that is fired from the Lebanese territory would be considered collaboration with Israel to provide a pretext (for Israel) to strike," Murr said.He added that "the Lebanese army will decisively deal with" any attack on Israel and that anyone arrested for violating the truce "will be considered by the military tribunal as an agent of the Israeli enemy."Murr did not repeat his threat of Saturday to stop the deployment of Lebanon's army in the south to protest Israel's helicopter-borne commando raid near the town of Boudai on the west side of the Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah stronghold.
Such a halt would be a blow to the U.N. cease-fire plan, which calls for the army and a strong U.N. peacekeeping force to police the truce and separate Israeli troops and Hezbollah's guerrillas.
Murr apparently was satisfied by a declaration from Annan warning Israel against a repeat of the raid.Townspeople in Boudai said 300 residents grabbed guns after the Israeli raid began at 3 a.m. and fought at the side of 15 Hezbollah guerrillas for 90 minutes before the commandos retreated and were flown back to Israel. Residents said there were no casualties on the Lebanese side. One Israeli officer was killed and two soldiers were wounded.

Under the U.N. cease-fire that took effect a week ago Monday, Lebanon has started deploying 15,000 soldiers in its southern region, putting a government force there for the first time in four decades.
It is to be joined by an equal force of international peacekeepers, but wrangling among countries expected to send troops has delayed the mission and U.N. officials are pleading for nations to participate to bolster the fragile truce.France, which commands the existing U.N. force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, on Sunday called for a meeting of European Union countries this week to determine the number of troops they are prepared to contribute to the U.N. mission.
"We are asking that Europe express its solidarity toward Lebanon as rapidly as possible," Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told radio Franco Info.The Israeli prime minister complicated the effort with a reported decision Sunday to reject peacekeepers in Lebanon from countries that don't have diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh _ Muslim countries that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel _ are among the only countries so far to have offered front-line troops for the expanded force.The U.N. cease-fire resolution does not explicitly give Israel authority to block countries from joining the peacekeeping mission, but it does say the force should coordinate its activites with the Lebanese and Israeli governments.
Saniora, the prime minister, made his first visit Sunday to Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold, where airstrikes wrecked whole neighborhoods.
"What we see today is an image of the crimes Israel has committed ... there is no other description other than a criminal act that shows Israel's hatred to destroy Lebanon and its unity," Saniora told reporters and television crews invited on the tour."I hope the international media transmits this picture to every person in the world so that it shows this criminal act, this crime against humanity," the Western-backed prime minister said.While he visited, Hezbollah's operatives were still handing out bundles of $100 bills to people who lost homes to Israeli bombs _ $12,000 for each claimant. The stipend is to pay a year's rent and refurnish homes.
Arab foreign ministers held an emergency meeting in Egypt, and Arab League Deputy Secretary-General Ahmed Ben Heli said they would discuss setting up a fund to rebuild Lebanon, which lost an estimated 15,000 apartments, 140 bridges and other structures.
Diplomats said Arab governments wanted to counter the flood of Iranian money that is believed to be financing the Hezbollah handouts.
Iran, which is not an Arab nation, denied that Sunday. "Hezbollah is a legitimate body in Lebanon; they have their own economic resources and popular support there," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in Tehran.
http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2006/08/20/459532.html&cvqh=itn_lebanon

[DeltaWhisky58]

Italy steps in with Lebanon offer


A small number of French troops have arrived in Lebanon

Italy has said it would be willing to lead a force to police the ceasefire in southern Lebanon.

France had been expected to shoulder the task, but has expressed concern about the lack of a clear mandate for the force, and offered only 200 troops.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops shot three men they suspected of being Hezbollah fighters in an incident correspondents say underscores the truce's fragility.
Israel says the men were approaching its troops in "a threatening manner".
Two of the men died and a third was injured in the incident near the Lebanese village of Shama, about 4km (2.5 miles) from the border with Israel, the Israeli military said.
The ceasefire is in its ninth day, but Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon and both sides accuse each other of violations.
An Israeli commando raid deep into Lebanon on Saturday was condemned by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as a violation of the ceasefire.

'Positive role'

In Italy, Prime Minister Romano Prodi said his country was willing to lead the planned international force.
Italy has indicated it could offer up to 3,000 troops - the most substantial offer so far - but has not given a firm commitment.


Billions of dollars' worth of damage has been done to Lebanon


Mr Prodi said UN Secretary General Kofi Annan would make a decision on the force by the weekend.
Italy's "positive role" was welcomed by the Lebanese cabinet, Information Minister Gazi Afridi said.
Israel has already said it would be happy if Italy led the force.
But Italy's offer to lead the force appears to be conditional on an agreement being reached on a new UN resolution, the AFP news agency reported.
The agency quoted Mr Prodi as saying a new resolution should provide "a specific mandate, specific contents and a very clear definition of the alliances".
At a hastily-convened news conference on Monday, President Bush announced that the US would boost its aid package to Lebanon to $230m (£121m), and said there was an urgent need for the bolstered force.




British kit 'in Hezbollah bunker' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5269918.stm)
Mid-East crisis: Key maps (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5177932.stm)
Send us your views (http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=3221&edition=2)


The ultimate goal, he said, of disarming Hezbollah could only come once a "security zone" was created along the border.
He said European reservations over the force's mandate would be addressed by more "robust" rules of engagement. Officials later said, however, he was not proposing a new UN resolution.
Deputy UN Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown said he was still hopeful that European countries, including France, would commit more forces.
He also rejected Israel's view that countries it has no diplomatic relations with - such as Malaysia and Indonesia - should be excluded from the peacekeeping force.
"Yes [the force] must enjoy the confidence of Israel, but that doesn't give them a right to blackball individual contributions," he said.
"We'll expect them to look at... the totality of the force and whether it represents a broad multilateral balance."

