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Cabinet rejects IDF call to expand war
Jerusalem Post
7/27/2006
While approving the call-up of three reserve divisions [15,000 troops],
the security cabinet on Thursday decided against significantly widening
the IDF's operations in southern Lebanon, rejecting a recommendation by
Chief of General Staff Lt. -Gen. Dan Halutz to escalate the offensive
against Hizbullah. Halutz, IDF officials said, asked the cabinet for
permission to expand Israel's ground operations in southern Lebanon, to
insert larger forces to sweep through the Hizbullah strongholds in the
area. According to a high-ranking source in the Northern Command,
Hizbullah has several hundred underground bunkers in southern Lebanon,
mostly near the border with Israel. As a result.. the IDF said the
operation in Lebanon, now called "the war within the straits" would
retain its current format...
Israel to increase troop numbers
AlJazeera 7/28/2006
Israel said despite the call up it was not expanding its offensive --
Israel has called up 30,000 reservists to support its offensive in
Lebanon, but its security cabinet said it would not expand its campaign
for the time being. The cabinet said it had authorised the move in case
the fighting intensified. In recent days, senior Israeli generals had
urged the government to authorise a broader ground campaign in southern
Lebanon, which they said would help the thousands of troops already
engaged in bloody battles there. Israel's security cabinet authorised
the army to call up three additional reserve divisions to refresh the
troops in Lebanon if they were were needed, but rejected the generals'
advice to expand the offensive.
Security cabinet okays mass call-up of reservists, but nixes
expansion of south Lebanon operation
Ha'aretz 7/28/2006
The security cabinet on Thursday authorized the mobilization of three
divisions of reservists, "to prepare the force for possible
developments," but said that they will be deployed, if necessary, only
after further approval by the cabinet. Three divisions of reserve
soldiers would amount to around 15,000 soldiers, or 5,000 troops per
division, IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said. The only cabinet member
who opposed calling up the reservists was Minister of Science, Culture
and Sport Ophir Pines-Paz, who said that he feared that the force is
meant to expand the ground operation in Lebanon.... Calling the
conflict in Lebanon "a war of no choice," Peretz added, "I say this as
a man of peace who has examined all other alternatives. "
Katyushas hit communities across north; 13 lightly wounded
Ha'aretz 7/28/2006
The Upper Galilee was hit by a heavy Katyusha barrage on Thursday
afternoon, as 25 rockets landed in and around Kiryat Shmona. Hezbollah
guerillas in Lebanon fired over 100 Katyusha rockets at targets in
northern Israel on Thursday, landing across the Galilee and Hula
Valley. Thirteen people were lightly injured in rocket strikes on
Carmiel, Majdal Krum, Kiryat Shmona, and the area of Rosh Pina. Three
people were lightly wounded by shrapnel, and 16 went into shock.
Buildings, cars, roads and water pipes were badly damaged in the
attacks. One Katyusha hit a house, another hit a factory containing
chemicals, and a third hit an educational facility. A firefighter was
lightly hurt during operations aimed at putting out several fires.
Israeli Offensive Triggers 'Worst 'Environmental Crisis in
Lebanese History'
An Nahar 7/27/2006
Lebanon's greens launched an international appeal for help Thursday to
combat an environmental crisis caused by a huge oil spill south of
Beirut. "The escalating Israeli attacks on Lebanon did not only kill
its civilians and destroy its infrastructure, but it is also
annihilating the environment," warned the Green Line Association, a
Lebanese NGO. It said an air strike two weeks ago on the Jiyeh power
plant which serves southern Lebanon had resulted in a 15,000-ton oil
spill. "The power plant has six fuel tanks. Four of them have burnt
completely, while the fifth one, which is also the main cause of the
spill, is still burning," it warned. The spill has hit more than 100
kilometers of the Lebanese coast from Jiyeh to Shekka, in the north,
including Beirut's only sandy public beach of Ramlet al-Baida, said
Green Line.
