Israeli-Arab War

[Ryan Ruck]

Syrians Shoot at Israel

While Israeli military sources in the Golan Heights are reporting Syrian military gunfire directed inside the Jewish state, Lebanese political sources are telling WND they expect a provocation of some kind from Damascus.

Israeli Defense Forces are attempting to determine the exact source of the gunfire. If the source cannot be determined, sources say, Israel may choose to ignore or officially deny it occurred in an effort to avoid widening what is rapidly becoming a regional conflict.

Meanwhile, Lebanese sources predict a small, limited provocation against Israel – perhaps a small skirmish or the use of Palestinian groups on the Syrian side of the border firing mortars under the direction of the Syrian army. It would not be a major attack, the sources say, just a minor provocation in conjunction with Iran to show Syria is in solidarity with Hezbollah and the Palestinians, who launched the original attacks against Israel on two fronts – Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Yesterday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said an Israeli strike on Syria would be considered an attack on the whole Islamic world that would bring a "fierce response."

"If the Zionist regime commits another stupid move and attacks Syria, this will be considered like attacking the whole Islamic world and this regime will receive a very fierce response," Ahmadinejad was quoted by Iranian state television as saying in a telephone conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Israel has blamed Syria and Iran for the Hezbollah rocket attacks on towns and cities in northern Israel. In recent weeks, Israel has buzzed the palace of Assad with fighter-bombers as a warning against hostile actions.

Ahmadinejad has called repeatedly for the destruction of Israel – or for moving the Jewish state to Europe. Iran is believed to be developing a nuclear weapons program and has long-range missiles capable of striking the Jewish state.

Hezbollah rockets yesterday rained down on northern Israeli towns as the Jewish state's warplanes carried out strategic strikes against the Hezbollah's infrastructure and the Beirut International Airport. A total air and sea closure was imposed over Lebanon.

Hezbollah threatened to use longer range rockets against the major northern port city of Haifa, in which case military officials tell WND Israel would likely launch a major ground invasion inside Lebanon.

The fighting was instigated by a well-orchestrated Hezbollah attack against Israel's northern border yesterday in which two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and three others were killed.

[Ryan Ruck]

Hezbollah: We're Ready for 'Open War' With Israel

Hezbollah's leader declared Friday that his group is ready for "open war" with Israel, and the guerrilla group attacked an Israeli warship positioned off Beirut's coast as his words were being broadcast.

In an audiotape aired on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television less than an hour after his Beirut home and offices were destroyed in Israeli airstrikes, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah addressed himself to Israelis, saying "You wanted an open war and we are ready for an open war."

"Look at the warship that has attacked Beirut, while it burns and sinks before your very eyes," Nasrallah said. Soon after the broadcast, Israeli Defense Forces reported a naval vessel was lightly damaged by rocket fire.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to continue the offensive until the guerrilla group was neutralized.

Earlier Friday warplanes blasted more holes in the runways at Beirut's airport and destroyed mountain bridges on the main highway to Damascus. Israeli warships blockaded Lebanon's ports for a second day.

Smoke clouds rose over the capital after bombing runs ignited fuel tanks at one of Beirut's two main power stations. Glass windows in apartment buildings were shattered by strikes in south Beirut.

Hezbollah guerrillas responded with an intensified barrage of at least 50 Katyusha rockets throughout the day into northern Israeli towns, killing a woman and her grandson.

The death toll in three days of fighting rose to 73 killed in Lebanon — almost all civilians, including five who died in strikes in south Beirut and the south Friday — and 12 in Israel, including four civilians killed by Hezbollah rockets. The violence sent shock waves through a region already traumatized by the ongoing battles in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas.

Olmert told U.N. chief Kofi Annan in a phone call that the offensive would not halt until Hezbollah guerillas are disarmed. But he agreed to allow U.N. mediation for a cease-fire — but only if the terms for the truce included the return of the soldiers and the disarming of the guerrillas, an official close to the premier said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

At the same time, Israel sought to exact a price from the Lebanese government for allowing Hezbollah to operate freely in the south. Its strikes on the airport and roads and naval blockade all but cut off Lebanon from the world as it gradually increased the punishment to infrastructure.