Rejected calls

UN Resolution 1701 calls for 15,000 troops to be deployed to uphold the ceasefire.
But some countries have been reluctant to commit troops because they fear their soldiers might get drawn into conflict if they are required to disarm Hezbollah directly.
On Monday, Hezbollah's deputy leader rejected calls for it to disarm. Sheikh Naeem Kassem reportedly told the Arabic TV station al-Jazeera: "I say it clearly: the resistance will continue. We must remain in a state of readiness with this enemy [Israel]." He repeated Hezbollah's claims of victory against Israel in the 34-day conflict.

BBC News Online (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5273188.stm)

[/URL]


LATEST NEWS
Italy steps in with Lebanon offer (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/default.stm)
US pledges $230m in Lebanon aid (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5271810.stm)
Lebanon warning on ceasefire (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5268418.stm)
Israeli commando raid alarms UN (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5267736.stm)


DESPATCHES

[URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5270118.stm"]Dangers await (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5270118.stm)
Unexploded bombs are among dangers facing those returning to southern Lebanon.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5270118.stm)
Israeli city counts cost of war (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5264594.stm)
Devastation sightseers (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5262832.stm)
Surveying the damaged south (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5265926.stm)


ANALYSIS
Challenges facing peace force (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4794673.stm)
France uneasy about mandate (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4800185.stm)
Tough task for Lebanese army (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4798497.stm)


BACKGROUND
Text: UN Lebanon resolution (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4785963.stm)
Who stands where? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5253146.stm)
Lebanon's seven-point proposal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5256936.stm)


VOICES
Israeli views on conflict (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/middle_east_israeli_views_on_lebanese_war/html/1.stm)

Bloggers fear for the future (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5260472.stm)
Israeli-Lebanese debate (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4801317.stm)


VIDEO AND AUDIO
Reports and analysis (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5273188.stm#)


(http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=2901&edition=2)

[tiusok]

By Ze'ev Schiff (contact@haaretz.co.il)

In its second Lebanon war, Israel was surprised by Hezbollah's anti-tank weapons and the way they used them. The Israel Defense Forces was similarly surprised on the Egyptian front in the Yom Kippur War. At the time, we knew the Arab armies had Russian-made Sagger anti-tank guided missiles, but we did not understand the significance of the mass deployment of these missiles nor how it would affect the IDF's Armored Corps. On the first night of the war, the IDF lost 150 tanks.

This is what happened in the war against Hezbollah. We knew the organization had advanced anti-tank rockets; the IDF's Military Intelligence even acquired one. We also understood that Hezbollah was positioning anti-tank units; however, we failed to understand the significance of the mass deployment of these weapons.

The result: Anti-tank weapons caused most of the IDF casualties in the war - nearly all the Armored Corps' casualties and many from the infantry units. More infantry soldiers were killed by anti-tank weapons than in hand-to-hand combat. Many of the infantry soldiers who lost their lives because of anti-tank weapons entered houses in the villages; the rockets penetrated the walls, killing them.


Missiles have always surprised the IDF. A few months after the June 1967 Six-Day War, Israel was surprised by a Russian-made "Styx" SS-N-2C missile that sank an Israel Navy destroyer, the INS Eilat, causing dozens of crew to drown. The Israel Navy and the Rafael Armament Development Authority probed the problem, arriving at a solution that helped the navy win the Yom Kippur War despite the dozens of similar missiles that were fired at its ships.

In the Yom Kippur War, the Israel Air Force suffered a serious setback because of various Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles. For years afterwards, the IAF made every effort to find operational solutions to this problem. The result could be seen in the Lebanon War of 1982 when the IAF, under Major General David Ivry's command, knocked out 19 anti-aircraft missile batteries in Lebanon's Bekaa within hours. Syria and the Soviet Union, the missile's manufacturer, were dumbfounded.

In the Yom Kippur War, anti-tank rockets surprised the IDF's Armored Corps. Since then, no substantive solution has been found for that problem although the Merkava offers high survivability for the crew of a tank that has been hit. Before the last war, Israel was surprised by its inability - despite its advanced technology - to effectively deal with the primitive Qassam rockets the Palestinians were firing. Prior to the war, MI warned the IAF that the latter would not be able to effectively deal with all the rockets. And that is what happened when Israel had to handle even simpler ones.

This time, the Israel Navy was surprised by a single Chinese-made C-802 Silkworm shore-to-ship cruise missile, which neutralized the navy's flagship, the INS Hanit. According to some reports, an Iranian team fired the missile.

Hezbollah used seven different types of rockets in the war - four of them the most advanced available and all produced by Russia and sold to Syria. The most advanced rockets can penetrate steel armor of 70-centimeter to 1.2-meter thickness. After the armor has been pierced, a second warhead explodes inside the tank. MI acquired one of these rockets and understood that Hezbollah was positioning anti-tank units. However, the IDF was inadequately prepared for this development.

Four Israeli tanks hit large landmines. Three of the tanks, which lacked underbelly protective armor, lost all 12 crew members. The fourth had underbelly protective armor; of its six crew members, only one died.

Anti-tank missiles hit 46 tanks and 14 other armored vehicles. In all these attacks, the tanks sustained only 15 armor penetrations while the other armored vehicles sustained five, with 20 soldiers killed, 15 of them tank crew members. Another two Armored Corps soldiers, whose bodies were exposed, were killed. In another location, Wadi Salouki, Hezbollah carried out a successful anti-tank ambush, hitting 11 tanks. Missiles penetrated the armor of three tanks; in two of them, seven Armored Corps soldiers were killed. Two of the other tanks were immobilized.

The conclusions from this war have yet to be drawn, and we must remember that the enemy draws its own conclusions as well.


http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/751958.html

[ReggayMC]

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- An Israeli soldier was killed and three others wounded in southern Lebanon on Wednesday when their tank drove over a land mine, Lebanese officials said.

The Israeli military was not immediately available to comment on the incident, which was also reported by Arab media.

