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Ceasefire or Trojan Horse? Mike Whitney
Israel’s sudden push to the Litani River is a blatant act of political desperation intended to conceal the humiliating defeat the IDF has suffered at the hands of Hezbollah. It comes in the wake of a UN ceasefire agreement worked out by friends of Israel in the Bush administration who were looking for a diplomatic way for Olmert to climb down from Israel’s greatest debacle since the Yom Kippur war. The so-called ceasefire is tailored to stop the victim of Israeli aggression! from defending himself, but provides the IDF with the go-ahead to continue its rampage. Such is the Kafkaesque logic of the United Nations and their puppet-masters in Tel Aviv (…) The UN ceasefire agreement was clearly written in close collaboration with Israel. It allows the IDF to continue “defensive operations” while Hezbollah is required to stop fighting. Israel interprets this as a green light for aggressively pursuing Hezbollah. ..
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Captured Prisoners: The Full Story KABOBfest
There is much talk of the current war against Lebanon being triggered by Hezbollah’s capturing of two Israeli soldiers. Not only is this statement inaccurate, its excessive recycling creates the false perception that only the two Israelis in Lebanon and the one in Gaza are the prisoners of this conflict. If Americans Knew, is a great website that tracks bias in the news coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Now it has produced a great 15-minute video titled “Ca! ptured Prisoners: The Full Story,” which puts in a perspective the issue of the prisoners of the conflict, highlighting the plight of the 9,000 prisoners in Israeli jails, and tens of thousands of Palestinians who graduated from them…
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Playing Into Israel’s Hands The Flaws in the UN Resolution KARIM MAKDISI
…While Resolution 1701 is certainly an improvement on the disastrous initial draft presented by the US and France a week earlier, it remains a weak and ambiguous resolution that has ultimately rewarded the use of violence to settle disputes in breech of international law and the UN Charter itself; and is in any case not reflective of the reality on the ground in terms of the balance of terror that clearly exists between Hizbulla! h and Israel. This resolution will now be used by the US and Israel in a manner inconsistent with its spirit and intent, which as stated by Kofi Annan is “to save civilian lives, to spare the pain and suffering that the civilians on both sides are living through.” As such, Resolution 1701 includes a number of strategically placed Trojan horses’ that were inserted to circumvent Lebanese and Arab opposition to the earlier draft resolution which would have effectively rendered Lebanon a failed state, its sovereignty denied…
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Palestinian foreign minister: war in Lebanon is fueling West Bank genocide Ma’an News
Palestinian Foreign Minister, Dr Mahmoud Az-Zahhar sent a letter to both the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jacob Kellenberger, depicting the racial genocide that Israel is practicing in the West Bank. He said: “Since the out break of the war in Lebanon, Israel was transferring settlers from the north to Palestinian territories in the West Bank where the Israelis had in! the past established settlements, still seen as illegal.”…
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The ‘peace’ dividend. Lenin’s Tomb
Israel is about to swing dramatically to the right, if current indications are anything to go by. Israelis interviewed on Channel Four news all (aside from twits like Michael Oren, the historical fabricator cum Israeli military spokesperson) expressed dismay. Not at the butchery inflicted on Lebanon. Not at the obscene massacres carried out by the IDF. Not by the despicable excuses given by their government for leading them into an unnecessary and brutal war. But at the fact tha! t they lost. Oh, they all know the Lebanese resistance won this one. A couple of days ago, a poll found that only 20% of Israelis believed they were winning. I’d be surprised if that many believe they’ve won. Returning soldiers look shell-shocked. They can’t believe it…
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Are New Weapons Being Used In Gaza and Lebanon David Halpin MB BS FRCS
Gulf News reported a claim by Dr Al Saqqa, Head of the Emergency Unit of El Shifa Hospital, Gaza on 7-07-06 that the Israeli Occupation Force was using a new ‘chemical’ weapon. He has worked at El Shifa for ten years. He had noted that two hundred and more casualties of Summer Rain (sic) had unusual wounds. These numbers included about fifty children. Later evidence from Dr Al Saqqa described surface wounds as having the general appearance of ! those due to ‘shrapnel’ – fragments from shell, missile or bomb casings – but no fragments were to be seen on Xray. There were usually entry and exit wounds. When the wounds were explored no foreign material was found. There was tissue death, the extent of which was difficult to determine. It is vital, especially with deep wounds, to excise all dead tissue. A higher deep infection rate resulted with subsequent amputation. In spite of amputation there was a higher mortality (…) Surgeons in Lebanon have also claimed that new and more injurious weapons have been used…
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Hezbollah leader claims ‘historic victory’ in Lebanon AFP