But there were fears — acknowledged by U.S. President George W. Bush — that the Israeli assault could bring down the Western-backed, anti-Syrian government of Lebanon.

Bush, in Russia for the G-8 summit, spoke by phone with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and promised to pressure Israel "to limit damage to Lebanon ... and to spare civilians and innocent people from harm," according to a statement from Saniora's office.

But the promise fell short of the Lebanese leader's request for pressure for a cease-fire. The White House confirmed the call but would provide no details of the discussions.

French President Jacques Chirac said Israel's actions were "totally disproportionate" but also condemned Hezbollah's attacks. He implicitly suggested that Syria and Iran might be playing a role in the expanding crisis.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Israel against expanding its campaign to attack Syria and said the Jewish state couldn't harm Iran.

"Despite the barbaric and criminal nature of the occupiers of Jerusalem, the regime and its Western supporters do not even have the power to give Iran a nasty look," he said.

Iran is a top ally of Syria and both countries back Hezbollah — leading to speculation by some that they were fueling the crisis. Israeli has warned Hezbollah might try to move its two Israeli prisoners to Iran.

Israeli officials said the air campaign against Lebanon was the biggest since the Israeli invasion in 1982. The only comparable military action since then was the "Grapes of Wrath" offensive in 1996, also sparked by Hezbollah attacks.

But the Lebanese casualties were mounting faster than in 1996, when at least 165 people were killed in 17 days of fighting, including more than 100 civilians who died in Israeli shelling of a U.N. base.

Israel holds the Lebanese government responsible for Hezbollah's actions, but Saniora's Cabinet has insisted it had no prior knowledge of the raid that seized the soldiers and that it did not condone it.

Hezbollah operates with near autonomy in south Lebanon, and the government has resisted international pressure to disarm it — a step that could break the country apart. Saniora's government is dominated by anti-Syrian politicians, some sharply critical of Hezbollah, but the guerrilla group also has two ministers in the Cabinet.

The fighting in Lebanon is Israel's second front after it launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip two weeks ago in response to the June 25 capture by Hamas militants of an Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

Throughout the morning, Israeli fighter-bombers pounded runways at Beirut's airport for a second day, apparently trying to ensure its closure after the Lebanese national carrier, Middle East Airlines, managed to evacuate its last five planes to Amman. One bomb hit close to the terminal building.

Another barrage hit fuel tanks at one of Beirut's two main power stations at Jiye. Some parts of the capital were already seeing electricity outages before the strike, which was likely to worsen power shortages.

For the first time in the assault, strikes targeted the crowded Shiite residential neighborhoods in south Beirut, a stronghold of Hezbollah's leadership.

An initial wave before dawn hit near Hezbollah's security headquarters and targeted roads, damaging two overpasses. The facades of nearby apartment buildings were shorn away, balconies toppled onto cars and the street littered by glass from shattered windows. Firefighters struggled to put out several blazes.

A young man with blood pouring down his face was shown on Lebanese TV walking out of a damaged apartment building.

An afternoon strike hit an apartment building near Hezbollah's Al-Nour radio station. The radio continued broadcasting, and Hezbollah TV showed smoke billowing from an apartment in the area and firefighters running toward the building.

"I have huge debts and now my store is damaged," said Fadi Haidar, 36, cleaning away broken glass at his appliances shop, which had an estimated $15,000 in damage.

Still, he supported Hezbollah and its leader, Nasrallah, in their decision to seize the soldiers.

"Israel is our enemy and every Muslim must make a sacrifice," he said. "As time goes by, they will all realize that Sayyed Nasrallah is right and is working in the interest of Muslims."

Warplanes also bombed the highway between Beirut and Damascus — Lebanon's main land link to the outside world — forcing motorists onto mountainside roads to the Syrian capital. Warships shelled the coastal highway north of Sidon, slowing traffic considerably but not actually cutting the road, witnesses said.

In northern Israel, 220,000 people hunkered down in bomb shelters amid Hezbollah's rocket barrage.