It was the second Israeli death in tense southern Lebanon since a U.N.-brokered cease-fire agreement on Aug. 14 ended 34 days of ferocious fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerrillas. On Saturday, an Israeli officer was killed in a commando raid deep inside Lebanon.

Hundreds of Israeli troops have remained on the positions they occupied during the clashes, waiting for a U.N. peacekeeping force to move into Lebanon and guarantee a buffer zone between Israel and the guerrillas.
Lebanese security officials said the Israeli patrol hit a land mine between the village of Blida and the U.N.-demarcated border line, less than three miles into Lebanon.

The Lebanese officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Israeli soldiers had entered a minefield _ one of the many left over by the Israelis after their troops withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000, ending 18 years of occupation.

Providing maps for the minefields in Lebanon is required from Israel under the U.N. cease-fire resolution that ended the latest fighting.

Hezbollah guerrillas also have laid mines in the south, both in the past and in the course of the recent fighting to stop the Israeli army's ground push.
Under the U.N.-brokered cease-fire, Lebanon plans to deploy 15,000 soldiers in the south, establishing a government force in the region for the first time in four decades.

Plans for some 15,000 international peacekeepers to join the Lebanese troops have been delayed by wrangling among countries expected to send troops

[daily666]

Italy urges EU to join Lebanon UN force



By Mark John



BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italy pressed fellow European Union states on Wednesday to support its pledge of troops by sending soldiers to join a U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

Rome has said it could provide as many as 3,000 troops out of a European contingent of anything up to 9,000. The U.N. has authorized a total force of 15,000 and is concerned that hostilities could reignite if the deployment is delayed.

But with France offering just 200 troops for now and others fearful of getting caught up in a conflict without an adequate mandate to defend themselves, total commitments have been meager and little progress is expected before a higher-level meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers on Friday.

"Clearly Italy will be making an appeal for others to come forward. But we are not expecting firm pledges today," said one EU diplomat before the talks.

EU president Finland said envoys would concentrate on preparing the ground for Friday's meeting, which U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is also expected to attend.

Potential contributors, including Belgium, Spain and Nordic countries like Finland, are concerned that the exact nature of the mission is not clearly defined. Others such as Britain and the Netherlands stress their military commitments elsewhere.

The 15,000 U.N. troops are due to work alongside a similar number of Lebanese soldiers deployed in the south to support a truce that ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas. Nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis were killed in the conflict.

European troops are considered vital if the United Nations is to assemble an advance party of 3,500 troops by September 2.

However, EU states say they want greater clarity about how the force will go about its tasks. These are not expected to include mass disarming of Hizbollah but could involve ensuring no arms are smuggled into Lebanon across its borders.

DISAPPOINTMENT

Italy's commitment stems from its proximity to the Middle East and Prime Minister Romano Prodi's wish to reverse the isolation in Europe that Rome suffered because of the pro-U.S. position of his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi.

France disappointed some allies by appearing to downgrade an earlier troop pledge but Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy indicated on Wednesday that Paris could dispatch more soldiers once the terms of the mission were set.

"You can't decide just like that to send in thousands of men," he told France 2 television.

French sources did not rule out further reinforcements being sent once the rules of engagement -- the code governing how the U.N. troops will be allowed to operate -- were set.

"We never said this was our last word," one French source said of the pledge of 200 troops. "We hope to get enough clarification to see how we can make further reinforcements".

U.N. chief Annan is due to attend Friday's meeting of foreign ministers from the EU's 25 states and explain how the U.N. force, known as UNIFIL, will operate.

According to a U.N. document obtained by Reuters, new rules of engagement for the U.N. troops permit soldiers to shoot in self-defense, use force to protect civilians and resist armed attempts to interfere with their duties.

[Switek]

Last Updated: Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 12:30 GMT 13:30 UK

BBC: EU facing test over Lebanon force

By Paul Reynolds
World affairs correspondent, BBC News website



France has not supplied as many troops as the UN hoped for

The European Union is struggling to find the necessary unity of purpose as the UN looks to it to provide the backbone of the new international force to police southern Lebanon.

A meeting of foreign ministers is to take place on Friday, preceded by an experts' meeting on Wednesday, and these should determine who is going to step up to the plate, and who is not.

Ideally, the UN would like the EU to provide about 9,000 of the proposed force of some 15,000.

This is yet another test for the EU's hopes of developing a common foreign and security policy - and so far it has wobbled.


French role

Already, France has disappointed the UN by wavering. It took a leading role in the framing of the ceasefire resolution and offered to lead the force, before developing doubts and stepping back.

It has sent only 200 troops so far, though it says more might be forthcoming if the mandate for the force is properly worked out.

In France's absence, which might only be temporary, Italy has come forward with an offer both of leadership and of some 3,000 troops.

We cannot send our soldiers into Lebanon if the IDF continues to shoot

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo-D'Alema

The Financial Times, a newspaper read and respected in the halls of diplomacy in Europe, has said: "Europe's pretensions look ragged, and even more so France's hopes of being taken seriously in Washington."

However, there are real issues here about what the force should or will be able to do.

The Israelis had demanded that it be robust enough to take on Hezbollah if necessary, but that is probably not going to happen.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the force would have two main tasks.

"On the one hand it will be there to enable the Lebanese army to deploy, and on the other hand it will be there to safeguard the arms embargo at all the borders. I repeat, at all the borders," he told France 2 television.

No sign there of any role in enforcing a peace. The risk is that the new force will fall into the ways of the existing UN force, Unifil, which was sent into southern Lebanon after the Israeli operation there in 1978, and which has done little except monitor fighting ever since.


Israeli demands

In Israeli eyes, unless the force does its job, Israel will not lift the blockade of Lebanon and the full withdrawal of its troops will be in doubt.

The extent of Israel's commitment to the ceasefire is equally something that worries the EU, given that Israel reserves the right to self-defence as it sees fit.