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed a “historic and strategic victory” after the ceasefire with Israel on Monday and vowed that his guerrillas would not be forced to disarm by “intimidation”. “We are before a strategic and historic victory for all Lebanon,” he said in an address on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television channel, triggering shots into the air and fireworks from the Shiite group’s supporters in Beirut and the eastern city of Baalbek…
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A defeat for Israel, but also for justice Siddharth Varadarajan, The Hindu
The U.N. resolution is a consolation prize for the Olmert regime, whose failure in Lebanon throws the wider U.S.-Israeli game plan for the region into disarray. WHEN ISRAEL attacked Lebanon a month ago, it had two stated and two unstated military objectives. The stated objectives were the unconditional release of two of its soldiers captured by Hizbollah, and the physical destruction of the Lebanese resistance force, its leadership and co! mmand structure. As for the unstated objectives, the first was to so totally degrade the civilian infrastructure of the country that the non-Shia population of Lebanon would turn against Hizbollah and the Shias for inviting the wrath of Israel upon them in this manner…
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Olmert - We will continue to pursue Hizbullah everywhere
Jerusalem Post 8/15/2006
Even as he stood before the Knesset Monday to claim personal responsibility for the month-long military operation in the north, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised to continue to "hunt Hizbullah down anytime, anywhere. ""We will continue to pursue [Hizbullah] everywhere and at all times," Olmert told the Knesset's special session. "We have no intention of asking anyone's permission. " It was the prime minister's first speech since the cease-fire went into effect Monday morning. Although Olmert stopped short of calling the military operation in the north a victory, he said that the war had changed the "strategic balance against Hizbullah," adding that Hizbullah was no longer a "state within a state.... opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu... spoke after Olmert, and criticized the government for failing to "achieve its goals" in the north.
Bush: Iran must stop supporting armed groups
Ha'aretz 8/15/2006
As a fragile truce took hold in south Lebanon on Monday, U.S. President George W. Bush again blamed Hezbollah for provoking the month-long conflict, adding that the Islamic guerilla organization suffered a defeat in the war. "Hezbollah attacked Israel, Hezbollah started the crisis and Hezbollah suffered a defeat in this crisis," Bush said. His comments came after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his group had achieved a "strategic and historic victory" over Israel and that it was the wrong time to publicly discuss disarming it. Casting the war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas as part of a wider struggle against terrorism, Bush also said that Iran must stop supporting armed groups trying to derail democracies in Iraq and Lebanon.
Peacekeeping troops could take months to assemble
The Guardian 8/15/2006
Doubts about a speedy deployment of the proposed 15,000-strong United Nations force for Lebanon were expressed by diplomats around Europe yesterday. Javier Solana, the European Union foreign affairs chief, said he would like to see international troops begin deploying this week or early next, but other European diplomats said a speedy deployment of the force was hopelessly optimistic. They said it might be possible to send a few hundred as a symbolic gesture next week, but politically and logistically it would take weeks, and maybe months, to put together a force of 15,000.... The UN has still to negotiate the details of the force's mandate. Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, is due to report on progress to the security council at the end of the week.
Cluster bombs await returning Lebanese
AlJazeera 8/14/2006
One person has been killed and at least 12 others injured when cluster bombs exploded as Lebanese returned to their homes after the ceasefire announcement. An Israeli cluster bomb exploded in the southern village of Ansar on Monday, killing one person and wounding six, Lebanese police said. Six people were also wounded, including a rescue worker, when another cluster bomb exploded in the Nabatiyeh area. In a joint statement, the UN and the Lebanese government "urged the population to exercise extreme caution, due to the large quantities of unexploded artillery and mortar shells strewn across the countryside". The UN's ceasefire resolution... calls on Israel to provide "all remaining maps of land mines in Lebanon in Israel's possession". Israel laid more than 400,000 mines during its previous occupation of south Lebanon from 1978 to 2000.
Mortar fire in south Lebanon
YNet News 8/15/2006
Ceasefire agreement breached as Hizbullah terrorists fire four mortar shells toward south Lebanon; no injuries reported. Target may have been IDF soldiers -- The ceasefire agreement that went into effect at 8 a. m. Monday was breached early Tuesday when Hizbullah terrorists fired four mortar shells were toward south Lebanon. No injuries were reported in the incident. The IDF confirmed the report. IDF forces are still operating inside Lebanese territory, and the mortar fire may have been aimed at them. Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly threatened in his recent speeches that the fighting will rage on as long as IDF soldiers remain on Lebanese soil. Israeli security and government officials estimated that Hizbullah would try to attack IDF forces ahead of their expected withdrawal in the coming days.