Midday Roundup: Israel Intensifies Air Bombardment After
Heavy Losses on the Ground
An Nahar 7/27/2006
Israel on Thursday intensified its airstrikes on Lebanon a day after
its forces suffered heavy losses in ground battles with Hizbullah
fighters and as one of its cabinet ministers said disagreement over a
ceasefire gave his country the green light to press on with its
devastating offensive. Three people, one policeman and two civilians,
died in Israeli attacks on the Bekaa hitting cars and trucks, witness
said. A woman was killed in a strike near Tyre and two people died in
Kafra further south. Warplanes also launched extensive raids on Iqlim
al Tuffah, a highland in the south where Hizbullah is believed to have
bases and offices. The attacks came as the Israeli cabinet met to
decide whether to extend its offensive launched on July 12 after
Hizbullah captured two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid.
Over 86% of Lebanese back resistance: poll
Mehr News Agency
7/27/2006
BEIRUT, July 27 (MNA) – A poll conducted by the Beirut Center for
Research and Information (BCRI) Wednesday showed that 86. 9 percent of
the Lebanese backed resistance against the Zionists’ aggression.
Talking to the MNA, the BCRI head said the poll was carried out among
the Sunnis, Shiites, Druze, and Christians. According to him, 70. 1
percent of the Lebanese agreed with the capture of two Israeli soldiers
on July 12. A full of 63. 3 percent believed that Israel will fail to
break down the Lebanese resistance. Some 56. 9 percent opined that
Israel and the United States cannot impose their conditions for
cease-fire on the resistance movement Hezbollah and Lebanon while 89. 5
percent said the U.S. cannot play the role of an impartial mediator...
A wary defiance in the village Hizbullah's leader calls home
The Guardian
7/28/2006
The village betrays no sign of life at our approach. The shutters of
the shops are down and gathering dust. No faces gather at the windows
of the stone houses as we walk past. Aside from the drone of Israeli
surveillance planes overhead, all is silent. But within moments, the
first sentinel appears, then three more: bearded and intense men, who
use their mobile phones to receive instructions before allowing us to
enter the village - and even then only under their sullen, constant
gaze. In a war in which Hizbullah seems almost to be an invisible
presence in southern Lebanon, such an appearance is unusual. But then,
Bazuriyah, three miles (5km) east of Tyre, merits special attention:
the village is the home of Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of
Hizbullah.
IAF knocks out Hezbollah missile command in Tyre
Ha'aretz 7/28/2006
The Israel Air Force on Thursday scored a successful direct hit against
Hezbollah's missile command center deployed in Tyre, which has been
primarily responsible for targeting Haifa and its surroundings. The
regional command center was located on the 12th floor of a Tyre
building that the IAF destroyed. The IAF bombings continued bombing as
Israel Defense Forces artillery pounded townships in the south.
According to reports from Lebanon, two women were killed in the
attacks, raising the number of Lebanese killed in the fighting to about
400. The western sector of south Lebanon, which was quiet until
recently, was also shelled on Thursday, and residents of more villages
were ordered to leave their homes.
Refugees pour into Syria
AlJazeera 7/28/2006
At the Masnaa border crossing between Syria and Lebanon hundreds of
people continue to flee the fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli
forces. The border zone is a bustling area. A line of cars, taxis and
minibuses wait to go through Syrian customs procedures, whilst dozens
of volunteers and aid workers hand out food and drink to new arrivals.
Although the influx is less frantic than in the earlier days of the
two-week-old Israeli bombardment, many poorer families from ravaged
areas of Lebanon are still making their way across the border.
According to UN figures, more than 140,000 Lebanese, 1,000 Palestinians
and 20,000 other foreign nationals have crossed into Syria since
fighting began.