"We cannot send our soldiers into Lebanon if the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] continues to shoot," said Italian Foreign Minister Massimo-D'Alema.

So some of these problems are not of the EU's making. What is at issue is whether the EU can make itself an effective part of the solution.

EU states also want the force to have a right to self-defence that does not get it dragged into conflict with the parties. This is especially sensitive for Germany. The idea of German forces firing on Israelis is not conceivable to the German government. That is why it is talking of sending only police officers to operate on the ground, as well as naval forces to patrol the Lebanese coast.

In fact, the naval force is potentially quite a big operation.

John Palmer, of the European Policy Centre in Brussels, said: "French experience and bitter memories in Lebanon [France suffered heavily in an attack by Hezbollah in 1983] are perhaps making it play hardball.

"I do not see this as a fundamental difference of opinion within the EU, but the proof of this pudding will be in the eating."

Paul.Reynolds-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

Link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5277996.stm)

[GiladS]

Peretz calls for anti-missile system
By YAAKOV KATZ (yaakovk@jpost.com)


After Hizbullah fired close to 4,000 rockets and missiles at northern Israel over the past month, Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the defense establishment on Thursday to begin developing an anti-missile defense system.

"This is the key to enable the IDF to face its challenges on all of the different fronts," Peretz told defense officials during a security assessment meeting on Thursday at the ministry in Tel Aviv.
Peretz also ordered IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz to ensure that emergency warehouses were refilled with suitable and adequate equipment and that reservists began to receive proper training to prepare them for the next war.

Military Intelligence was said to be split on the question of when Israel's next war against Hizbullah will erupt, with some officials claiming that it is a matter of months and others predicting that it would not start for at least two years.

Israel has in the past invested in an anti-rocket defense system that would also be effective against the Kassam rockets fired by Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip. One such project was the Nautilus - known today as the Skyguard - which was developed in the US and was successful in intercepting and destroying incoming short-range rockets. Israel, however, ditched the project claiming that the prototype did not suit Israel's needs since it was not mobile due to its large size. Officials also have said that the Nautilus was too expensive and that its purchase did not make sense economically.


Link (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525940004&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

.....

[GiladS]

Annan: Europe to send 6,900 troops to Lebanon


UN Secretary-General says Europe has agreed to provide more than half of an expanded peacekeeping force for Lebanon, with nearly 7,000 troops; adds he hopes force would be able to deploy in days, not weeks Associated Press Published: 08.25.06, 19:08

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday that Europe had agreed to provide more than half of an expanded peacekeeping force for Lebanon (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284170,00.html) , with nearly 7,000 troops, and he hoped the force would be able to deploy in days, not weeks.

"Europe is providing the backbone of the force," Annan said after an emergency meeting with EU foreign ministers.

"We can now begin to put together a credible force."

He said he asked France - which dramatically increased its pledged contribution to 2,000 troops late Thursday – to lead the force until February 2007.

European countries appeared to have overcome initial concern about being caught in the middle between Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284752,00.html) and Hizbullah (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284023,00.html) . France, in particular, earlier held back from promising a large contribution and demanded a clearer definition of the mission and the rules of engagement.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that she was satisfied with the EU's decision.

"The decision will advance the implementation of UN Resolution 1701," she said.

On Sunday, Livni is expected to visit Germany, where she will meet with the chancellor and the foreign minister.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Annan gave guarantees for the safety of European troops and on rules of engagement, and that France wanted an arms-free "exclusion zone" in south Lebanon.

"We think the best solution for disarming Hizbullah is to make an exclusion zone with the retreat of the Israeli army on one side and the deployment of the Lebanese Army on the other, reinforced by the UN troops," he said.

Disarmament of Hizbullah cannot be done by force

Annan said the United Nations also had received "firm commitments" from Muslim nations Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, and was consulting with Turkey about joining the peacekeeping force.

Israel has expressed concern, however, about contingents from Muslim countries with which it does not have relations.

The EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, called on Israel to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon. Ending the blockade has been linked to forming a UN Force.

Annan said that the UN force would be able to deploy along the Lebanese-Syrian border to help prevent weapons shipments to Hizbullah, but only if the Lebanese government asked for such help. Lebanon, to date, as neither asked for this nor ruled it out – but Syrian President Bashar Assad (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284205,00.html) has strongly objected (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3294557,00.html) .

"It is generally accepted that the disarmament of Hizbullah cannot be done by force," Annan told reporters. "The troops are not going there to disarm Hizbullah, let's be clear on that."

Ronny Sofer contributed to the report


Link (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3295710,00.html)
....

[GiladS]

Hizbullah surprised at Israeli offensive

By JPOST.COM STAFF (updates@jpost.com)



Deputy Chief of Hizbullah, Naeem Kasam said Saturday that the organization was surprised at the extent of Israel's response to the kidnapping of IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.
"We were surprised by the size and strength of the Israeli reaction. We expected that the IDF would bomb areas close to the border for several days and only cause minimal damage," Kasam said in an interview with Lebanese newspaper A-Nahar.

According to the deputy, Hizbullah had information that the US and Israel were planning to launch an attack against the organization in September or October, but due to American and Israeli public pressure following the kidnapping of the two soldiers, the attacks were carried out earlier, prior to Israel being fully prepared for a full-scale attack.

Furthermore, Kasam noted that Hizbullah would not disarm because Israel continued to occupy the Shabba Farms, still held Lebanese prisoners and IAF planes flew in Lebanese airspace on a day-to-day basis.


Link (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525946955&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)
....

[nitrogen]

Nasrallah sorry for scale of war

Nasrallah ordered the capture of the soldiers on 12 July
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has said he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to such a war.
"Had we known that the kidnapping of the soldiers would have led to this, we would definitely not have done it," he said in an interview on Lebanese TV.

He added that neither side was "heading towards a second round" of fighting.