Stunned families return to shattered homes in devastated suburbs
The Daily Star 8/15/2006
BEIRUT: "Incredible. All this destruction is incredible. " Salwa Hammoud, 37, was looking from her balcony in Haret Hreik at a neighborhood that has been almost wiped out by a month-long Israeli onslaught. "I can barely recognize my neighborhood," she said a few hours after the cease-fire went into effect, pointing at flattened buildings where people she knows - or knew - once lived. Behind her, the kitchen floor was full of shattered glass; doors were dismantled, but a cabinet full of porcelain dishes and teacups was miraculously intact. On the sink lay rotten portions of cheese that had been left there when Hammoud's family left the apartment two days after Israel started bombarding the southern suburbs.
Lebanese army to begin deployment within two days
Ha'aretz 8/14/2006
A vanguard United Nations force will begin deployment throughout southern Lebanon within 24 to 48 hours, Israel Defense Forces sources assessed on Monday night. Immediately following the UNIFIL force's arrival, Lebanese army units will also begin moving into southern Lebanon, even if Israel and Lebanon have yet to hold any contacts to coordinate the transfer of control over the territory. The first day of the cease-fire in southern Lebanon passed with relative calm Monday. Hezbollah ceased its rocket attacks against northern Israel, and no offensive operations by the air force were undertaken against Lebanese targets. Despite the cease-fire, Hezbollah has said it will still attack Israel Defense Forces in southern Lebanon.
UN sends PMs cessation expectations
Jerusalem Post 8/15/2006
Annan letters to Israel and Lebanon on cessation terms warn against occupying additional territorySecretary-General Kofi Annan sent letters to Israel and Lebanon spelling out terms for the cessation of hostilities that warn both sides against occupying additional territory or changing the number and location of troops. A copy of the letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, obtained Monday by The Associated Press, set out the UN's expectations of how both sides will fulfill their obligations under the Security Council resolution adopted Friday. A similar letter was sent to Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The resolution called for an end to the war between Israel and Hizbullah militants that has claimed over 900 lives...
Nasrallah: Not time to discuss disarming Hezbollah
Ha'aretz 8/15/2006
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah declared Monday that his group had won a "strategic, historic victory" in its month-long conflict with Israel, but said he believes the Lebanese army and international troops are "incapable of protecting Lebanon. " "We are today before a strategic, historic victory, without exaggeration," Nasrallah said in a taped speech on Hezbollah's al-Manar television channel, hours after a United Nations-brokered cease-fire went into effect. "We came out victorious in a war in which big Arab armies were defeated [before]," he said. Moments after his speech ended, celebratory gunfire erupted across the Lebanese capital. "We are today before a strategic, historic victory, without exaggeration," Nasrallah said. He called Monday "a great day. "
Israel vows Hezbollah pursuit
AlJazeera 8/14/2006
Israel has said it will continue to attack Hezbollah leaders and reserves the right to respond to any truce violations. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, told parliament that Hezbollah had been driven underground. "These people will 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 said in a televised address. "They will not get off free. We will continue to pursue them everywhere and any time. "Criticism: After Olmert's speech, Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the opposition Likud Party, said there were many failures during Israel's conduct of the war. "There were many failures, failures in identifying the threat, failures in preparing to meet the threat, failures in the management of the war, failures in the management of the home front. "
IDF 'expanding' up to Litani River, will pull out only when international force deploys
Ha'aretz 8/14/2006
The Israel Defense Forces is expanding its operation up to the Litani River in south Lebanon in order to protect the lives of IDF soldiers, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Sunday, hours after the cabinet approved the UN Security Council resolution on a cease-fire and new security arrangements in Lebanon. "As far as I understand, the army is looking make itself a place to better protect its soldiers and to leave the army in a better situation during the deployment of forces expected to arrive in Lebanon," Livni told reporters Sunday evening. Livni said earlier Sunday that Israeli troops would leave southern Lebanon only when the Lebanese army and an international force are in place.... The cabinet vote was 24 ministers in favor, none against, with Shaul Mofaz, who was defense minister in the previous Sharon government, abstaining.
Senior cabinet minister Ramon: Hezbollah is now a beaten force
Ha'aretz 8/14/2006
Adam: 'Many holes' in truce accord -- Senior cabinet minister Haim Ramon said Monday that as a result of the war in the north, Hezbollah is a "beaten" force that is entirely changed. The justice minister also said that the terms of the UN cease-fire could spur a fundamental change in Lebanon, and that that was the objective of the war as pursued by Israel. "Despite whatever claims Nasrallah may make in victory speeches, Hezbollah today is an entirely different Hezbollah, he told Army radio, referring to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. "This is a beaten Hezbollah, entirely different in real terms, both on the ground and also from the international standpoint," he told Army Radio.... IDF Major-General Udi Adam, nominal commander of Israeli forces in Lebanon, said... the truce was fragile and that there were "many holes" in the accord.
