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Israel's heaviest losses fuel doubts over strategy
The Guardian
7/28/2006
Soldiers were trying to take border town · Offensive predicted to last
several weeks -- Growing evidence that the ground battle in Lebanon
will be far tougher than Israel had expected emerged yesterday after
firefights against Hizbullah in two border villages left Israeli troops
counting their highest death toll in a single day since the conflict
began. Up to 13 Israeli soldiers were killed and many more wounded
yesterday in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil during the
fiercest battle so far in the Middle East conflict. Nearby, in the
village of Maroun el-Ras, which troops had entered at the weekend, an
Israeli officer was reported killed. Last night the city of Tyre was
hit in a major Israeli air strike. Sixteen people, including six
children, were injured when a seven-storey building that had been used
as a Hizbullah community centre collapsed.
The summit fails. War rages
The Guardian
7/27/2006
14 IDF soldiers killed · Surprise at Hizbullah strength · US-UK block
ceasefire move -- Israel yesterday suffered its worst day since the
Lebanon conflict began when 14 of its soldiers were believed to have
been killed in fighting with Hizbullah, a military calamity that could
prove to be a turning point in the warThe setback appeared to unnerve
Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister. Less than a day after he had
vowed to fight Hizbullah to the end, he yesterday spoke for a need for
a quick end to the conflict. The Israeli military has been taken by
surprise by the ferocity of Hizbullah's resistance and may have to
rethink its strategy. Last night Mr Olmert called an emergency meeting
of his generals as General Udi Adam, head of the Israeli army's
northern command, said fighting in Lebanon could continue for several
more weeks.
Israel accused of using phosphorous bombs in Lebanon; Israel
defends its use of such weapons
Ma'an News 7/26/2006
"Israel has always used them. " - former UNIFIL spokesman -- BEIRUT, 26
July (IRIN)-- BEIRUT, 26 July (IRIN) - The Israeli military has
defended itself following allegations by Lebanese government officials,
doctors and an international human rights organisation that phosphorous
bombs have been used, and have harmed civilians. "The IDF's use of
weapons and ammunition conforms to international law. The specific
claims are being checked based on the information provided to us," the
Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said in a statement sent to IRIN. Lebanon's
Information Minister Ghazi Aridi has said "Israel is using
internationally prohibited weapons against civilians. " Aridi failed to
specify which weapons, but his comment followed claims that Israel had
used bombs containing phosphorous.
US blocks UN from condemning Israel
Jerusalem Post
7/27/2006
The United States blocked the UN Security Council on Wednesday from
issuing a statement that would have condemned Israel's bombing of a UN
post on the Lebanon border that killed four military observers
overnight Tuesday. US diplomats refused to comment, and US Ambassador
John Bolton was in Washington preparing for a new confirmation hearing
before the Senate; however, several diplomats said the United States
objected to one paragraph, which said the council "condemns any
deliberate attack against UN personnel and emphasizes that such attacks
are unacceptable. "Earlier Wednesday, UN officials said that the UN
observers in Lebanon had telephoned the IDF 10 times in six hours to
ask it to stop shelling near their position. "
Israel keeps Hizbullah bodies 'for bargaining chips'
The Guardian
7/26/2006
Israeli troops are storing the bodies of dead Hizbullah fighters in
refrigerated containers for use in a possible prisoner swap, it emerged
today. The military, which admitted to the practice, would not say why
it was keeping the bodies. But security officials told the Associated
Press that Hizbullah corpses had been used as bargaining chips in a
previous prisoner swap and they were being collected for the same
reason now. The army said six bodies of Hizbullah fighters had been
taken back to Israel and were being held in refrigerators until
Israel's political leaders decided what to do with them. Israel has
special cemeteries for Palestinian and Lebanese militants killed in
fighting with Israel.... The quick burial of complete bodies is
important in both the Jewish and Muslim faiths.
Threat of disease looms over Southern villages
The Daily Star
7/27/2006
BEIRUT: Towns and villages along Lebanon's border with israel "are in
disastrous condition, as the residents have been deprived of the most
basic living standards," Ain Ibl Mayor Imad Fadel said Wednesday.
Speaking at a news conference held by municipality representatives of
the villages of Ain Ibl, Debel, Rmeish and Qozah, Fadel said that the
residents of these villages lack all basic living needs, including
drinking water and food. He said the situation had become so dire in
Rmeish that "people are drinking from a contaminated pond, used to
water crops and which animals drink from. " The ongoing Israeli
offensive against Lebanon has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching
remote Southern areas because of Israeli threats and heavy bombing.
Israelis ignored repeated warnings before killing UN observers
The Guardian
7/27/2006
16 pleas for firing to stop went unheeded · Furious Annan condemns
targeting of post -- Israel came under mounting pressure last night to
explain why its military ignored repeated warnings and bombed a
prominent UN post in southern Lebanon, killing four unarmed
international observers. The four UN soldiers, from China, Austria,
Finland and Canada, were taking shelter in a bunker at the white,
three-storey building in Khiyam on Tuesday after at least six hours of
Israeli bombing and shelling, when it was destroyed by what UN sources
say was a precision-guided aerial bomb. The UN contacted Israeli forces
up to 10 times about the strikes. The UN's deputy general secretary,
Mark Malloch Brown, made several calls to the Israelis to protest at
the shelling and to call for it to stop, he told the security council
yesterday.
Babies among dead on Gaza front line
The Independent
7/27/2006
Only the bloodstains on their white shrouds spoke of the tragedy that
had unfolded. Two Palestinian girls, one just eight months old, were
dead. They were killed when an Israeli tank shell struck a house near
Jabalya in the besieged Gaza Strip. Yesterday marked the end of Cpl
Gilad Shalit's first month in captivity and Israel stepped up
operations inside the Strip in an operation codenamed Sampson's Pillar.
The ferocity of the response to that kidnapping, and the determination
of operations to stop Palestinian militants' rockets, saw a barrage of
air strikes and raids yesterday that killed at least 19 Palestinians,
including three children and a handicapped man. Israeli shells struck
at a rate of one a minute throughout the afternoon, with the buildings
of Beit Hanoun shaking under the sustained fire.
Rescuers: Many dead have yet to be counted
The Daily Star
7/27/2006
TYRE: The number of fatalities from Israel's two-week bombardment of
Lebanon has been "grossly underestimated," according to paramedics and
emergency response crews, with some putting the true tally near 1,000. "In Tyre alone we had 125 dead and 150 missing or buried under the
rubble," said Sami Yazbek, the head of Red Cross operations in this
southern port town. "Those trapped under the rubble are impossible to
reach due to the complete destruction of the roads in the South, so we
have no choice but to presume they are dead by now. ""Tyre is the
least-hit area when compared with the volume of assaults in the South," Yazbek added. As Israel's massive assault on Lebanon continues, medical
officials are predicting that the true number of casualties will soon
be revealed as double the reported figure of 400, according to Yazbek.
Wounded troops describe Bint Jbail battle as 'hell on earth'
Ha'aretz 7/27/2006
Wounded soldiers who took part in heavy combat Wednesday on the
outskirts of the Hezbollah stronghold of Bint Jbail recounted their
experiences from their hospital beds at Haifa's Rambam Medical Center,
which received 22 of the wounded casualties of the battle. "They suffer
mostly from shrapnel and also from penetration of bullets," said Dr.