More than 1,000 Lebanese died in the 34-day conflict which left much of southern Lebanon in ruins.

The Israeli offensive began after two Israeli soldiers were seized during a cross border raid by Hezbollah militants on 12 July.

Annan visit

"We did not think that there was a 1% chance that the kidnapping would lead to a war of this scale and magnitude," Sheikh Nasrallah said.

"Now you ask me if this was 11 July and there was a 1% chance that the kidnapping would lead to a war like the one that has taken place, would you go ahead with the kidnapping?

"I would say no, definitely not, for humanitarian, moral, social, security, military and political reasons.


Many thousands have been left homeless by the offensive
"Neither I, Hezbollah, prisoners in Israeli jails and nor the families of the prisoners would accept it."

Sheikh Nasrallah was speaking on the eve of a visit to Beirut by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to discuss the expanded UN peacekeeping force to be deployed in southern Lebanon.

A force of 15,000 soldiers, 7,000 of them from European Union states, will be deployed to maintain the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The UN hopes to have some of the troops on the ground within a week, although the foreign minister of Finland - which currently holds the EU presidency - has said it will be two to three months before the whole force is deployed.

The force will be led by France until February, at which time Italy will take command.

Speaking in Brussels on Friday, Mr Annan said the plan would only work if the enlarged UN force, called Unifil 2, was "strong, credible and robust".

Mr Annan said the force offered the possibility of a "durable ceasefire and long-term solution" to the Middle East crisis.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5291420.stm

[GiladS]

IDF has razed Hezbollah bunkers in Lebanon within past 24 hours

By The Associated Press

Israel Defense Forces troops have demolished an unspecified number of Hezbollah bunkers in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours, the army said in a statement early Friday afternoon.

The statement said the bunkers contained rocket-propelled grenade launchers, mortar shells, light arms and communications equipment.

The operation took place around the southern Lebanese village of Ayt a-Shab, the IDF said. Ayt-a-Shab was the scene of fierce fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah militants during the war in the north.


Link (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/757688.html)

....

[Darth Vidar]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3298723,00.html

Top Hizbullah commander dies from wounds sustained in fighting

Published: 09.02.06, 21:03 Hizbullah announced Saturday the death of a military commander from wounds he sustained in monthlong fighting with Israel, making him the highest-ranking fighter the group acknowledges to have died in the war.

In a statement carried on Hizbullah's al-Manar TV, Hizbullah said, "The commander Hajj Ali Mohammed Saleh Bilal was martyred from wounds he sustained in the confrontations." (AP)

[GiladS]

IDF prepares to leave Lebanon in 10-14 days
By Amos Harel (contact@haaretz.co.il), Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies

The Israel Defense Forces could withdraw all troops from Lebanon in a period of 10 days to two weeks if the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon continues to deploy at the present rate, security forces told Haaretz over the weekend.

Meanwhile, the bolstered peacekeeping force in Lebanon began taking shape on Saturday as 1,000 soldiers started moving in - the first large contingent of international troops dispatched to help safeguard a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Italian advanced forces, which landed in Tyre in helicopters and rubber boats, are meant to protect the Italian navy ships docking on Sunday.

With Israel apparently racing to destroy Hezbollah arms caches in the territory it occupies ahead of an impending withdrawal, the UN force commander said the truce was still "fragile" and warned any incident could quickly escalate.

The IDF is expected first to withdraw to the ridge one to two kilometers north of the Israeli-Lebanese border, followed by redeployment along the border itself, although the two stages may be combined and the timetable sped up.

"We want to complete the withdrawal as quickly as possible. No one wants to stay in Lebanon more than necessary," a source said.

The completion of the withdrawal from Lebanon will allow the reserve battalions currently serving in the West Bank on emergency orders to be demobilized and replaced by regular troops. The army is gradually thinning out its troops, having already withdrawn those posted deep inside Lebanese territory. At present a force equal to two brigades is now in Lebanon. A large number of the troops are there to make sweeps and are not manning permanent positions.

Troops sweeping the village of Aita al-Shaab in the western sector Friday uncovered and demolished a Hezbollah bunker containing numerous weapons and ordinance.

Military sources said they were satisfied with the rate of deployment of the international force and the serious attitude of its commanders.

There have been weeks of delay in deploying peacekeepers since the cease-fire began August 14, in part because it took time to hammer out details over the troops' mandate and convince countries hesitant to offer troops for what was seen as a potentially risky mission: getting between the bitter enemies, Israel and Hezbollah.

The full 15,000-member force has not been assembled yet, but with several major European countries now on board, more pledges from other countries are coming in.

Mainly Muslim Indonesia announced it would send up to 1,000 soldiers by month's end after Israel dropped objections to its participation in the force. The U.S., Europe and Israel have been eager to have Muslim troops among the peacekeepers to show it is not a solely Christian force. However Israel opposed Indonesia's taking part because it does not have relations with that country.

Turkey's prime minister, meanwhile, was trying to ensure that parliament approves his government's promise to send troops amid strong public opposition. Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured Turks the soldiers would not be disarming Hezbollah militants.

"When such a thing is requested from our soldiers, then we will withdraw our soldiers," Erdogan told reporters on Saturday.

The UN cease-fire resolution calls for Hezbollah to eventually be disarmed, but doesn't mandate the peacekeepers to do it.

Instead, the force, along with the 15,000 Lebanese troops now moving into the south, is to ensure a buffer zone along the Israeli-Lebanese border free of open Hezbollah fighters and arms, up to the Litani river about 30 kilometers to the North. At the same time, Lebanese troops on the border with Syria are supposed to prevent new weapons shipments to Hezbollah. UN chief Kofi Annan said Friday that Syria, Hezbollah's ally, promised to patrol its side of the frontier to prevent arms deliveries, though Israel was skeptical it would really do so.