Not even infants are spared brutal war
The Daily Star
7/28/2006
TYRE: There have been thousands of innocent victims in the ongoing war
in Lebanon, but somehow it is the tiniest casualties who cause a nation
the greatest grief. Two such stories have unfolded in Tyre this week,
both involving newborn babies who had no role in the ongoing violence
but will nonetheless be forever marked by its ferocity. The first,
named Ibn Zahra (son of Zahra) by a mortician at Tyre's governmental
hospital, was born prematurely in the back seat of a taxi under a hail
of Israeli bombs as his family fled the South for the safety of this
Southern port city. The taxi finally fell victim to an air strike that
killed Ibn Zahra's two brothers and severely wounded his mother. "He
lived for only an hour or two," says Abu Chadi, the mortician who named
the infant. "He never had a chance. "
Thursday: About 80 rockets, some 40 injured
YNet News 7/27/2006
VIDEO) Some 80 rockets land in north since Thursday morning; 40 people
lightly wounded by evening hours, most suffering from shock. Several
rockets land in Tiberias. Fire breaks out near Kiryat Shmona factory --
VIDEO - North under rocket attack: Hizbullah on Thursday evening fired
mortar shells at several communities in the Galilee panhandle close to
the border fence. There were no reports of injuries. Dozens of rockets
landed earlier in the Upper Galilee and Western Galilee communities.
The last barrage was at around 7:20 p. m. in Kiryat Shmona, which was
hit by three rockets. Three people who were hurt by shrapnel arrived at
the city's emergency room. Another 16 suffered from shock.
MKs surprised by Katyushas in Karmiel
Jerusalem Post
7/27/2006
Knesset members were in the midst of a makeshift lunch in the
rocket-torn city of Karmiel when the siren sounded, tearing MKs away
from their food and into a nearby shelter. Not even a Katyusha could
tear MK David Azoulay (Shas) from his food, joked the MKs. At the time,
they didn't know that nearly a dozen rockets were falling on Karmiel
and its surrounding villages, and that Azoulay's brother-in-law would
be among the day's injured. It was only when the group arrived at their
next stop, at the Nahariya Government Hospital, that they saw the
ambulances arriving, and Azoulay was notified that he had a relative
among the injured. Doctors told the MK that his brother-in-law, Daniel
Vaknin, would be alright.
'IDF may be morally justified in flattening terror
strongholds'
Jerusalem Post
7/27/2006
The man who wrote the IDF code of ethics, Professor Asa Kasher, has
indicated that in the current circumstances in southern Lebanon,
provided the appropriate precautions are taken, it may be "morally
justified" to obliterate areas with high concentrations of terrorists,
even if civilian casualties result. "I don't know what the truth is
about the circumstances," Kasher stressed. "But assuming that we warned
the civilians and gave them enough time to leave, and that the
civilians who remained chose, themselves, not to leave, then there is
no reason to jeopardize the lives of the troops," he told The Jerusalem
Post on Thursday.... Israel has been reluctant to use sufficient
weaponry to flatten the Hizbullah "terrorist capital" of Bint Jbail, a
policy that many have criticized as being overly sensitive toward the
enemy and its civilians.
Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in photos (1)
Mehr News Agency
7/27/2006
BEIRUT, July 27 (MNA) -- Photos of bombed and burned buildings and
streets - A selection of images of the Lebanese cities attacked by the
Zionist army during the past days. -- See also: Israel’s
invasion of Lebanon in photos (2) and Israel’s
invasion of Lebanon in photos (3)
Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in photos (4)
Mehr News Agency
7/27/2006
BEIRUT, July 27 (MNA) -- Photos of bombed and burned buildings and
streets - A selection of images of the Lebanese cities attacked by the
Zionist army during the past days. -- See also: Israel’s
invasion of Lebanon in photos (5)
U.S. promotes alternative plan as Rome meet fails
Ha'aretz 7/28/2006
The Rome summit on the situation in Lebanon ended with no clear results
yesterday, after the United States shot down a joint European-Arab
demand for an immediate cease-fire. The 18 participants, including the
U.S. , Russia and European and Arab states, issued a joint statement
expressing their ? determination to work immediately to reach with the
utmost urgency a cease-fire that puts an end to the current violence
and hostilities. ? The statement, which was being hashed out until the
last moment, also called for an international force to be deployed in
South Lebanon under a UN mandate in order to help the Beirut government
implement Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for disarming
Hezbollah and deploying the Lebanese army in the south. The statement
also called for humanitarian aid to Lebanon.