Micky Hilbertal, who runs the emergency room where the soldiers are
hospitalized. "Most of the injuries are in the limbs, a few of them are
in the chest and stomach. " Hilbertal said the most similar experience
he can recall when he was required to treat this many wounded was
during the first Lebanon war. "[Back then], helicopters landed here
almost non-stop," he said, noting that Rambam is working in full
emergency mode.
Hizbullah: Next target – Netanya
YNet News 7/26/2006
Senior terror group commander says ‘we have not yet shown the Zionist
regime and its supporters our full rocket-launching capabilities’ -- A
senior Hizbullah official said that the organization has set a new
target for itself - the city of Netanya, as reported by the Iranian
news agency Fars in Lebanon. According to the report, Fuad Dirani,
commander of the Hizbullah organization, called for the residents of
Netanya to evacuate theirhouses because "soon the range of our rockets
will reach 100 kilometers (62 miles) into Israel and we will attack
military installations and infrastructure. The fact that more than two
million Israelis have run away from their homes has put pressure on
senior officials in Israel. “Hizbullah has not yet shown the Zionist
regime and its supporters its full rocket-launching capabilities. "
Hezbollah claims victories in Wednesday's fighting
Ma'an News 7/26/2006
Al-Manar TV channel announced that a special unit performed an
operation which resulted in the killing of 4 Israeli intelligence men.
Thus the death toll of Israeli soldiers in Wednesday's battles rises to
17 and 20 injuries. Hezbollah reported that the Israeli forces failed
to transfer their dead and injured soldiers from the battle field. In
addition 20 more Israelis were injured in Katyusha shelling, on
Wednesday, against the Israeli cities of Haifa, Akko, Safad, and the
Israeli towns of Karmiel and Karyot. In related news, Lebanese sources
reported that Israeli raids continued during the night and Wednesday
morning on different southern areas, including the electricity network
of Marjayoun. They also continued artillery bombardment of Ibil
As-Saqi, Al-Qulayah, Al-Khiyam, Kafr Kila and Matalla.
Evening Roundup: Bint Jbeil Faces Fierce Resistance as
Civilians Flee en Masse
An Nahar 7/26/2006
As Israeli bombardment of the south continued Wednesday, fighting raged
on between Hizbullah fighters and Israeli forces that are battling to
move deeper inside the border town of Bint Jbeil. The army said 8
Israeli soldiers were killed in fierce fighting with Hizbullah fighters
in the key border town, a Hizbullah military stronghold in the border
area which Israeli forces first broke into on Tuesday. A ninth was
killed in the nearby village of Maroun al-Ras. "Eight soldiers were
killed and 22 injured in fighting at Bint Jbeil," an army spokesman
said. Al-Jazeera TV network earlier said that at least 13 had been
killed. The fierce exchanges came as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
told a parliamentary committee he wanted to establish a security zone
of one to two kilometers in southern Lebanon.
Beirut classrooms become clinics
BBC 7/26/2006
Over 85,000 refugees are staying in Beirut's public schools -- As a
team of doctors wiped down school desks with pungent disinfectant, a
group of women with babies in their arms jostled at the classroom door. "Just wait a minute," one of the doctors called to the mothers as he
carried a brown box of pharmaceuticals over to the window sill. With
Arabic grammar scrawled on the blackboard this does not look like a
normal doctor's clinic - but that is what it is. Lebanon's social
services are overwhelmed after up to a million Lebanese fled from their
homes in the south of country and Beirut's southern suburbs as the
Israeli bombardment of these areas continue.
Villagers Flee en Masse After a 3-Hour Israeli Ultimatum
An Nahar 7/26/2006
Over a thousand inhabitants of eight Lebanese villages close to the
Israeli border were desperately fleeing their homes en masse Wednesday
after being given a three-hour ultimatum to leave by the Israeli army,
a local mayor said. "There are 300-500 families fleeing on foot, with
the adults shouting and the children crying, walking in the direction
of Tyre" a dozen kilometers to the north, said the mayor of the village
of Al-Bustan, Shamman Mohammed an-Nasser. He said at 1:00 pm (1000 GMT)
an Israeli military jeep approached the barbed wire that marks the
border and an officer threatened the Sunni inhabitants of Al-Bustan, Um
at-Tout, Dhaira, Zalloutiye and other villages which lie along a four
kilometer stretch on the border. The villagers were warned "that they
would be bombed if they did not leave before 4:00 pm (1300 GMT)", he
said.
Peres to Lebanese: It's us or Hezbollah
Ha'aretz 7/27/2006
Vice Premier Shimon Peres yesterday called on the citizens of Lebanon
to get Hezbollah to disarm. He was speaking in the Knesset plenum at a
special debate during the summer recess, called to discuss the campaign
in the north. "We are distressed to see how time and again your green
country turns into burned black patches and heaps of ruins," Peres said
to the Lebanese. "We know well that war sows destruction in your
beautiful country and our hearts break but we have no choice: It's us
or Hezbollah. You also have no choice: It's you or Hezbollah. From our
point of view, this is a war for life and for peace. "He called on the
Lebanese citizens to disarm the terror organization that is making
their lives miserable, just as they managed to get the Syrians to leave
Lebanese soil.
UN aid chief says Israel has 'created a generation of hatred'
Jerusalem Post
7/27/2006
United Nations humanitarian chief Jan Egeland accused Israel on
Wednesday of committing "catastrophic mistakes" in its attack on
Hizbullah, which have caused civilian casualties and alienated the
Lebanese public. "It will create a generation of hatred," he said in an
interview held with The Jerusalem Post after he had concluded tours of
northern Israel, Gaza and Lebanon. "I'm talking more as a friend of
Israel than as an aid worker," said Egeland, who noted that he studied
at Jerusalem's Hebrew University as a Truman Fellow, while his brother
lived on a kibbutz. The UN's under secretary-general for humanitarian
affairs and emergency relief coordinator, Egeland called for an
immediate cessation of hostilities.
Olmert: Hizbullah to learn the hard way
YNet News 7/26/2006
PM visits north to support residents; promises that fighting in north
will not last for months, but says 'we won't announce end of operation'
-- In a visit of support to the north on Wednesday, Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert said that "the IDF operation won't last for months and, even if
it lasts for longer than we planned, we'll know how to match the
solution to the citizens. " "I don't intend on announcing an end to the
operation. They (Hizbullah) will figure it out on their own, the hard
way," he continued. Olmert met with 20 heads of local authorities in
the north and spoke to them about their distress.... "We are running a
different kind of war than the wars in the past. It wasn't planned,
but, two weeks in and during the fighting, the nation is trying to
help, as best it can, those parts of the home front that have turned
into a battlefront," he said.