Annan on Saturday was in Iran, another top patron of Hezbollah and believed by many to be its top arms supplier, to press its leadership to ensure no weapons go to Hezbollah, as the UN cease-fire resolution requires all nations to do.

Despite the lack of a mandate to disarm Hezbollah, UNIFIL commander, the French General Alain Pellegrini said the expanded international force marked a break from a past in which peacekeepers stood helplessly by as conflicts repeatedly flared.

"We have to forget the previous UNIFIL. The previous UNIFIL is dead and the new one is very different," Pellegrini told reporters. "It is strengthened with stronger rules of engagement. We will have more people, more equipment. We have the possibility to use force to implement our mission."

After talks with Annan, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki gave a vague promise to uphold the resolution, saying, "Iran has supported the Lebanese consensus on the resolution." He did not specifically address the weapons issue.

400 Italian peacekeepers arrive in Lebanon
More than 400 Italian soldiers arrived Saturday in south Lebanon, as an advance party of the first large contingent of international troops dispatched to boost the United Nations peacekeeping force.

One hundred fifty Italian marines wearing blue berets arrived by helicopter in the Mediterranean port city of Tyre to secure two beaches where the remainder of an 880-strong battalion of Italian soldiers were to land through the day.

But only part of the force was able to make it to shore due to high waves Saturday. Some vehicles and equipment were diverted further south to Naqoura.

By sundown, a total of 400 Italian soldiers had landed in Lebanon and the operation would resume Sunday morning, said a UN officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Another 200 Italian troops are expected Sunday in Beirut. Italy will be the biggest troop contributor to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, with 3,000.

An Italian navy spokesman said some 800 had arrived in Lebanese waters out of a total of about 3,000 that Italy has pledged. The rest of the force will land Saturday and Sunday depending on sea conditions, he added.

Most of the first 1,000 that began arriving Saturday will move to positions 20 kilometers inland from the coastal city of Tyre, the Italian Defense Ministry said.

Besides the Italian contingent, 250 extra French soldiers have made it to Lebanon, though France has said it will send a total of 2,000 troops.

Italy's foreign minister teased France on Saturday over its World Cup soccer final defeat to Italy, joking that the French would also come second in sending peacekeepers to Lebanon.

"Yes we are the first like in the football World Cup, but the French are coming second, very soon I think," Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema told reporters after EU foreign ministers discussed the Middle East at a meeting in Finland.

Israel drops objections to Indonesian contribution
Also Saturday, Indonesia said it will send up to 1,000 troops to southern Lebanon by the month's end, after Israel dropped objections to its participation in the United Nations peacekeeping force.

"We are ready to send troops by the end of the month at the latest," Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told reporters while attending a conference on the resort island of Bali.

After talks that included UN peacekeeping officials, Israeli leaders reversed their stance that Indonesia should be barred because it does not reconize Israel, a UN official said. The official spoke anonymously because the negotiations were private.

A spokeswoman for Israel's mission to the UN said she had not been told Israel had shifted its position and promised to check again.

UN officials and European diplomats have urged Muslim nations to make substantial offers for the force despite Israel's refusal. Malaysia and Bangladesh have also offered troops.

The European Union has pledged 6,900 additional forces for the UN peacekeeping mission, but that is well short of the 15,000 that the Security Council envisioned in an August 11 resolution that led to a cease-fire to the war between Israel and Hezbollah militants.

Turkish government submits resolution to parliament to send troops
Turkey's government on Friday submitted a resolution to parliament to send peacekeepers to Lebanon despite public opposition to the deployment.

The parliament is expected on Tuesday to vote on the resolution authorizing a one-year deployment of an unspecified number of troops.

The Turkish contribution to the expanded UN peacekeeping mission would include a naval task force to patrol the eastern Mediterranean and prevent arms smuggling.

Many in Turkey fear that their soldiers could end up facing hostile fire or could clash with fellow Muslims. But Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered assurances that Turkish soldiers would not be disarming Hezbollah militants.

According to the resolution, Turkish forces would also help train Lebanese army troops and provide sea and air transport in support of other national contingents in the UN force.

Europe, the United States and Israel are all eager to see peacekeepers from Turkey in Lebanon, in the hopes that strong Muslim participation would avoid any impression in Lebanon that the UN peacekeepers are primarily a Christian, European force.


Link (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/757999.html)
....

[GiladS]

Qatar to send 200-300 troops to UN Lebanon force


Arab Gulf state to commit troops to peacekeeping force in south Lebanon

Reuters

The Gulf state of Qatar on Monday became the first Arab country to commit troops to a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon with an offer of 200-300 troops.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad al-Thani did not say when the troops would go to Lebanon, where they would join an expanded UN force set up to keep the peace between Israel and Hizbullah in south Lebanon.

"We have decided that Qatar will participate in UNIFIL by sending 200-300 military personnel and we believe UNIFIL must have specific duties on the ground," Sheikh Hamad told reporters during a visit to Doha by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Qatar, a political maverick in the conservative Gulf Arab region, maintains low-level ties with Israel. It is also a key US ally and hosts a major US military base.

Italian troops will make up the largest single contingent of the force known as UNIFIL II, to deploy in the south after a truce halted Israel's 34-day war with Hizbullah on Aug. 14.

Speaking to reporters, Annan said the United Nations hoped UNIFIL II would be a "manifestation of international solidarity" with Lebanon. He also urged Israel to lift its siege of the country, saying it was unsustainable.

"We are using the UN influence to lift the embargo especially as Lebanon is trying to rebuild... It has to be allowed to rebuild. I urge Israel to cooperate," he said.

Israel has kept an air and sea embargo on Lebanon after its 34-day-old war with Lebanon's Hizbullah ended on Aug. 14. Israel says the blockade was aimed at preventing Hizbullah rearming.

All ships and aircraft require Israeli permission to use Lebanese waters and airspace. On Sunday, Qatar Airways said it would resume direct flights to and from Beirut.