PM orders probe into killing of 4 UN men, blasts Annan for
saying it was deliberate
Ha'aretz 7/28/2006
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has informed United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan that he has ordered a thorough
investigation into an Israel Air Force strike on a UN position in
southern Lebanon that killed four UN observers early yesterday morning.
Following a preliminary Israel Defense Forces investigation yesterday,
the army said that it was responsible for the deaths of the four
peacekeepers. The IDF said that it was continuing to investigate the
incident and that arrangements were being made for the evacuation of
the bodies of the four dead through Israel. During a telephone
conversation with the Annan yesterday, Olmert expressed "deep sorrow" for the mistaken killing of the four peacekeepers and promised to share
the results of the IDF investigation with the secretary-general. -- See
also: Israel
says UN can't be part of probe of deadly attack on post
Israel says UN can't be part of probe of deadly attack on post
Ha'aretz 7/28/2006
Israel's UN ambassador on Thursday ruled out major UN involvement in
any potential international force in Lebanon, saying more professional
and better-trained troops were needed for such a volatile situation.
Dan Gillerman also said Israel would not allow the United Nations to
join in an investigation of an Israeli air strike that demolished a
post belonging to the current U. N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.
Four UN observers were killed in the Tuesday strike. "Israel has never
agreed to a joint investigation... " Gillerman said... Gillerman was
highly critical of the current UN peacekeeping force, deployed in a
buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon since 1978, saying its
facilities had sometimes been used for cover by Hezbollah militants and
that it had not done its job.
UN 'shocked' at peacekeeper deaths
AlJazeera 7/28/2006
China has been frustrated by US reluctance to condemn Israel -- The UN
security council has passed a statement expressing shock at Israel's
attack on a UN observer post in Lebanon on Tuesday which killed four
peacekeepers, but made no condemnation of the action. The United States
had refused to allow any criticism of Israel in the statement. China's
envoy to the UN complained that the final version was "watered down".
The statement, passed unanimously by the 15-nation council, said: "The
security council is deeply shocked and distressed by the firing by the
Israeli Defense Forces on a United Nations observer post in southern
Lebanon on July 25. ".... Chinese anger: Large parts of the original
Chinese draft text were taken out in order to get the "presidential
statement" passed.
EU denies giving Israel green light
The Guardian
7/27/2006
The European Union rebuked the Israeli government today after its
justice minister claimed "permission from the world" to press on with
its Lebanon campaign. Haim Ramon, who is a close ally of the prime
minister, Ehud Olmert, said failure at yesterday's Rome conference to
agree on an immediate ceasefire in the 16-day-old crisis amounted to a
green light for Israel to continue its offensive. As both sides stepped
up their rocket and missile attacks and Israel called up more reserves,
the Finnish foreign minister, Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the
rotating EU presidency, called the interpretation "totally wrong" and
said the fighting should stop immediately. "Most of the countries,
including the European Union, [... ] specifically want an immediate
halt to the hostilities," he said.
Israel 'authorised' to continue attacks
AlJazeera 7/28/2006
Israel has said it has received implicit "authorisation" from
international powers to continue its attacks in Lebanon. The Israeli
justice minister, Haim Ramon, said Israel had "in effect obtained the
authorisation to continue our operations" by Wednesday's 15-nation Rome
conference on the crisis in Lebanon. Ramon said on Thursday the
conference had implicitly said Israel could continue its attacks "until
Hezbollah is no longer present in southern Lebanon". "The whole world
knows that a Hezbollah victory will mean a victory for international
terrorism, which will be a catastrophe for the world and for Israel. " Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German foreign minister, described Ramon's
interpretation as a "gross misunderstanding" of the outcome of the
conference.