Olmert Outlines Plan to Carve Out 2-Km-Wide Security Zone in
South
An Nahar 7/26/2006
Israel wants to establish a two-kilometer-wide strip in south Lebanon
that will be free of Hizbullah fighters, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert said Wednesday, for the first time giving the dimensions of
Israel's new "security zone. "Omert outlined the plan in a closed-door
meeting of parliament's Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee,
according to participants who later briefed reporters. On Tuesday,
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz had first raised the idea of such
a buffer zone, but left somewhat unclear whether Israeli troops would
patrol such a no-go area or try to keep out Hizbullah fighters from a
distance, by artillery fire and air strikes. Olmert told legislators on
Wednesday that the zone would be two kilometers (just over a mile)
wide.
Congress Cautioned On Support of Israel
Washington Post
7/26/2006
Some Lawmakers Seek a Middle Ground -- Even as the fighting continues
and the civilian casualties mount in Lebanon, sentiment in Congress is
overwhelmingly on Israel's side. Last week, the House passed a
resolution, 410 to 8, that went even beyond the Bush administration in
supporting for Israel in its battle with Hezbollah militants. A bid by
the four House lawmakers of Lebanese descent to add language urging
restraint against civilian targets was rejected in negotiations. The
resolution's only nod to those caught in the crossfire came in a
recognition of "Israel's longstanding commitment to minimizing civilian
loss" and an expression of condolences -- in the last sentence of a
three-page document -- "to all innocent victims of recent violence in
Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. "
Arab Americans Sue Government over Lebanon
Palestine Chronicle
7/26/2006
The State Department said about 25,000 Americans were in Lebanon when
the Israeli onslaught started and that 13,600 had been evacuated as of
Monday. -- WASHINGTON — The largest Arab American civil rights
organization in the United States is suing the Bush administration for
putting at risk the lives of 25,000 Americans in Lebanon by rejecting
an immediate ceasefire, shipping weapons to Israel and pursuing a
slow-pace evacuation process. "At no time has President (George W. )
Bush, Secretary of State (Condoleezza) Rice, or Secretary of Defense
(Donald) Rumsfeld called for a ceasefire in Lebanon," Mary Rose Oakar,
president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), was
quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Exclusive: US calls for Mount Dov (Shebaa Farms) talks
Jerusalem Post
7/26/2006
The US is "counseling" Israel to negotiate a possible withdrawal from
the Mount Dov (Shaba Farms) area with Lebanon as part of a long-term
arrangement for Lebanon, The Jerusalem Post has learned. This issue was
one of the focuses of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's talks in
Jerusalem Tuesday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. However, this issue
- as well as discussions about the mandate and composition of a
possible multinational force in Lebanon - was shunted aside Wednesday
because of the bitter fighting and the IDF losses at Bint Jbail. Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert convened his senior ministers Wednesday night - a
group known as the forum of seven - to discuss the day's fighting and
its ramifications.... Siniora: "Lebanon's demands that for so many
years part of our country is still occupied... "
Rome talks yield no plan to end Lebanon fighting
Reuters 7/26/2006
ROME (Reuters) - World powers called on Wednesday for an urgent
ceasefire in Lebanon but offered no plan to end fierce fighting between
Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas. Foreign ministers from the United
States, Europe and the Middle East papered over their differences and
agreed on the need for an international military force with a U. N.
mandate to secure the Israeli-Lebanese border once the conflict abated.
However, with the United States firmly backing Israel's continued
assault on the Iranian-backed militia, little more than rhetoric and
pledges of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction emerged from
the one-day Rome conference.
Saniora Pledges to Start Legal Proceedings to Make Israel
Compensate
An Nahar (Naharnet)
7/26/2006
Prime Minister Fouad Saniora said Wednesday that Israel should be made
to pay compensation for damage from military strikes. He also appealed
to delegates at a Middle East conference in Rome to stop the fighting
between Israel and Hizbullah and to provide humanitarian aid. "Israel
cannot go on indefinitely disregarding international law. It must be
made to pay and we shall commence legal proceedings and spare no avenue
to make Israel compensate the Lebanese people," he said in remarks
distributed to reporters. Saniora, outlining his own plan for ending
the crisis, also appealed for a commitment from the U. N. Security
Council to place the disputed Shabaa Farms area under U. N. control
until final borders can be defined. Israel seized the zone in the 1967
Arab-Israeli war and still occupies it.
Nassib Lahoud: 'We can't bear more attacks'
The Daily Star
7/27/2006
BEIRUT: Democratic Renewal Movement leader Nassib Lahoud stressed the
need for a sustainable cease-fire Wednesday because "Lebanon cannot
bear more attacks in the future. " Speaking after his meeting with
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Lahoud said a "sustainable cease-fire
can be achieved by resolving pending problems, such as the demarcation
of the Shebaa Farms, the release of the Lebanese detainees in Israeli
prisons and the implementation of the government's sovereignty over all
the Lebanese territories. "Berri also met Wednesday with Information
Minister Ghazi Aridi, who stressed the "government's united position in
dealing with the current situation. "In a separate development, senior
Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah warned against a "world
war led by the United States through the Israeli war machine. "
Israel steps up "psy-ops" in Lebanon
BBC 7/26/2006
From mass targeting of mobile phones with voice and text messages to
old-fashioned radio broadcasts warning of imminent attacks, Israel is
deploying a range of old and new technologies in Lebanon as part of the
psychological operations ("psyops") campaign supplementing its military
attacks. According to US and UK media outlets, Israel has reactivated a
radio station to broadcast messages urging residents of southern
Lebanon to evacuate the region. Some reports have named the station as
the Voice of the South. The South Lebanon Army, a Christian militia
backed by Israel, operated a radio station called Voice of the South
from Kfar Killa in southern Lebanon in the 1980s and 1990s. The station
closed down in May 2000 when Israeli forces withdrew from southern
Lebanon.
Saudi king offers Lebanon $1.5bn
BBC 7/25/2006
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has promised to give $500m to Lebanon to
pay for reconstruction. He also approved $1bn for the Central Bank of
Lebanon to support the economy. The Saudi monarch warned that Israel's
military offensives in Lebanon and Gaza could ignite a war in the
region. He has held talks with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak in the
Saudi capital Riyadh ahead of a conference on Lebanon in Rome on
Wednesday. Pressure on the Lebanese pound has risen over the past
fortnight during the military action by Israel in response to
Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack.
Lebanon billions adrift: Experts estimate the damage to the Lebanese
economy at around $2bn, with investors and tourists fleeing, and
believe that the government is set to lose out on $600m in earnings.
ADC Files Lawsuit Against
Secretaries of State and Defense for Failure to Protect US Citizens in
Lebanon
American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee - ADC 7/24/2006
Washington, DC | July 24, 2006 | Today, the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed a federal lawsuit claiming
that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld failed to fulfill their constitutional and professional
obligations and protect US citizens in a crisis or time of war. In the
lawsuit, ADC alleges that the defendants placed US citizens in peril by
not taking all possible steps to secure the safety and well being of US
citizens in Lebanon. Further, the lawsuit asks the Federal Court to
issue an order compelling the Secretary of State and Secretary of
Defense to request a ceasefire and to stop any shipments of weapons or
any other military support to Israel during the evacuation of all US
citizens out of Lebanon... -- Click here to read the
ADC's complaint
ADC Files for Temporary
Protected Status for Citizens of Lebanon and Gaza
American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee - ADC 7/24/2006
Washington, DC | July 24, 2006 | Today, the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) requested that the Department of
Homeland Security and the Department of State to designate Lebanon and
the Gaza Strip for Temporary Protected Status due to the severe
humanitarian crisis caused by Israeli attacks on those areas. Temporary
Protected Status would allow nationals of Lebanon and the Gaza Strip to
remain in the United States on a temporary basis to ensure that they
are not returned to an area rife with violence, with dwindling access
to water, medical and food supplies. To date, the Israeli attacks on
Lebanon have caused more than 370 deaths, with children comprising more
than one third of the casualties.