Link (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3299446,00.html)







Finland to send 250 troops to multinational force in Lebanon

The Finnish government announced to Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog, who is visiting the country, that it has decided to send 250 troops to the multinational forced that will stationed in southern Lebanon.

Herzog met with the heads of country and gave them letters from the families of the kidnapped soldiers. (Attila Somfalvi)

Link (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3299430,00.html)



..............

[GiladS]

Cyprus seizes suspected Syria-bound arms ship


Cypriot authorities impound ship carrying arms, acting on intelligence tips. Jane's defense magazine reports that Americans used satellite intelligence to track arms shipments from Iran to Syria

AFP and Ynetnews

Cypriot authorities were searching an impounded cargo ship on September 6 after being tipped off that the Syria-bound vessel was carrying an illicit stash of weapons.

”Its bill of lading said it was carrying meteorological equipment. We have been informed that Interpol had information of its possible involvement in arms smuggling,” Cyprus ports authority chairman Chrysis Prentzas told state radio.

State radio said metal pipes were found on board the Panamanian-flagged Grigorio 1 which could be the casing of a weapons system.

”Something has been found which can be used for meteorological purposes but it can also have a military use and we are checking this out,” a source close to the enquiry told AFP.

The ship anchored off the southern port of Limassol on Sept. 5 after leaving Egypt’s Port Said for Latakia in Syria and was immediately boarded by a special Cyprus police unit and explosives experts armed with a search warrant.

Police said the documentation did not match the description of the goods on the ship and that they were questioning the eight-man crew about the suspect cargo.

Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros quoted unnamed officials as saying they were almost certain that some of the items on board were part of a missile launcher.


Report: US seeks to block missiles for Hizbullah

The Jane's Defense Magazine reported on Thursday that Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284752,00.html) and the United States have intensified efforts to prevent Hizbullah (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284023,00.html) from replenishing its arms depots, which dried out during its 34-day war with Israel.

The magazine reported that on July 19, US intelligence satellites spotted Iranians "loading eight Chinese-designed C802 anti-ship cruise missiles and three launchers onto a transport aircraft at the military section of Mahrebad Airport outside Tehran for shipment to Hizbullah via Syria (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3285832,00.html) ."

On July 20, Turkish officials refused to allow the Iranian plane entry into Turkish airspace and the flight was cancelled.

Israel maintains that arms shipments bound for Hizbullah have been airlifted to Syria, but no further details have been given.

The magazine said these flights landed at three Syrian air bases – the military section of the Mezze International Airport in Damascus, Nasiriya, 40 km from the Lebanese border and Qusayr, north of Damascus and 25 km from the Bekaa Valley.


Israeli aircraft destroyed most of the bridges and roads linking the two countries, but Israeli intelligence services believe ancient mountainous smuggling trails were used to transport arms to Hizbullah during the 34-day war.


Link (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3300861,00.html)

...............

[GiladS]

Spanish parliament moves toward sending troops to Lebanon

The Associated Press

Published: September 7, 2006




MADRID, Spain (http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?query=MADRID, Spain&sort=swishrank) Spain moved toward sending up to 1,100 troops to Lebanon, with the government saying at the start of parliamentary debate Thursday that the mission was risky but vital in order to help pave the way for lasting Middle East peace.

Approval was all but certain, with opposition conservatives voicing begrudging support. It would make Spain the third-largest contributor to the expanded U.N. force being created after 34 days of war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas, behind France and Italy.

Defense Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said Spain's troops will help the Lebanese government and army exert their authority in the south — long dominated by Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah — and allow the distribution of humanitarian aid and the return of the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the fighting.

He acknowledged, however, that the risks are great, including getting caught in the middle of renewed fighting or being targeted in "terrorist-style" attacks.

"It is a peace operation but also a difficult operation, complicated and risky because of the precarious situation in the area and the probability of having to face the eventualities I have described," Alonso told a special session of the lower chamber of Parliament, the Congress of Deputies.
Opposition leader Mariano Rajoy objected to the government's making a distinction between its participation in the peacekeeping force and its 2004 withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

The ruling Socialists have insisted there is no comparison between Lebanon and Iraq because the U.S.-led Iraq invasion lacked a U.N. mandate and the Lebanon mission has one, plus agreement between Israel and Hezbollah to accept peacekeepers. It was the Socialists who withdrew Spanish troops sent to Iraq by the previous, conservative government.

Rajoy said his party will vote in favor of the deployment, even though it feels the government is misleading Spaniards over the danger involved for the soldiers and has an erratic foreign policy in general.

"They are not going in the service of peace, except in poetic and propaganda terms and if we want to mistake peace for a cease-fire," Rajoy said.

Alonso said that if and when Parliament approves the mission, 450 Marines and 76 army soldiers would leave very soon. The defense ministry said the exact day was not yet known. The full contingent will be in position in October. Spain is sending a mechanized battalion, helicopters, armored vehicles, sanitation equipment and mine deactivation equipment, Alonso said.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, stopping off here en route to New York after a 12-day tour of the region to discuss Lebanon and the Iranian nuclear standoff, thanked Spain for its plans to contribute to the U.N. force.

Annan said the new force should be strong enough by the middle of September for Israeli troops to withdraw from south Lebanon. He said he was optimistic about turning the Israel-Hezbollah truce into a more lasting peace, saying he was "convinced we cannot but succeed, and we will succeed."

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said it was Spain's duty and in its interest to try to foster peace.

"To a large extent, stability in the international order means stability in the Middle East," Zapatero said at a news conference with Annan.
Conservatives are using the occasion to try to exact a political toll on Zapatero, saying he depicts himself as a pacifist but has actually sent more soldiers abroad than any other Spanish premier.

Under Zapatero, Spain has sent troops or police to Haiti and Congo and expanded an existing Spanish presence in Afghanistan. Spanish troops are also deployed in the Balkans.