Israel rejects claim it planned Lebanon war together with Washington
Jerusalem Post 8/14/2006
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. -- See also: Watching Lebanon: Washington’s interests in Israel’s war
Hizbullah leader claims victory
The Guardian 8/14/2006
The leader of Hizbullah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, tonight claimed a "strategic and historic victory" over Israel as the first day of a ceasefire in the Middle East crisis brought a seemingly fragile calm following a month of fighting. "We came out victorious in a war in which big Arab armies were defeated [before]," the cleric said. Sheik Nasrallah insisted now was not the time to debate the disarmament of his guerrilla fighters, a key Israeli requirement of a sustainable ceasefire. "This is immoral, incorrect and inappropriate," he said. "It is wrong timing on the psychological and moral level particularly before the ceasefire," he said in reference to calls from critics for the guerrillas to disarm.... Officials said at least one child and 15 adults had been killed by artillery or bombs that went off as they began returning home.
Nasrallah addresses the Lebanese people: The end of the war is a strategic victory
Ma'an News 8/14/2006
Bethlehem -- Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, delivered a live speech through Al-Manar satellite news channel. He started by saluting “the resistance fighters, the martyrs, the injured people and everyone who has supported the resistance in the war against Israel. ” He portrayed the end of the war as a historical strategic victory of Lebanon and the Arab and Muslim nation. Nasrallah also greeted the displaced, referring to huge destruction the Israeli aggression caused to private houses, which according to him is even more important than the massive damage to infra-structure. He thanked the Lebanese government and the humanitarian organizations which took part in easing the suffering of the displaced. On behalf of the resistance, he promised to offer a decent sum of money to those who lost their houses...
Hezbollah torpedoes Lebanese gov't meeting on disarmament
Ha'aretz 8/14/2006
A meeting of the Lebanese government on the disarming of Hezbollah south of the Litani River was canceled on Sunday following an announcement by the Shi'ite organization that it was not willing to discuss the subject. Hezbollah informed the government of its stance through the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Beri, who serves as a conduit to the organization.... This is the first time in weeks that a rift emerged in the official Lebanese stance. Officially, the government of Lebanon denied reports that any dispute has emerged. But in an interview to Al Jazeera yesterday, Joe Sarkiss, Lebanon's minister of tourism, said that "the army will not deploy in the south unless there are no arms in the south except those of a legitimate military force and UNIFIL. "
Fragile ceasefire in danger amid ferocious fighting
The Guardian 8/14/2006
Lebanese cabinet split · Israel pounds targets · Hizbullah fires 250 rockets -- Lebanon staggered towards a UN ceasefire deadline set for this morning with a ferocious increase in fighting between Israel and Hizbullah and little sign that peace was at hand. With hours left before the dawn truce was due to take hold, the ceasefire resolution passed by the security council on Friday showed signs of unravelling on all sides. The Lebanese cabinet, split over whether government troops should disarm Hizbullah, put off a critical meeting which was expected give the go-ahead for Lebanese troops to be deployed in the south of the country, an integral part of the peace plan. The Israeli government approved the ceasefire, but at the same time its troops stepped up their offensive into southern Lebanon...
Full text: UN Lebanon resolution 1701
AlJazeera 8/13/2006
Following is the text of the operative provisions of a resolution adopted on Friday: Determining that the situation in Lebanon constitutes a threat to international peace and security; 1. Calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations; 2. Upon full cessation of hostilities, calls upon the government of Lebanon and UNIFIL (The UN Interim Force in Lebanon) as authorized by paragraph 11 to deploy their forces together throughout the south and calls upon the government of Israel, as that deployment begins, to withdraw all of its forces from southern Lebanon in parallel...
Nasrallah: We will abide by cease-fire
Jerusalem Post 8/12/2006
Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said on Saturday that his organization would abide by the United Nations resolution calling for a cease-fire although he was not completely satisfied with its text. Nasrallah's announcement came as the Lebanese government met in Beirut to accept the cease-fire. Cease-fire analysis: Not so bad in theoryNasrallah warned, however, that despite the UN resolution, the war was still not over. "We must be aware of the fact that the war will continue for another few days," he said. "That's why we are continuing to fight today. We will fight as long as Israeli soldiers are in Lebanon. " "We believe that the resolution that was taken last night was unfair," Nasrallah said. "But if there is an agreement on the cessation of hostilities between the Lebanese government and the enemy, we will observe it without delay. "
Politicians take aim at Olmert
Jerusalem Post 8/15/2006
Even before the cease-fire in Lebanon took effect on Monday morning, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's political foes started firing upon the prime minister with calls for a state commission of inquiry to investigate the war that ended and a national-unity government to prepare for "the next war. " Preparations are already underway for three separate commissions of inquiry: An IDF team will be formed by Defense Minister Amir Peretz, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss will examine preparations for the war in the home front and the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will form a parliamentary probe. Olmert's associates said the prime minister was not concerned about those three commissions but that he was worried a serious state commission of inquiry could be formed...