Relief agencies struggle to cope
AlJazeera 7/26/2006
Aid workers in Lebanon fear the deaths of four UN observers in an
Israeli bombing may damage efforts to get relief supplies to civilians
caught in the conflict. "As a result of this incident, drivers and
truck owners are losing confidence in UN assurances," WFP relief
coordinator, Amer Daoudi, told Aljazeera. net on Wednesday. "The
incident will definitely affect our operations and will make it
extremely difficult to bring in more aid to southern Lebanon," he said
about the death of the UN observers in the southern hilltop town of
Khiam. However, he said UN relief agencies would continue to send
supply trucks and will coordinate with all warring parties to ensure
safe passage for their convoys.
Agencies struggle to provide aid
BBC 7/26/2006
With stacks of tinned tomatoes, apricots and beans, hundreds of packets
of rice, pasta and lentils, and crates of bottled olive oil, there is
no shortage of food supplies in Mercy Corps' windowless warehouse
located in central Beirut. But as volunteers pack brown boxes with
enough food supplies for a family of 10 to survive for 15 days,
Cassandra Nelson from the international relief organisation says she is
frustrated about their inability to get the aid to those who need it
most. "The big challenge is how do you get the aid from the [Beirut]
port to the people," she says standing outside the warehouse. "There's
no point in the food rotting at the port because that's not going to
help anyone. " There is growing concern among international aid
agencies about the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who have not
received aid in the south of the country.
500 Thousand Refugees
Created by Israeli Onslaught
American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee - ADC 7/26/2006
Largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon is facing dire humanitarian
conditions. Please read their needs below and consider sending
assistance -- As a result of our meeting, all NGOs and activists have
agreed upon the following needs: A. Raising health & medical
awareness regarding the situation especially that they are using
chemical weapons and bombs and people need to be aware how to deal with
such a situation. B. Babies' and children's food, mainly milk and
diapers. C. Emergency medications: ventoline, for asthma, diabetic
tablets, medicine for high blood pressure. D. Dressing materials,
cardiac medicine, antipyretic, antibiotics, and medicine for diarrhea.
E. Candles and matches. F. Drinking water, the camp lacks sources
ofwater (people usually buy the drinking water)... -- Mercy
Corps and ICRC
Israel-Lebanon: Stop killings of civilians
Amnesty
International 7/26/2006
Amnesty International is gravely concerned that civilians continue to
bear the brunt of the mounting tension between Israel and Lebanon. In
the past week some 300 Lebanese civilians, including dozens of
children, have been killed and hundreds injured in a large-scale
bombing campaign by Israeli forces, who have also deliberately targeted
and destroyed dozens of bridges, roads, powers stations, the airport
and port, and other civilian facilities and infrastructure. The Israeli
air strikes have forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee
their homes and thousands more are at risk as the Israeli army has
warned the population in certain areas to leave, but at the same time
it has bombed the roads and bridges out of the areas, trapping
civilians there.
Lebanon/Israel: Open letter to foreign ministers meeting in
Rome
By Irene Khan, AI
Secretary General, Amnesty International 7/26/2006
Dear Foreign Minister, I write to you on the occasion of this
Wednesday’s governmental meeting in Rome, called in response to the
current conflict involving Israel and Lebanon. Civilians on both sides
of the Israel/Lebanon border have borne the brunt of this conflict. In
Israel, at least 17 civilians have been killed and hundreds of others
have been injured by rockets fired into civilian areas of Israel by
Hizbullah, while in Lebanon Israeli air attacks and bombardments have
killed more than 300 civilians, more than a third of them children, and
wounded thousands. More than half a million Lebanese have been
displaced by Israeli bombings and threats. Israel is imposing a naval
and air blockade of Lebanon. It has attacked Beirut’s airport and
bombarded the main road out of the country to Syria and dozens of other
roads, bridges...
IDF strikes Lebanese army base and relay station
Jerusalem Post
7/27/2006
The IDF hit a Lebanese army base and a relay station belonging to
Lebanese state radio north of Beirut early Thursday, local TV and radio
stations said. The privately owned Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. TV
station said IAF jets struck the army base at Aamchit, 50 kilometers
along the Beirut-Tripoli highway north of the Lebanese capital near the
coast and knocked down a relay tower in an adjacent field of antennas
belonging to Radio Liban. Later, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp.
reported that Israeli warships had shelled the base and the relay
station; however, the Voice of Lebanon radio station said the base was
attacked by war planes. The army sealed off the area and prevented
people from approaching, the Lebanese TV channel said. The IDF had no
immediate comment on the reports.
War sparks environmental crisis too as oil leaks into sea
after attack on power plant
The Daily Star
7/27/2006
BEIRUT: At least 10,000 tons of heavy fuel oil have been spilled into
the Lebanese sea, causing an environmental catastrophe with severe
effects on health, biodiversity and tourism, environmentalists and the
Environment Ministry said Wednesday. Two weeks ago, Israeli bombs
targeted the Jiyye power station, located on the coast 30 kilometers
south of Beirut. Part of the oil in storage tanks has been burning ever
since and the other part is leaking into the Mediterranean. "The
pollution has affected around 70 to 80 kilometers of both public and
private rocky and sandy beaches from Damour, south of Beirut, through
to Chekka in the North," Berge Hadjian, the Environment Ministry's
director general said Wednesday. Another 15,000 tons of oil are
expected to leak into the sea, he added.
Israel 'ignored UN bomb warnings'
AlJazeera 7/26/2006
Kofi Annan has called for an investigation into the bombing -- Israel
ignored repeated warnings it was shelling close to United Nations
observers in southern Lebanon before an Israeli bomb killed four for
them, the Irish foreign ministry has said. The ministry said on
Wednesday a senior Irish army officer had called Israeli military
liasion officers at least six times to warn them that Israeli munitions
were landing close to UN installations in the region. The peacekeepers
were killed on Tuesday night when an aerial bomb struck a United
Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) building in Khiam, southern
Lebanon, an UNIFIL spokesman said.... the Israeli premier said it was "inconceivable" for the UN to think that the incident was deliberate.
Lebanese Americans flee conflict zone
BBC 7/26/2006
Many southern Lebanese villagers on the receiving end of Israel's
bombardment are also, paradoxically, citizens of Israel's closest ally
and strongest military backer, the United States. This is an outcome of
the years of Israeli occupation of south Lebanon, when thousands of
people, especially Shia Muslims, emigrated to the US. So when the
current round of fighting broke out on 12 July, the village of Yaroun,
just a few kilometres from the Israeli border, was packed with Lebanese
Americans. Young and old had been enjoying their summer holidays,
little suspecting that their ancestral homes would soon be subjected to
a remorseless battering by Israeli firepower. Teenager Ali Nasser
recalls the family huddling in one corner during an Israeli
bombardment.