Report: Nasrallah to meet Assad, Iranian security chief in
Syria
Ha'aretz 7/27/2006
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was to visit Damascus on
Thursday to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad and the head of
Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, the Kuwaiti
daily newspaper Al-Seyassah reported. The report, which quoted Syrian
sources, said Nasrallah arrived in dressed in civilian clothes, not his
normal clerical garb. Al-Seyassah, known for its opposition to the
Syrian regime, said the meeting was designed to discuss ways to
maintain supplies to Hezbollah fighters with "Iranian arms flowing
through Syrian territories. "The paper said it learned of the meeting
from "well-informed Syrian sources" it did not identify. According to
the newspaper, Nasrallah was moving through Damascus with Syrian guards
in an intelligence agency car.
Report: Nasrallah is in Damascus
Jerusalem Post
7/27/2006
A top Iranian envoy was in Syria on Thursday for talks on the
Israeli-Hizbullah conflict in a meeting that brought together the
guerrilla organization's two key sponsors, according to Iranian news
reports. A Kuwaiti newspaper reported that Hizbullah leader Sheik
Hassan Nasrallah was taking part in the session. Kuwait's Al-Siyassah
newspaper, known for its opposition to the Syrian regime, said the
meeting was designed to discuss ways to maintain supplies to Hezbollah
fighters with "Iranian arms flowing through Syrian territories. "Al-Siyassah said it learned of the meeting from "well-informed Syrian
sources" it did not identify. According to the newspaper, Nasrallah was
moving through Damascus with Syrian guards in an intelligence agency
car. He was dressed in civilian clothes, not his normal clerical garb.
Rome summit ends in disunity as U.S. nixes cease-fire proposal
Ha'aretz 7/27/2006
ROME - The Rome summit on the situation in Lebanon ended with no clear
results Wednesday, after the United States shot down a joint
European-Arab demand for an immediate cease-fire. The 18 participants,
including the U.S. , Russia and European and Arab states, issued a
joint statement expressing their "determination to work immediately to
reach with the utmost urgency a cease-fire that puts an end to the
current violence and hostilities. " The statement, which was being
hashed out until the last moment, also called for an international
force to be deployed in South Lebanon under a UN mandate in order to
help the Beirut government implement Security Council Resolution 1559,
which calls fordisarming Hezbollah and deploying the Lebanese army in
the south. The statement also called for humanitarian aid to Lebanon.
Arab opinion turns to support Hezbollah
International Herald
Tribune/New York Times 7/27/2006
DAMASCUS, Syria At the onset of the Lebanese crisis, Arab governments,
starting with Saudi Arabia, slammed Hezbollah for recklessly provoking
a war, providing what the United States and Israel took as a wink and a
nod to continue the fight. Now, with hundreds of Lebanese dead and
Hezbollah holding out against the vaunted Israeli military for 15 days,
the tide of public opinion across the Arab world is surging behind the
organization, transforming the Shiite group's leader, Sheik Hassan
Nasrallah, into a folk hero and forcing a change in official
statements. The Saudi royal family and King Abdullah II of Jordan, who
were initially more worried about the rising power of Shiite Iran,
Hezbollah's main sponsor, are scrambling to distance themselves from
Washington.
Blair to tell Bush: we need a ceasefire
The Guardian
7/28/2006
Drawn out Lebanon crisis will boost militants across Arab world, PM
fears -- Tony Blair will press George Bush today to support "as a
matter of urgency" a ceasefire in Lebanon as part of a UN security
council resolution next week, according to Downing Street sources. At a
White House meeting, the prime minister will express his concern that
pro-western Arab governments are "getting squeezed" by the crisis and
the longer it continues, the more squeezed they will be, giving
militants a boost. The private view from No 10 is that the US is "prevaricating" over the resolution and allowing the conflict to run on
too long. But diplomatic sources in Washington suggest the US and
Israel believe serious damage has been inflicted on Hizbullah, so the
White House is ready to back a ceasefire resolution at the UN next
week.