Tenuous calm lets aid agencies get to work
The Daily Star 8/15/2006
BEIRUT: Aid agencies increased relief shipments into Southern Lebanon after a UN brokered cease-fire took effect on Monday, UN officials said. Numerous aid convoys loaded with all manner of relief goods and around 100 tons of fuel started to move into Southern Lebanon, said Elisabeth Byrs from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva (OCHA). Some 24 trucks carrying drinking water, food, hygiene kits and other relief supplies were being shipped to Sidon on Monday, while other vehicles were being loaded to be shipped to Jezzine, in central Lebanon, and to Arida and Tripoli, in Northern Lebanon, Byrs said. The UN also sent a nine-truck convoy to Tyre and 15 trucks to Rmeish in Southern Lebanon.
IDF: Logistics chief didn't say looting of Lebanese shops okay
Ha'aretz 8/15/2006
The IDF Spokesman's Office said Monday that comments attributed to Brigadier General Avi Mizrahi, the head of the army's logistics branch, to the effect that soldiers deep inside Lebanese territory without food could break into local stores, had not been made by him. Earlier Monday, Army Radio's website had quoted Mizrahi saying, "If our fighters deep in Lebanese territory are left without food or water, I believe they can break into local Lebanese stores to solve that problem. "Mizrahi did tell Army Radio that if the army was "at war and there is a danger that the soldiers will not be able to carry out their operational mission like they should, and what they need to do is to take water from a store, then yes, they can take it. "
Released: 2 troops killed in Lebanon Sunday
YNet News 8/15/2006
It has been cleared for publication that two more soldiers were killed Sunday by anti-tank missile in south Lebanon, bringing number of IDF fatalities in war to 118 -- It has been cleared for publication that two IDF soldiers were killed when an anti-tank missile struck an Engineering Corps vehicle they traveling in near the south Lebanese village of Kantar, thus raising the IDF fatalities in the war to 118. One of the soldiers killed was identified as Yevgeny Timofayev, 20, of Rishon Letzion. He will be laid to rest at 7:30 p. m. at Rishon Letzion’s military cemetery. The other soldier was reserves Staff Sergeant David Amar, 24, of Kiryat Shmona. Seven more IDF troops were killed and 25 were injured Lebanon Sunday.
What happened during the last battle?
YNet News 8/15/2006
An anti-tank missile hit a D9 bulldozer operating near the building. Its heavy armor didn't stand up and its two-man team was immediately killed. -- The battalion's medical company set up its equipment on the ground floor of one of the houses. The company, commanded by the battalion's doctor, was comprised of about 20 soldiers, half of them medics and the other half the evacuation platoon, whose job it is to stretcher out the wounded and dead. Two other platoons from the support company occupied the second floor. The battalion had seen its first action on Friday, when two of its soldiers were badly wounded. It was taken out for a short rest of 10 hours on Shabbat and went back in again that night. According to the procedure designed not to expose the troops to anti-tank missile fire, they went in on foot...
All-Druse Herev Battalion returns after 32 days without single casualty
Jerusalem Post 8/15/2006
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.
Israel to maintain blockade of Lebanon while Israeli forces begin withdrawal
The Daily Star 8/14/2006
JERUSALEM, Aug 14, 2006 (AFP) - Israel said Monday it would maintain its air and sea blockade of Lebanon despite a ceasefire on the ground to end more than a month of fighting. "The maritime and aerial blockade will be kept in place until a mechanism is put in place to control smuggling of arms" to Hezbollah, a military source said. The statement came less than an hour after a UN-brokered ceasefire in fighting between Israel and the Shiite militant group took effect at 0500 GMT. Israel says that Hezbollah receives arms from Syria and Iran, a charge denied by the two countries. Israeli forces begin to withdraw from Lebanon: Some Israeli forces began withdrawing from southern Lebanon Monday after a UN-brokered ceasefire to end more than a month of warfare went into effect.
Assad: Chances of peace with Israel low, Syria will 'free' Golan
Ha'aretz 8/15/2006
Syrian President Bashar Assad has said that the chance of achieving a lasting peace with Israel is low, adding that Syria planned to "liberate" the Golan Heights, which the Israel Defense Forces captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. Assad was quoted in the Egyptian newspaper al-Osboa on Monday warning Israel not to attack Syria. "If Israel goes out on an adventure and attacks Syria, it will begin paying a very high price," he said. Assad praised Hezbollah and other pro-Syria groups, accusing Lebanese officials opposed to Syrian influence of having "demanded to remove Syria from Lebanon in order to weaken the national forces there. What happened? Syria left and the national forces became much stronger. "... The Syrian president also said Syria had decided to set its sights toward the East...