Four people hurt, one seriously, as over 120 rockets hit
northern Israel
Ha'aretz 7/26/2006
Four people were wounded Wednesday, one seriously and the rest lightly,
as more than 100 rockets slammed into northern Israel. Another 14
people were treated for shock. Two people were wounded by shrapnel
while driving in a Haifa suburb, one of them seriously. Another two
were hurt Wednesday afternoon in Ma'alot. A barrage of rockets was
fired at the Galilee and Kiryat Shmona. Dozens more struck the Haifa
suburbs, Tiberias, Safed, Carmiel, the village of Jish and the Hula
Valley during the day. In the Haifa suburbs, one of the rockets started
a small fire. Around 8 P. M. , Hezbollah gunners launched a salvo of
rockets at Ma'alot and surrounding communities. There were no reported
casualties but firefighters were called to the scene to extinguish a
fire that broke out.
Hizbullah sending text messages to Israelis?
YNet News 7/26/2006
Now Now Now.. Go out from your home Hizballah willing shelling of the
area’ reads text message received by dozens of Orange cell phone
service subscribers Wednesday. Orange: We'll block messages -- Dozens
of Israeli customers of the Orange cellular service provider received
unexpected SMS messages on their phones Wednesday evening, with the
English message: "Now Now Now... Go out from your home Hizballah
willing shelling of the area, Israel Government Cheating you And refuse
recognition Defeat. ” It was not yet clear whether Hizbullah operatives
were in fact behind the messages of intimidation, or whether the
messages were no more than a joke in poor taste by other network
subscribers.
1,402 rockets shot at Israel since onset of fighting
YNet News 7/26/2006
Northern District Police report 19 dead, more than 1,200 injured as a
result of rocket attacks. Only Wednesday, 98 rockets launched by
afternoon hours, resulting in several casualties -- Since the onset of
the current confrontation on the northern border, 15 days ago, 1,402
rockets have been launched at Israel, the Northern District Police's
spokesperson reported. Nineteen civilians have been killed and 1,262
wounded, including 46 who are still hospitalized. Many of the injured
suffered from shock. On Wednesday, the barrages on the north continued.
As of the afternoon, 98 rockets were fired at northern Israel, leaving
one man severely injured. Some 21 others were lightly injured and 14
suffered from shock, as a result of the barrage.
Photos: From Israel to
Lebanon
fromisraeltolebanon.info
7/26/2006
From The Lebanese People To The So Called "Civilized" West: "Thank You" --Watch Out - Sensitive Pictures Below - What CNN never shows you -
Petition to save Lebanese Civilians.
Battle rages for Lebanese town
AlJazeera 7/26/2006
Thirteen Israeli soldiers have been killed and 12 wounded in fighting
with Hezbollah in a southern Lebanese town, Aljazeera's correspondent
in Lebanon says. There were conflicting reports about the number of
casualties and the Israeli army said eight soldiers had been killed and
22 wounded in clashes around the town of Bint Jbeil on Wednesday.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said "violent confrontations" erupted between
its fighters and Israeli forces attempting to advance from a hilltop
towards a hospital in the town. The clashes came as more than 125
rockets were fired at northern Israel by Hezbollah during Wednesday,
wounding dozens, Israeli security and medical sources said. One rocket
landed near a car in Haifa, seriously wounding a driver, medics said.
Rockets also landed in the towns of Acre, Carmiel and Safed.
Losses from strikes on Lebanese manufacturing at $150 million
and counting
The Daily Star
7/26/2006
BEIRUT: The relentless Israeli air strikes against some of Lebanon's
industrial plants have caused losses of more than $150 million, and the
figure may be much higher if industries in the South are included, a
leading industrialist said on Tuesday. "The losses are more than $150
million in the current book value and we are afraid the situation will
get worse," Jacques Sarraf, a chemical plant owner and the former
president of the industrial association, told The Daily Star. More than
a dozen factories in the Bekaa valley and other areas were hit by
Israeli strikes in two weeks of bombing. Among the factories that were
hit and destroyed were the country's largest dairy farm, Liban Lait; a
paper mill; a packaging firm and wood plant.
In pictures: Conflict in Lebanon
BBC 7/26/2006
Photos: Oil spill - Another day of violence and worry in the Middle
East, as Israel and Hezbollah continue to trade blows 15 days after
fighting first erupted in the region. / In Israel, the UN humanitarian
chief Jan Egeland toured the city of Haifa, which has come under
sustained attack from Hezbollah rocket fire.
The travails of escaping Lebanon
BBC 7/24/2006
Ali Zabad has two major concerns in the midst of Israel's bombardment
of his native south Lebanon. He wants to get his wife, Rose, and their
two young grandchildren as far away as possible from the relentless
bombing that has killed more than 372 people - overwhelmingly
civilians. But he also has to look after his mother Nayfi, who has
suffered a stroke and is in no fit state to make the onerous journey
out of the war zone without full medical back-up. Their home in
Mansoureh village was flattened by Israeli bombing, but not before the
family fled to Tyre. They came with just a few belongings on the second
day of the crisis, which erupted after Hezbollah guerrillas seized two
Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.
Experts: Conflict to determine Israel's status in region
YNet News 7/27/2006
Possibilities to open for Israel opposite Palestinians, Arab world
depend on way military conflict in Lebanon will end, experts from Tel
Aviv University estimate. 'God forbid that Hizbullah should emerge with
upper hand. That would be extremely severe for State of Israel,'
explains Prof. David Menashri, head of Center for Iranian Studies --
According to a document published Wednesday by the Jaffee Center for
Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, "the way this conflict (in
Lebanon) ends will have great ramifications for the State of Israel's
status in the Middle East. " "Beyond its direct influence on the
situation on the Lebanon border, it will have great influence also on
Israel's situation and on the possibilities which it will face in the
Palestinian arena and opposite the Arab world in general," the document
went on to say.
Is Syria the key to peace?
AlJazeera 7/27/2006
Syria is a place of refuge for many Lebanese escaping Israeli
bombardment -- With no military end in sight, some analysts are
pondering whether the only solution to the conflict is a diplomatic
route – and perhaps one involving Syria. The US and Israel have
repeatedly accused Syria, and Iran, of being Hezbollah’s external
backers and the root cause of the fighting between Israel and the
Lebanese Shia group. Yet so far Washington has taken no decisive steps
to pressure Damascus into using its influence to rein in Hezbollah.
With no signs of a definitive military outcome in Lebanon, some feel
that Syria now holds the diplomatic upper hand.
Egypt rules out intervention in Lebanon
The Daily Star
7/27/2006
Egypt rejected calls for tougher action in response to the Israeli
offensive in Lebanon amid renewed calls by Syria and Jordan for an
immediate cease-fire. Meanwhile, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari
told US lawmakers that Iraq will join Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt in
condemning Hizbullah, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada
told reporters Wednesday. There was no official confirmation from the
Iraqi government. Speaking to a government newspaper, Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak ruled out Egypt's military involvement in the
ongoing Israel-Hizbullah fighting in Lebanon. "Those who urge Egypt to
go to war to defend Lebanon or Hizbullah are not aware that the time of
exterior adventures is over," Mubarak told Al-Gomhuriyya daily.