Review: 'It seems we and Uncle Sam think that shooting people
is a good idea'
By Stephen Wall, The
Guardian 7/28/2006
Former No 10 adviser Sir Stephen Wall has criticised Britain's approach
to the crisis. His concerns are shared by many diplomats and foreign
policy experts. -- Oliver Miles, former British ambassador to Greece
and Libya: "I think until yesterday there was not a particular British
policy to the crisis but now there is. It seems we and Uncle Sam think
that shooting people is a good idea. I think it is quite monstrous and
I think many of my [former] colleagues share that view. The idea you
can't have a ceasefire until you have a full agreement is the tearing
up of the way in which conflicts have been resolved since the Old
Testament. It is a coded way of saying we hope that Israel will win... "
Ahmadinejad: Israel pushed self-destruct button in Lebanon
Ha'aretz 7/27/2006
TEHRAN - Israel has ordained its own destruction by invading Lebanon,
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday, according to the
state news agency. Addressing the clerical staff of the Friday prayer
sermons in Tehran, Ahmadinejad said Israel and its supporters "should
know that they cannot end the business that they have begun. ""The
occupying regime of Palestine has actually pushed the button of its own
destruction by launching a new round of invasion and barbaric onslaught
on Lebanon," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted the
president as saying.... Hezbollah has said that one of the reasons for
its cross-border raid 17 days later was to relieve the pressure off the
Palestinians in Gaza.
'Rice wrong on Mount Dov'
Jerusalem Post
7/27/2006
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was wrong to advise Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert to begin negotiations with Lebanon over the
withdrawal of the IDF from the Mount Dov (Shaba Farms) area, former
foreign minister Silvan Shalom (Likud) said Thursday. The Jerusalem
Post reported exclusively on Thursday that the US was counseling Israel
to negotiate a withdrawal from the 160-square-kilometer parcel of land,
located where the borders of Israel, Lebanon and Syria meet, as part of
a long-term arrangement for Lebanon. "The Americans are making a big
mistake," Shalom said. "There is no way to justify the demands of the
Hizbullah for Israel to give Lebanon the Shaba Farms area, because this
territory was Syrian until 1967 and it should be discussed with Syria
when the time will come to negotiating on a peace treaty with them... "
Iraqi FM: Iraq will condemn Hezbollah's attacks on Israel
Ha'aretz 7/26/2006
WASHINGTON - Iraq will join some other Arab League nations in
condemning Hezbollah's attacks on Israel, Iraq's foreign minister told
U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday, as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
addressed a joint meeting of Congress. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar
Zebari told lawmakers that Iraq will join Jordan, Saudi Arabia and
Egypt in condemning Hezbollah, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of
Nevada told reporters. Reid and many other Democrats were irate that
Maliki last week denounced Israel as the aggressor in the conflict in
Lebanon, without laying any blame on Hezbollah. They had called for him
to apologize or clarify his remarks.... Maliki was seeking to smooth
relations with Washington that were strained by his denunciation of
Israel...
Khatami calls on world leaders to address Mideast crisis
Mehr News Agency
7/25/2006
TEHRAN, July 25 (MNA) -- Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami has
written a letter to world leaders and other international figures
expressing his deep concern over the intensifying crisis in the Middle
East, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported on Tuesday. The
missive mainly puts emphasis on the need to defend the human rights of
the Lebanese and Palestinian nations. “The massacre of innocent people,
the bombardment of residential areas, the destruction of civilian
infrastructure, the blocking of medical assistance… by Israel in
Lebanon are overt examples of new humanitarian catastrophes and threats
to sustainable world peace,” part of the letter read.
TA: United Arab List rally turns ugly
YNet News 7/27/2006
Members of the United Arab List party demonstrated against IDF
operations in the north, this Thursday afternoon on the Tel Aviv
boardwalk, in front of the US embassy building. According to
protestors, "the war in Lebanon is an American war. The Lebanese,
Palestinians and Israelis are paying the price. " "Israel is nothing
more than a US subcontractor, doing America's work in the Middle East," said MK Talab El-Sana, one of the rally organizers.... Passing drivers
swore at the demonstrators, some stopping on the side of the road in
order to voice their dissent. Pedestrians who walked by the rally also
expressed their disapprobation... The disagreement between the two
sides quickly escalated to shouts and turned violent, when Harpez
shoved a megaphone out of the hands of one of the protestors.