CNN Int'l snubs Israeli civilians
YNet News 8/15/2006
Highly unbalanced report mostly ignores plight of Israeli civilians, portrays Israelis as soldiers and politicians in suits, while coverage from Lebanon features in-depth interviews with Lebanese civilians and images of children and ruins; no mention of large number of Israelis displaced from their homes in north -- The anatomy of bias: A CNN International in-depth report from Israel and Lebanon unveiled the full extent of bias at work behind the global news network's coverage of the Israel – Hizbullah war. Scant attention is paid to Israeli civilians, while a long report featuring images and interviews of Lebanese civilians followed.
French FM says Hezbollah withdrawal key for Lebanon peace force
The Daily Star 8/15/2006
PARIS, Aug 14, 2006 (AFP) - The disarmament of Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and their withdrawal to north of the Litani river are indispensable for the Lebanese army and a bolstered international peacekeeping force to deploy in the area, France's foreign minister told AFP on Monday. "The arrangements concerning the deployment of the Lebanese army alongside (the UN force) UNIFIL related to the start of an Israeli withdrawal must necessarily be accompanied first by a withdrawal of Hezbollah north of the Litani," Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said. The move must then be followed by "the implementation of (UN) resolution 1559, namely the disarmament of Hezbollah," he added.
Tunisia calls for urgent Arab Summit
Ma'an News 8/14/2006
Tunisia -- The Tunisian government has called on the Arab states for an urgent Arab summit aimed to evaluate the current situations and to cooperate in order to rebuild Lebanon and Palestine. A source in the ministry of foreign affairs said: " The call comes as assurance that Tunisia always supports the joint Arab performance and to affirm the announcement of the Tunisian president, at the end of the Tunisian annual diplomatic and consulate heads' session, when he called for solidarity and commitment of the Arab states to rebuild Lebanon and Palestine after the Israeli aggression. ”A reliable source in the foreign ministry of Tunisia has announced that, “Tunisia was pleased by the UN Security Council resolution 1701 which meant to first end the blood shed and then prepare for resumption of the peace negotiations. " [end]
Report: Israel requests U.S. expedite delivery of cluster munitions rockets
Ha'aretz 8/11/2006
Israel has asked the Bush administration to speed delivery of short-range antipersonnel rockets armed with cluster munitions, the New York Times reported Friday morning. These rockets can be effective against hidden missile launchers. Israel is asking for the rockets now because it has been unable to suppress Hezbollah's Katyusha rocket attacks in the month-old conflict by using bombs dropped from aircraft and other types of artillery.... According to the paper, the request for M-26 artillery rockets, which are fired in barrages and carry hundreds of grenade-like bomblets that scatter and explode over a broad area, is likely to be approved shortly, along with other arms.... some State Department officials "have sought to delay the approval because of concerns over the likelihood of civilian casualties, and the diplomatic repercussions. "
Olmert appoints Dekel pointman on kidnapped soldiers
Jerusalem Post 8/15/2006
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday appointed former Shin Bet deputy chief Ofer Dekel to spearhead efforts to bring about the return of kidnapped soldiers Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Dekel was a paratrooper, joined the Shin Bet in 1975 and retired in 2005 after he was not appointed its head. In a parting interview with Yediot Aharonot in June 2005, seven months before the Palestinian Authority election, he said Israel would eventually negotiate with Hamas. His name surfaced recently as a candidate for police inspector-general.... The appointment was seen as an attempt to show the families that Olmert was putting the issue at the forefront of his priorities, even though the IDF would pull out from Lebanon without their return.
Ecumenical, non-violent solidarity group organizes civilian convoy to South Lebanon
By Jim Quilty, International Middle East Media Center/The Daily Star 8/14/2006
We’ve been told the situation here is different from Palestine,” says Huwaida Arraf, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement. “In Palestine you have Israeli soldiers on the ground actively brutalizing civilians. Here, they’ve been brutalizing civilians from the air. That certainly is a tactical difference. But the brutal aggression, the terrorizing of civilians is the same. "The war crimes are the same. The impunity with which Israel carries this out is the same. The dehumanization of the other is the same…”The way they expel you from your land is the same and, if you try to stay and resist, you’re terrorized and dehumanized and killed - that’s all the same as in Palestine. ”It seems you don’t have to be a Hizbullah militant to shame the Israeli and US governments. Arraf, her husband Adam Shapiro and a handful of other activists co-founded the International Solidarity Movement...
Halutz to officers: Don't talk to media without authorization
YNet News 8/15/2006
In a Chief of Staff missive to military forces, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz emphasizes importance of IDF authorization to talk to reporters. States: 'Protection of military intelligence critical part of IDF's ability to win' -- Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, IDF's Chief of General Staff, chose to focus a Monday night military missive - his first since the onset of the conflict in Lebanon - on the topic of media relations. Halutz called upon officers not to agree to interviews without prior authorization with the IDF spokesperson's office, a request that he says is intended to protect military intelligence information. However, it may be that this is also an attempt to silence internal dissent.