UN officers fume over Israeli air strike that killed 4
peacekeepers
The Daily Star
7/27/2006
TYRE: The four United Nations observers never stood a chance. Even
though UN peacekeepers in Naqoura "begged" the Israeli military for six
hours to call off multiple air strikes that were falling perilously
close to one of their positions, it was to no avail. The UN position,
which had been located at the southern end of Khiam since the 1950s,
was completely destroyed on Tuesday evening when at least two
precision-guided missiles slammed into the three-story structure,
killing all four unarmed UN observers. A "shocked and deeply
distressed" Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, called the attacks an "apparently deliberate targeting" of a UN observer post. But by the
evening, Annan had "accepted" Israel's apology, ensuring that UN
objections would not soften Israel's determination to pursue its
onslaught against Hizbullah.
Spotlight on Taif as key ingredient for cease-fire
The Daily Star
7/27/2006
The Lebanese Cabinet agreed in an extraordinary session held over the
weekend to adhere to the Taif Accord when dealing with international
negotiators. However, Energy Minister Mohammad Fneish argued that the
ongoing military crisis had surpassed the Taif Accord and UN Security
Council Resolution 1559, so the accord is no longer a document of
national agreement. Iran's significant role in the region should not be
ignored, he added. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud
al-Faisal, said in Washington recently that the Lebanese government's "weakness" and its failure to implement the Taif Accord led to the
current crisis. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, French
President Jacques Chirac and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan have all
stressed the need to implement the accord...
UN aid touches down at crippled airport
The Daily Star
7/27/2006
BEIRUT: Humanitarian aid supplies sent by the United Nations arrived at
Beirut's battered airport on Wednesday aboard three Jordanian military
planes. Two planes arrived in the early morning loaded with a field
hospital and medical aid to treat the thousands of Lebanese wounded
during Israel's ongoing bombardment of Lebanon. A third plane arrived
in the afternoon carrying more medical aid and a crew of military
engineers sent to help repair the airport's runways. Lebanon's only
civil aviation airport has been closed for the past two weeks as
multiple Israeli air strikes and shelling targeted the airport's
runways and fuel-storage tanks. Aid supplies also arrived by sea
Wednesday aboard a Canadian ship that docked at the Port of Beirut.
NW Marchers Rally Against Israeli Actions
Washington Post
7/26/2006
Hundreds of protesters, many carrying antiwar signs and fake coffins,
marched quietly in a mock funeral procession yesterday through upper
Northwest Washington to the Israeli Embassy to protest the bombings in
Lebanon and the Gaza Strip and to urge the United States to broker a
cease-fire. "One, two, three, four, we don't want your racist war;
five, six, seven, eight, Israel is a terrorist state," protesters
chanted outside the embassy, off Van Ness Street. More than a dozen
police and security officers stood outside the building. "Israel out of
Palestine, cease fire now," the crowd continued after speakers demanded
an end to the killings of civilians and to U.S. support of the
bombings. The demonstration came as the United States and United
Nations searched for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
Beckett protest at weapons flight
BBC 7/26/2006
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has protested to the US
about its use of a Scottish airport to transport bombs to Israel. Amid
the Lebanon crisis, Mrs Beckett said it seemed the US was not following
the right procedures over arms flights. She said she was "not happy" and she had talked directly to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
about it. The Lib Dems say reports of the bombs at Prestwick Airport
suggest the US is taking the UK for granted. Laser guided bombs? : Mrs
Beckett was asked about the controversy after discussing the Middle
East crisis with fellow foreign ministers in Rome. "We have already let
the United States know that this is an issue that appears to be
seriously at fault, and we will be making a formal protest if it
appears that that is what has happened," she said.
Lebanon question
challenges Germany
BBC 7/26/2006
The memory of the Holocaust is fuelling a debate in Germany over
involvement in a Lebanon peace force, even before a definite decision
to create one. German newspapers on Wednesday aired a number of
arguments for and against sending German soldiers to the Middle East,
with the "burden of history" looming large. "History is the past, but
the history of the Holocaust belongs to the German present," said the
Frankfurter Rundschau. No German soldier should, even theoretically, "be brought into a situation where he has to aim his weapon at an
Israeli", it added. The Suddeutsche Zeitung said it was "astonishing" that politicians were discussing the idea... The secretary general of
the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Stephan Kramer, added his voice
to those against German deployment.
Hezbollah must return captured soldiers alive, mother says
Ha'aretz 7/26/2006
The families of the two Israel Defense Forces soldiers who were
captured July 12, triggering fighting in Lebanon and Israel, Wednesday
appealed to France to do all it can to secure their release. Hezbollah
guerrillas are responsible for bringing the soldiers back alive, said
Malka Goldwasser, the mother of one of the captured soldiers. "They
captured them and they are responsible for bringing them back," she
said. Speaking at a news conference in Paris, she and other members of
the families of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the two captured
soldiers, cited France's historical connections with Lebanon, saying
they felt that France provided he "best chance" to obtain their
liberation.
EU Announces $50 Million in Humanitarian Aid for Lebanon
An Nahar 7/26/2006
The European Commission announced Wednesday a further 40 million euros
(50 million dollars) in EU humanitarian aid to help victims of the
conflict in war-torn Lebanon. After releasing 10 million euros last
week, the European Union's executive arm said it had decided to unblock
another 10 million euros and was seeking permission for a further 30
million euros from the EU parliament and member states. EU Humanitarian
Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said that the funds would be destined for "those who are suffering -- whoever and wherever they are" in the
country. "Our humanitarian aid goes impartially to those who most need
it and, tragically, the needs in Lebanon get bigger every day the
conflict persists," he added.
New York think tank: Israel cannot wipe out Hezbollah
Ma'an News 7/26/2006
Ma'an -- Ma'an- The president of the Council on Foreign Relations in
New York, Richard Haass, has rejected the possibility of Israel
succeeding in definitively eliminating Hezbollah, saying, "I do not
think it is possible to knockout Hezbollah; it is simply not a target
of the type that could just blow away". Haass said that he expects the
confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah to contribute to a deepening
of hostility towards Israel and the United States in the Arab street,
saying that, "It is clear that one of the Arab reactions is the
increase in Arab hostility towards Israel and the United States, and
they are the prevailing feelings of the current time. " [end]
Nine IDF soldiers killed in bitter south Lebanon fighting
Ha'aretz 7/27/2006
Troops walk into ambush near Hezbollah stronghold - Nine Israel Defense
Forces soldiers died Wednesday and 27 others were injured in the
hardest day of fighting in southern Lebanon since the war began two
weeks ago. Five of the injured soldiers are in serious condition. The
IDF believes that Hezbollah lost 15 of its fighters in Wednesday's
fighting. Eight of the IDF dead - five soldiers and three officers -
were from the Golani Brigade; they were killed in fighting in the town
of Bint Jbail. The ninth soldier, a paratrooper, was killed last night
in Maroun Ras. The IDF began its operation against Bint Jbail on Monday
morning. By Tuesday evening, troops from the Golani and Paratroops
Brigades had taken up positions on the outskirts of the town, and
Golani soldiers had also ntered some of the homes.