UNRWA appeals for $7.2 million in emergency humanitarian
interventions in Lebanon and Syria
Ma'an News/UNRWA
7/27/2006
Jul 26 - The deteriorating humanitarian situation in Lebanon and South
Lebanon in particular, requires UNRWA to seek additional funding from
donors. In cooperation with other UN agencies and humanitarian
organizations, UNRWA has contributed to the United Nations’ Flash
Appeal for Lebanon which was launched on 24 July 2006. Of the 405,000
Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, 104,000 reside in
camps in and around Saida area and a further 99,000 are registered in
the vicinity of Tyre. Both communities are directly affected by an
armed conflict that shows no signs of abating. Residents live in fear
of death or serious injury, and normal life has come to a standstill.
Many shops and businesses have been closed since the conflict began two
weeks ago and stocks of basic commodities are running out quickly.
A new group against war in Lebanon established in Israel
International Middle
East Media Center 7/27/2006
Waking up in time” is the name of a new movement established in Israel
following the current war on Lebanon. The origin of the movement stems
from the “Four Mothers” movement which called on the Israeli army to
evacuate from Lebanon six years ago. The movement has 15 active members
who stress that it will be “a movement of everyone, women and
children”. The Israeli Ynetnews reported that the active members of the
movement placed 100 signs against the war in Lebanon in the city of
Kfar Saba and headed towards Herzliya and Raanana. An activist if the
Four Mothers Movement, and now a member of the “Waking Up in Time” movement, said that Israel has no reason to enter Lebanon again, and
that “withdrawing from Lebanon was the best that happened to Israel. "
Diary of a Liberian stuck in Lebanon
Ma'an News 7/27/2006
BEIRUT, 26 July (IRIN) - Up to 50 Liberians are trapped in Beirut. Many
sought refuge in Lebanon after fleeing civil war in their own country
12 years ago. Some are married to Lebanese. This narrative is based on
a phone interview with 25-year-old Saide Chaar, a Liberian who is
staying in a one-bedroom apartment with 22 other Liberians and
Lebanese-Liberians in Beirut's southwestern suburb of Jnah. 26 July
2006 - The major bad news that confused all of us was the result from
the meeting in Rome that there will be no ceasefire. We have no doubt
that the conflict will erupt more than what it already is. We went out
this morning to find the other Liberians that are trapped in several
regions, but we were unable to reach them due to intensive fighting in
their neighbouring areas.
Syrian reporter: In Syria there is atmosphere of eve of war
YNet News 7/27/2006
Interview - Exclusive: In conversation in Damascus, senior Syrian
journalist tells about sentiments in Syria ('as if there will be war
any moment'); talks about military preparations in his country
('identifying your reinforcements in Golan Heights'); and estimates
that Israeli pounding in Lebanon to intensify grassroots support of
Nasrallah and his organization. Also in Syria, he says, Nasrallah more
popular than ever -- As the conflict with Hizbullah in Lebanon
escalates by the day, the question of Syria's involvement in the
conflict becomes increasingly more relevant. "The atmosphere in Syria
is in every way an atmosphere of war, or at least of the eve of war.
Syrian television for the first time since the '80's has started
broadcasting Syrian military marches and nationalistic songs. ... "
Let's declare victory and start talking
By Ze'ev Sternhell, Ha'aretz 7/28/2006
The inability of a major power to put an end to a guerrilla war is not a new phenomenon
It's a widely accepted idea that an Israeli who returns home, even after a short period of time, feels as if he has come to another country. But the opposite is the case: He returns to the same situation, the same problems, the same thought patterns and mainly, the same solutions. Apparently, we did not learn a thing from the first Lebanon War or from the American defeat in Iraq. If the definition of Israel's strategic goal given by the head of Military Intelligence at the beginning of the week reflects the government's position, we are in big trouble.