Seeing is believing (inshallah): Lebanese have mixed feelings about whether cease-fire will hold
The Daily Star 8/15/2006
BEIRUT: With a UN brokered cease-fire officially coming into effect Monday morning, many Lebanese are skeptical of the future, especially of Israel's commitment to the resolution. "Israel is known for its treachery and for violating UN resolutions and peace treaties, so why would it be any different now and respect this resolution? " asked Mohammad Ali, one of the hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese from the South, who lost the most in this war. "The resolution is unbalanced as it doesn't hold Israel responsible for all the massacres and destruction it had inflicted on Lebanon," added Ali, echoing similar statements made by other displaced Lebanese interviewed by The Daily Star. "I don't care about the specifics or the wording in the resolution. I just want us to live in peace and not be hounded with bombardments... "
Displaced head back to South despite threat of live ordnance
The Daily Star 8/15/2006
BEIRUT/SIDON: "To the South!" cried thousands of Lebanese as they headed back home Monday, mere hours after the cease-fire kicked in and a month after being forced out of their homes with the onset of war. "I don't care if it's still dangerous. I'm going home, back to my land," said Hajj Abu Hassan, one of the displaced from Sidon who hit the road within an hour of the UN-brokered cease-fire. Hassan, like thousands of displaced families in Lebanon and refugees in Syria, defied the fragile cease-fire and headed South. He was carrying with him a piece of an Israeli rocket "as a good luck charm," since it was sent over by "Bush himself. " Despite the heat, the lengthy traffic jam, and the sheer exhaustion of driving along a bomb-ravaged highway and living as a refugee, the mood of the convoys to the South was joyful...
Selwa's story
The Guardian 8/15/2006
A week ago the body of a woman clutching a baby was found in this bombed apartment block in Beirut; the image was printed across the world. But who was she? By tracking down surviving members of her family, Clancy Chassay has managed to piece together her life - and how she died with her three children and husband by her side -- Last Thursday the Guardian ran a front-page photograph of a dead woman and baby buried in the rubble of Beirut. I have seen many dead people in Lebanon these past weeks, but there was something particularly painful about this picture, amid the endless stream of upsetting images: the baby was very new, very small, and he or she - it was not obvious which - lay dead in the arms of what must surely have been its mother.
Rally: No to surrender agreement
YNet News 8/15/2006
Protest organized via the internet calls on government to continue Lebanon war until kidnapped soldiers released; ‘this ceasefire agreement weakens all those who believe West must protect itself from terror,’ protester says -- An anti-ceasefire rally was held Monday evening at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square. The rally was organized by internet surfers who, in chat rooms, called on people to participate. A few dozen people arrived and called on the government to resume the fighting in Lebanon until the abducted are released. “We felt the need to protest not only via the internet,” Ariela, one of the rally’s organizers, said. “This protest emanate[s] from the talkbacks (to internet articles). Talkbacks are our channels of rage. "
Sham UN Resolution Guarantees No End To Israel’s War of Illegal Aggression
Stephen Lendman
On August 11, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1701 jointly proposed by the US and France and with all provisions in it signed off on by Israel before it was put to a vote. Neither Lebanon nor Hezbollah was afforded that same right. In a UN dominated by the world’s only superpower and having to operate within the constraints it sets, only aggressors are allowed that privilege. It’s victims never are. Re! solution 1701 was a revised version of the one the US and France first proposed on August 6 which the French then backed down on because of strong Lebanese government and Arab League opposition. The new resolution only guarantees one thing – no end to the conflict and no justice for its Lebanese victims. It doesn’t even address the concurrent hostilities ongoing against the Palestinians arrogantly ignoring the fact that they’re raging daily with no end in sight…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=25726
Empire comes to Lebanon
The U.S.-Israel axis goes all out to remove the last impediments to building a “New Middle East”.