Israeli Army levels a house east of Qalqilia, seriously
injuring one youth
International Middle
East Media Center 7/27/2006
Wednesday at night, Israeli soldiers invaded a town near Qalqilia,
north of the West Bank, leveled one house and seriously injured a youth
by shooting him in his head, the Palestinian News Agency, WAFA,
reported. The agency stated that soldiers surrounded the town and
leveled the house of Mohammad Hussein Qaddoumi, in Kafer Qaddoum
village, east o Qalqilia and demolished it. Soldiers broke into the
house of Qaddoumi and detained him and his family members, along with
several other residents, in a nearby house and interrogated them before
leveling the house. The other detainees residents were identified as
Mohammad Saleh Shtewy, Hamada Shaker Shtewy, Abdul-Hamid Izzat Shtewy,
along with several other residents. Soldiers imposed a strict siege
over the village and barred the residents from leaving their homes.
Palestinian Israelis ask media to cover rocket strikes in
their village
Ma'an News 7/26/2006
Bethlehem --Palestinian- Israeli citizens of Al-Bqi'ah village accused
the Israeli security institution of using their village as bait to
attract the Hezbollah rockets by preventing media to mention that
rockets hit their village, so Hezbollah will continue to bomb it. In a
phone call to Ma'an, the villagers said that the Israelis is trying to
trick Hezbollah into bombing the Arab villages which are close to
Israeli cities. So far 60 rockets have landed at Arab cities and
villages. Residents said that they asked the news media to cover the
events but they were not able because of Israeli censorship. The last
group of rockets struck the village at 8pm Wednesday. One rocket hit
the house of Dr. Bassam George Shaddad.
Canadian-Israeli prof. arrested on suspicion of spying for
Hezbollah
Ha'aretz 7/26/2006
A Canadian-Israeli professor has been held by Israeli authorities for
18 days without access to a lawyer, on suspicion of spying for
Hezbollah and Iranian intelligence agents. A gag order on the case was
lifted Wednesday after Haaretz appealed to Nazareth Magistrates Court.
Professor Ghazi Falah was arrested while touring the Rosh Hanikra area,
on July 8, four days before the outbreak of the current conflict in
Lebanon. He was approached by individuals who identified themselves as
security officials, and who instructed him to stop photographing. Falah
refused, and after an argument, was arrested. Falah, a professor of
geography at the University of Akron, said he had taken the pictures as
part of his acadmic research.
Lebanese open up homes for refugees
BBC 7/24/2006
Lebanese widow Nadya Azar was used to the quiet life. Until two weeks
ago, the 70-year-old woman spent her days sitting in her living room
decorated with paintings of Swiss landscapes, or on her first-floor
balcony overlooking a busy street. Now her small four-room house in
Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district is hosting four mothers and their nine
children who have fled the south of the country. Even as a young boy
tears around the house with a plastic orange tennis racket in one hand
and a sticky slice of watermelon in other, Mrs Azar says she would not
have it any other way. "They can stay as long as they like," says Mrs
Azar. "They are like children to me. "
Four Mothers, 2006 version
YNet News 7/27/2006
Some 15 activists, some of whom previously joined movement which called
on IDF to leave Lebanon six years ago, establish new group called
'Waking up on time. ' Goal: Not to wait 18 years to demand Israel leave
Lebanon. 'After two weeks of fighting in Lebanon, we realized there is
no choice – we have to arouse public once again,' activist says -- A
new protest movement, "Waking up on time," has been established
following the current war in Lebanon. The movement is based on the Four
Mothers movement which called on the Israel Defense Forces to leave
Lebanon six years ago, but this time, the 15 active members of the new
organization stress, "this will a movement of everyone, women and men,
young and old. "
Dissent grows in Israel over Lebanon
The Guardian
7/26/2006
The government of the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, is facing a
barrage of criticism over its handling of the war in Lebanon, with
questions being raised about the decision to attack Hizbullah, mounting
military losses, continuing missile strikes on northern Israel, and
disquiet about Lebanese civilian casualties. Israel has yet to confirm
reports of 12 soldiers killed in heavy fighting around the south
Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, but analysts in Jerusalem said fatalities
on that scale are likely to bring pressure from the army and the public
for a significant change of tack. Two weeks into the fighting, growing
unease about a wide range of war-related issues has burst into the open
with a series of anxious comments by politicians, former officers and
leading experts and pundits.
Blockade deprives state of vital revenues from ports
The Daily Star
7/27/2006
Losses from Beirut alone put at $5 million daily -- BEIRUT: Fifteen
days in, the naval, air and land blockade on Lebanon is depriving the
Treasury of customs and VAT revenues - normally the government's
largest source of income. A senior official at the Finance Ministry
said that 75 percent of the VAT and customs revenues come from Beirut
port, which has been under a two-week long Israeli naval siege. All of
Lebanon's air and sea outlets are under an Israeli blockade following
the abduction on July 12 of two Israeli soldiers by Hizbullah fighters.
Average total revenues from the VAT and customs revenues are close to
$2 billion a year. Revenues from Beirut port alone are more than $5
million a day.
Defense industries concerned over transaction cancellations
YNet News 7/26/2006
Since Hizbullah hit navy gunboat, security industries flooded with
requests for explanations from overseas customers who are considering
canceling transactions. Source in security industries: Majority of
failures derived from lack of knowledge on part of factories – but
difficult to explain that army simply didn't activate system -- The
defense industries are worried about IDF's latest failures to activate
early-warning systems in the war against Hizbullah in the north of the
country. "This is likely to hurt our sales abroad," said a senior
official from the defense industries Tuesday. Since a Hizbullah missile
hit an IAF gunboat in the first week of fighting, the defense
industries have been flooded with petitions from international clients
demanding explanations about monitoring and control systems...
Israel's credit rating may be lowered if war continues
YNet News 7/26/2006
According to three international credit rating agencies, war in north
likely to hurt growth statistics. Standard and Poor's ratified Israel's
credit rating leaving forecast at 'stable' -- The international credit
rating company Standard and Poor's ratified Wednesday Israel's credit
rating with a forecast remaining at "stable. " However, the three
international credit rating agencies – Standard and Poor's, Fitch, and
Moody's – don't think that it is outside the realm of possibility that
a continuation of the war will considerably worsen Israel's growth
statistics, forcing them to lower Israel's credit rating in the future.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert praised the credit agency's announcement and
emphasized the absolute necessity for the government to maintain its
budget discipline...
Articles Is Beirut Burning?
By Uri Avnery, Palestine Chronicle 7/26/2006
The place of Mussawi was filled by Nasrallah, who is far more able. Yassin was succeeded by far more radical leaders. Instead of Arafat we got Hamas.