If Israel really did embark on the war in order to force Lebanon to impose its authority on the south, which is in Hezbollah's hands - or in other words, to force the Lebanese government to begin a civil war in the service of Israel - that is a sign that it is dominated by thinking even more primitive than the thinking that led Ariel Sharon to Beirut about a quarter of a century ago.
But this time, we have exacerbated the problem: At the beginning of the third week of fighting, in spite of the determination and courage of the attacking soldiers, the war seems only to be beginning. That is why we should achieve a cease-fire before the campaign gets out of control, claims victims in vain and, in the long run, even turns into a strategic failure. In the more distant future, it will be necessary to carry out a fundamental structural reform of the government's work procedures and to examine its dependence on the Israel Defense Forces' General Staff. These are truths that are not pleasant to voice at this time, but that is the reality, and we are obliged to confront it.
Criminalizing Civilians
By Patrick McGreevy, Electronic Intifada 7/27/2006
(Beirut) - In the days before the US-commanded forces unleashed the second siege of Falluja in November 2004, a quarter million women, children and old men fled the city, but males between the ages of 15 and 45 were denied passage. They were essentially criminalized and forced to remain in a zone upon which hell was about to descend. These poor souls were condemned to a legal category that philosopher Giorgio Agamben calls hominus sacres, those without rights who can be killed without it being called the murder of a human, homicide.
Israeli leaders have a decision to make. After the IDF's devastating losses at Bint Jabeil on Wednesday, the Washington Post Foreign Service reported this statement from former Mossad officer Yossi Alpher: "I dare say, based on what we've seen so far, these may be the best Arab troops we've seen so far." An Nahar today reported that, Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon proclaimed: "Everyone who is still in south Lebanon is linked to Hizbullah, we have called on all who are there to leave." He then suggested that "maximum firepower has to be used." As justification, he cited the meeting in Rome, from which "we have in effect obtained the authorization to continue our operations until Hisbullah is no longer present in southern Lebanon."
Look at this logic: since Israel has asked civilians to leave - any that disobeyed have forfeited their status as civilians. Because the United States and its British followers have blocked the resolution to stop the killing, Israel will continue until Hezbollah "is no longer present." But remember Hezbollah has been redefined to include all those "still in south Lebanon." This crude logic renders all the people of southern Lebanon hominus sacres.
Q & A: The 15th Day
By Uri Avnery, MIFTAH 7/27/2006
Who is winning this war?
On the 15th day of the war, Hizbullah is functioning and fighting. That by itself will go down in the annals of the Arab peoples as a shining victory.
When a featherweight boxer faces a heavyweight and is still standing in the 15th round - that is a victory, whatever the final outcome.
Can Hizbullah be pushed out of the border area?
The question is based on a misunderstanding of the essence of Hizbullah.
Not by accident is the organization call Hizb-Allah ("Party of Allah") and not Jeish-Allah ("Army of Allah"). It is a political organization, with deep roots in the Shiite population of South Lebanon. For all practical purposes, it represents this community. The Shiites are 40% of the Lebanese population, and together with the other Muslims they form the majority.
Hizbullah can be "moved" only if the whole Shiite population is moved - an ethnic cleansing that (I hope) no one is thinking about. After the war the population will return to their towns and villages, and Hizbullah will continue to flourish.
What would happen if the Lebanese Army were deployed along the border?
That has been one of the slogans of the Israeli government from the first moment. They will announce this as the main victory. That is very convincing - for anyone who has no idea about the complexities of Lebanon.
Anyone who was in Lebanon in 1982 and saw the Lebanese Army in action knows that it is not a serious army. Furthermore, many of its officers and soldiers are Shiites. Such a force will not fight Hizbullah.
Its deployment in the South would depend entirely on the agreement of Hizbullah - and that also applies to every day it stays there. |