AIJAZ AHMAD
LET us begin with a supposedly “undisputed” fact: The official story, told first by the Israeli government and automatically accepted by governments and media outlets across the world, is that Hizbollah is a Muslim fundamentalist, terrorist organisation which periodically lobs shells and rockets into civilian population centres of northern Israel and that, in its latest ! outrage on July 12, it attacked a border military post inside Israeli territory, killing six Israeli soldiers and capturing two. Having waited several years for “the international community” and the Lebanese government to disarm this “terrorist” organisation, Israel is said to have been finally exasperated by this latest outrage and, acting in self-defence, it decided to retaliate so as to “break Hizbollah” for ever and ever, for the sake of the security of its citizens. This official version raises some basic questions regarding the character of Hizbollah itself, about the very incident that is supposed to have “provoked” Israel beyond endurance, and about the scope of Israel’s “retaliation”…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=25733
The “ceasefire” Eli Stephens, Left I on the News
Reuters reports what has been obvious to any intelligent person since the terms of the so-called “ceasefire” were announced: Israel believes it will be entitled to use force to prevent Hizbollah from rearming and to clear guerrilla positions out of southern Lebanon after a U.N. truce takes effect, Israeli officials said on Sunday. Israeli officials said such operations are “defensive” in nature and therefore permissible under a U.N. Security Council resolution w! hich calls for Israel to halt “all offensive military operations”. The Israeli operations could include air strikes against arms convoys travelling anywhere in Lebanese territory, a senior Israeli official said…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25731
UN says ‘peace tomorrow’ despite Israeli attack
Conal Urquhart in Matulla, Mitchell Prothero in Beirut and Peter Beaumont in London, The Observer
Israel dramatically defied a unanimous United Nations Security Council ceasefire resolution by escalating its ground war yesterday in southern Lebanon, asserting that it needed more time to ‘clean up’ Hizbollah. Last night Kofi Annan, the secretary general of the UN, insisted that hostilities would end at 5am tomorrow, saying that both Israeli and Lebanese prime ministe! rs had agreed to a ceasefire. But yesterday there was little sign of peace as Israel sent more armour and helicopters into Lebanon. Dozens of helicopters ferried infantry deep into Lebanon in a race to grab territory. By the day’s end, 30,000 Israeli soldiers had crossed the border. Despite reports that some troops had reached the Litani, it was also their bloodiest day of fighting, with at least 11 killed and 70 wounded…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25736
Israeli Leaders Fault Bush on War Robert Parry
Amid the political and diplomatic fallout from Israel’s faltering invasion of Lebanon, some Israeli officials are privately blaming President George W. Bush for egging Prime Minister Ehud Olmert into the ill-conceived military adventure against the Hezbollah militia in south Lebanon. Bush conveyed his strong personal support for the military offensive during a White House meeting with Olmert on May 23, according to sources familiar with the thinking of senior Israeli! leaders. Olmert, who like Bush lacks direct wartime experience, agreed that a dose of military force against Hezbollah might damage the guerrilla group’s influence in Lebanon and intimidate its allies, Iran and Syria, countries that Bush has identified as the chief obstacles to U.S. interests in the Middle East…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25735
What The Hell Has Happened To The Army? Uri Avnery
SO WHAT has happened to the Israeli army? This question is now being raised not only around the world, but also in Israel itself. Clearly, there is a huge gap between the army’s boastful arrogance, on which generations of Israelis have grown up, and the picture presented by this war. Before the choir of generals utters their expected cries of being stabbed in the back – “The government has shackled our hands! The politicians did not allow the army to win! The pol! itical leadership is to blame for everything!” – it is worthwhile to examine this war from a professional military point of view…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25734
UN ‘Israeli War Crimes’ Vote Reveals the West is Isolated Steve Masterson, GlobalResearch.ca
The Western media focussed on the irrelevant and ‘unanimous’ UN Security Council ‘ceasefire’ vote, which only guarantees the fighting and slaughter will escalate. Another UN vote within hours of the ‘ceasfire’ vote – of immense significance and hardly touched-upon in the Western media – exposed the real world-wide divisions and alliances embroiled in this global Lebanon war. In a crucial 27-11 vote, the UN Human Rights Co! uncil (UNHCR) condemned Israeli war crimes and agreed ‘immediately despatch a high-level Inquiry Commission to Lebanon’…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25720
Israeli attacks kill at least 17 people in Lebanon:
Hizbollah kill one person. Olmert orders army to observe truce –
www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200608141419/3a866388
Seven Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon: TV :
Seven Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes with Hezbollah militants in south Lebanon on Sunday, al- Arabiya television reported.
english.people.com.cn/200608/14/eng20060814_292774.html
24 IDF soldiers killed Saturday in south Lebanon :
Twenty-four Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and another 11 seriously wounded in heavy clashes Saturday with Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon, after Israel dramatically expanded its ground operation in the area.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749479.html
Israel says it can still target Hezbollah arms:
ISRAEL believes it will be entitled to use force to prevent Hezbollah from rearming and to clear guerrilla positions out of southern Lebanon after a UN truce takes effect.
www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20118587-2,00.html
Israeli general: Troops lacking food can steal from Lebanese 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.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/750384.html
The UN Mideast Ceasefire Resolution Paragraph-by-Paragraph :
Anthony D’Amato of Northwestern University School of Law offers a detailed analysis of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Middle East conflict involving Israel, Hezbollah and Lebanon…
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14528.htm
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