The Socialist government took power in March 2004 elections just days after Islamic terror bombings that many Spaniards apparently believed stemmed from Spain's troop presence in Iraq. The terror attacks killed 191 people.

Zapatero opposed the war vehemently in the Spanish election campaign, calling it illegal because it lacked a U.N. mandate, and fulfilled a promise to bring home the Spanish troops shortly after taking power.
The administration also enacted a law requiring parliamentary approval for overseas troop deployments. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's government had dispatched the troops to Iraq without consulting the legislature.




Link (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/07/europe/EU_GEN_Spain_Mideast.php)
........

[GiladS]

Spain approves 1100 peacekeepers

From correspondents in Madrid
September 08, 2006

SPANISH politicians have overnight approved the government's proposal to send up to 1100 Spanish troops to southern Lebanon to join an international peacekeeping force there.

Spanish Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said a first contingent of 490 naval infantry troops and 76 army soldiers were ready to depart immediately, and unconfirmed reports indicated they could leave as soon as Friday (today AEST).

An advance party of Italian troops arrived in Lebanon last weekend as part of a 2500-strong contingent, the biggest from an European Union state. France is weighing in with another 2000 soldiers.

The United Nations says as many as 5000 international troops would deployed in southern Lebanon by mid-September, allowing an Israeli withdrawal to take place in line with a UN-brokered ceasefire deal that took effect on August 14.


Link (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20374583-1702,00.html)
...........

[Eric61Mech]

deleted - incorrect post

[Firetxmi]

Breaking News Israelis kill four UN trrops
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=87014&highlight=Israel+Accident
Kind of related! =)

Warning, humor:


U.S. Planes Kill Canadian

U.S. warplanes accidentally fired on Canadian troops in southern Afghanistan, killing one and wounding five. What do you think?


Karen Walton,
Safety Inspector
"This sends a powerful message to bin Laden. It says, 'We're willing to destroy any ally in order to hunt you down in what would be a largely symbolic victory.'"



Jaime Rodriguez,
Systems Analyst
"Clearly, U.S. military leaders are having some creative differences over there. One idea would be to decide on the enemy, and then agree not to kill people who do not fall under that category."



Keith McGovern,
Housewares Associate
"Look, the American military does not discriminate. Gay, straight, Taliban, Canadian, Pat Tillman—we will shoot you all."


Link:http://www.theonion.com/content/node/52425

[Norcom]

Israelis cave in and open Lebanon

Abraham Rabinovich, Jerusalem September 08, 2006

BOWING to heavy international pressure, Israel was to lift its two-month-long air and sea blockade of Lebanon overnight, after accepting assurances that foreign peacekeeping forces would enforce an embargo on arms destined for Hezbollah.
Video: Israel ends air blockade (http://media.theaustralian.news.com.au/20060907-blockade7_player.htm)


The Israeli move was hailed by Lebanese officials who said it would permit their country's war-battered economy to begin a revival. The blockade dates back to the start of the 34-day war between Israel and the Shia militant group in July.
The Lebanese Government and the UN have agreed that German naval forces will patrol the Lebanese coast to prevent arms smuggling.
Israeli officials said they were confident the Germans would prevent the rearmament of Hezbollah by sea. Until German vessels arrive in two weeks, the patrols will be conducted by vessels from Italy, France, Britain and Greece.
German and French inspectors will check cargo arriving at Beirut airport for weaponry.
While it will be fairly simple for peacekeepers to monitor the goods offloaded at Lebanese ports and at Beirut's international airport, Israel remains concerned about arms coming across Lebanon's 330km-long unfenced border with Syria, the principal route for arms supplies to Hezbollah.
The Lebanese army has deployed forces at the nine crossing points between the two countries but, complying with Syrian demands, has so far declined to accept backup forces from the UN.
An official in Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said "creative solutions" would have to be found to enforce a land embargo.
This presumably includes monitoring the crossing points by Israeli drones which are a constant presence in Lebanese airspace. Israel still hopes that there will be an international presence at the crossing points.
Israel is principally concerned about the smuggling of long-range rockets with heavy payloads capable of striking the centre of the country.
It views these as strategic weapons, unlike the short-range Katyushas which accounted for the bulk of the 4000 rockets that struck northern Israel in the recent fighting. Almost all long-range rockets in Hezbollah's possession were destroyed by the Israeli air force in the first hour of the war.
The long-range rockets are long and bulky and could not be smuggled across the mountainous border area except in trucks via the nine crossing points, say Israeli officials, making it possible to track any such attempt.
An official in Jerusalem said Israel reserved the right to enforce the arms embargo along the border if other means failed.
He said there was no evidence of arms crossing the border since the ceasefire went into effect on August 14.
The decision by Mr Olmert and his senior ministers to lift the air and sea blockade unconditionally was made over the objections of the Israeli military and of the families of the two Israeli soldiers in Hezbollah hands.
Family members met Mr Olmert yesterday to ask why Israel, before agreeing to lift the blockade, had not at least demanded that Hezbollah provide evidence that the two soldiers are still alive.
Israel has been under intensive pressure to terminate the blockade from the international community, which is eager to see normal life restored to Lebanon.

Print Friendly Version (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,20373839,00.html) Email this story (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20373839-2703,00.html#)




Privacy (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) Terms (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) © The Australian

[FDFCorporal]

Parliament Approves Lebanon OperationImage: Finnish Defense Forces
The Finnish Parliament late Thursday evening gave its approval to the participation of Finnish troops in the latest UN peacekeeping operation in Lebanon.The hotly debated issue was passed in a vote of 122-7.

Finland is prepared to provide an engineering company of up to 250 men to carry out cleanup and construction as a part of the UN force in Lebanon.

The Christian Democratic Party opposed the plan, urging the government to send only 60-80 soldiers.

President Halonen is expected to confirm the decision on Friday.

source www.yle.fi (http://www.yle.fi)