....Ehud Olmert presents himself as the heir to Churchill ("blood, sweat and tears"). That's quite pathetic enough. Then Amir Peretz puffs up his chest and shoots threats in all directions, and that's even more pathetic, if that's possible. He resembles nothing so much as a fly standing on the ear of an ox and proclaiming: "we are ploughing!"
The Chief-of-Staff announced last week with satisfaction: "The army enjoys the full backing of the government!" That is also an interesting formulation. It implies that the army decides what to do, and the government provides "backing". And that's how it is, of course.
Now it is not a secret anymore: this war has been planned for a long time. The military correspondents proudly reported this week that the army has been exercising for this war in all its details for several years. Only a month ago, there was a large war game to rehearse the entrance of land forces into South Lebanon - at a time when both the politicians and the generals were declaring that "we shall never again get into the Lebanon quagmire. We shall never again introduce land forces there." Now we are in the quagmire, and large land forces are operating in the area.
The other side, too, has been preparing this war for years. Not only did they build caches of thousands of missiles, but they have also prepared an elaborate system of Vietnam-style bunkers, tunnels and caves. Our soldiers are now encountering this system and paying a high price. As always, our army has treated "the Arabs" with disdain and discounted their military capabilities
....The result will be a strengthening of Hizbullah, not only today, but for years to come. Perhaps that will be the main outcome of the war, more important than all the military achievements, if any. And not only in Lebanon, but throughout the Arab and Muslim world.
More to Lebanon War than Meets the Eye
By Ramzy Baroud, Palestine Chronicle 7/26/2006
The significance of the ongoing conflict has more to do with Israel's military ambitions – not colonial, but strategic - than with Hizbollah's ability to strike deep into Israel.
At first glance, history seems to repeat itself in Lebanon, where a lengthy cold war is intermittently interrupted by an extreme show of violence as traditional players quickly sprint into action, stacking their support behind one party or the other.
News headlines remind us of past conflicts such as that of 1978 – when Israel illegally occupied parts of Lebanon – and 1982 – when Israel unleashed a full scale invasion and most deadly campaign against its small neighbor to the north, killing tens of thousands, mostly civilians.
But the unreserved significance of the ongoing conflict has more to do with Israel's military ambitions – not necessarily colonial, but rather strategic - than with Hizbollah's ability to strike deep into Israel.
Let's examine the bigger picture, starting well before Hizbollah's daring capture of two Israeli soldiers in cross border fighting, which unfortunately, at least as far the media is concerned, is the solitary provocation that sparked the current conflict. (A San Francisco Chronicle investigative report by Matthew Kalman - Israel Set War Plan More Than a Year Ago, July 21, 2006 – sheds more light on Israel's intent to carry a three-week bombardment of Lebanon as early as 2000.)
For years, Israel's strategic objective has been to break up the Syria-Lebanon front – to isolate Syria and meddle as always in Lebanon's affairs – while diminishing whatever leverage Iran has in Lebanon through its support of Hizbollah.
Debunking Israeli myths about its war on Lebanon
By Daoud Kuttab, Palestine News Network 7/26/2006
It is an accepted theory that truth is the first casualty of war. In the present Israeli war on Lebanon spin is certainly the first victor. The misinformation and the disinformation put out by the Israelis and often picked up by the western media have become to accepted realities.
One of the most extreme myths put out by Israelis is that the war Israel is now involved in is an existential defensive war. This has been stated by non other than Israeli noble peace winner and deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres.
It is not clear what is the best way to debunk this myth. On the one hand Israelis consider every war, an existential one, but if they think that this particular encounter is more existential than Israel's war of independence, or the 1967 June war or the 1973 War, then the answer is clearly negative. The Israelis are destroying an entire country and are on the receiving end of low quality, difficult to direct katysha rockets which all Israelis can avoid simply by going into their shelters. There is no five Arab armies as in 1948, or Abdel Naser's Egypt in 1967 or the Soviet Sam missiles in 1973. To call this an existential war is nothing more than a cheap media tactic.
Israel is reportedly united in this particular war (they are usually united in their wars) because this time, sovereign Israeli territories were breached and therefore as President Bush has proclaimed, they have the right to defend themselves.
It is true that after 22 years of Israel occupying Lebanon and defiance of UN Security Council resolution 425 the Israelis withdrew to the blue line without releasing Lebanese prisoners including a number of Hizbullah leaders literally kidnapped from Lebanon. Israel also has and continues to refuse to hand to the Lebanese government the map of land mines planted in south Lebanon.
Palestinians Divided over Beirut Crisis
By Harvey Morris, Palestine Chronicle/Financial Times 7/26/2006
The crisis is a particular challenge to the ruling Hamas, torn between its entry into Palestinian politics and the demand to return to the armed struggle.
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Wasif Uraiqat was Fatah's artillery commander in Lebanon when Israel invaded in 1982 to crush the Palestinian armed presence there. He is looking to Hizbollah to exact his revenge.
The former brigadier, wounded 22 times in his battles with the Israeli army, believes Hizbollah's resistance can only benefit the Palestinian cause. "Anyone who weakens this army benefits everyone and gives a lesson to the Israelis that force will not bring them peace," he says.
It is difficult for Palestinians, who were suffering one of the most damaging Israeli offensives in years when the Lebanon crisis broke, not to sympathize with Hizbollah.
Emad Omari, a Ramallah businessman, said: "The sight of two million Israelis driven into bomb shelters in Haifa and elsewhere reminds us of the weeks we spent under curfew and bombardment. People tell me they like Hizbollah because it's standing up to Israel aggression. At least someone is hitting back."
Others, however, doubt the war in Lebanon will enhance the Palestinian cause. They say that too often in the past would-be Arab saviors, from Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser to Iraq's Saddam Hussein, promised to liberate the Palestinians only to worsen their plight.
We Are Defending Our Sovereignty
By Ali Fayyad, Palestine Chronicle/The Guardian 7/26/2006
For nearly two weeks Israel has been waging a war of terror and aggression against Lebanon. Its stated justification is the capture by the Islamic Resistance (Hizbollah) of two Israeli soldiers with the aim of exchanging them for Lebanese prisoners. The war has already resulted in the killing of around 400 and wounding of more than 1,000 Lebanese. Most are civilians (a third children), crushed in their homes or ripped to pieces in their cars by Israeli bombs and missiles.
In reality, the Israeli escalation is less about the two soldiers and more about its determination to disarm the Lebanese resistance. According to the US, Israel and some other western states, this would implement UN security council resolution 1559, which led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon last year.
Most Lebanese, however, do not regard the resistance forces of Hizbollah as militias, as referred to in the UN resolution, let alone any kind of terrorist organization. Our resistance accomplished a major national mission by forcing Israeli troops to withdraw from most Lebanese territory in 2000 after 22 years of occupation. Since then there has been intense national debate about how Lebanon can defend itself in future once the resistance has achieved the liberation of the remaining occupied Lebanese land (the Shaba'a farms area) and the release of Lebanese detainees.
The Lebanese people's support for the resistance was demonstrated by the fact that Hizbollah and its allies won more seats in the 2005 elections, following the Syrian withdrawal, than when Syrian troops were still in the country. That is why Israel is now targeting civilians.
Ali Fayyad is a member of Hizbollah's leadership |