At least 50 rockets hit seven towns and communities in Israel, including Safad and Nahariya — where two people were killed a day earlier. Since Wednesday, 61 Israelis have been hurt in the rocket fire.

Many Israelis were shocked Thursday when two rockets hit Haifa, the country's third-largest city, 30 miles south of Lebanon. No guerrilla rocket had ever reached that far into Israel. Hezbollah denied targeting the port city.

The Israeli offensive was causing political waves in Lebanon, with some anti-Syrian politicians accusing Hezbollah of dragging the country into a costly confrontation with Israel.

"Hezbollah is playing a dangerous game that exceeds the border of Lebanon," Druse leader Walid Jumblatt said in comments published Friday.

Jumblatt, a leading anti-Syrian figure, also denounced the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, calling them completely unjustified.

[Ryan Ruck]

Israeli Navy Ships Besiege Tripoli Harbor In Northern Lebanon

Israeli navy ships have been besieged the Tripoli harbor in northern Lebanon, the al-Manar television network reported.

The Lebanese TV networks have been reporting of massive Israeli air strikes all across Lebanon since the early morning hours. (Roee Nahmias)

(07.14.06, 10:43)

[Ryan Ruck]

Israeli Jets Bomb Main Road Between Beirut and Damascus

Israeli warplanes struck the highway linking Beirut to the Syrian capital of Damascus early Friday, closing the country's main artery and further isolating Lebanon from the outside world, Lebanese security officials said.

Fighter jets attacked a highway section high in the mountains of central Lebanon, in Mdeirej. But the targeted area was an old road extension, and the bridge on the nearby main highway remained intact, the officials said.

Another airstrike apparently targeted the main bridge's exit. Authorities turned back motorists, who will have to take long detours through other winding mountain roads.

Because of the darkness, it was not immediately clear the extent of damage on the main highway. Authorities said they were turning back motorists as a precautionary measure.

The Israeli military has confirmed it attacked the highway.

The highway, which climbs up from Beirut, winds through the mountains before descending into the Bekaa Valley and into Syria, is one of Lebanon's only links with the outside world since Israeli forces imposed a sea, air and land blockade of Lebanon on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, Israel blasted the runways and fuel tanks of Beirut's only international airport for a second time, Lebanese security officials said, while Israel's third-largest city Haifa was hit by two Hezbollah long-range missiles in what officials are now calling a full-fledged war.

A helicopter gunship raked the fuel depots with machine gunfire, while three others fired air-to-surface missiles, the officials added, and TV news video showed flames shooting up from the airport.

Israeli planes also dropped leaflets on Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburb near the airport, where its main leaders are based, calling on residents to avoid areas where Hezbollah operates.

"For your own safety and out of our wish to avoid harming the civilians who are not involved, you should refrain from being present in areas where Hezbollah exists and operates," said the leaflets signed the State of Israel.

The strike on Haifa is the deepest into Israel so far in what an Israeli official called a "major, major escalation" in the ongoing battle between Lebanon and Israel.

Hezbollah guerillas had threatened such a strike on this city, deep within Israel's border, if Israel targeted Beirut or its southern suburbs, but the group denied responsibility for the Thursday attack. No injuries were immediately reported.

The mid-evening attacks are the latest in an escalating tension that Daniel Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to the United States, is referring to as a "war."

"Israel's objective is to win this war," he said Thursday at the National Press Club in Washington.

President Bush defended Israel's attacks in Lebanon but worried they could weaken or topple the fragile government in Beirut.

"Israel has a right to defend herself," Bush said at a news conference in Germany with Chancellor Angela Merkel. "Every nation must defend herself against terrorist attacks and the killing of innocent life."

Earlier Thursday rockets fired in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya hit a group of journalists, injuring at least one person. An Associated Press photographer was standing with the group when the rocket hit, but was not injured.

Israeli warplanes attacked a Lebanese Rayak army air base near the Syrian border in eastern Bekaa Valley, the first strike on the Lebanese army in Israel's fight with Hezbollah guerrillas that started after Hezbollah took two Israeli solders captive in a bid to free Lebanese prisoners.

Caught in the middle of the fight, the Lebanese government asked the U.N. Security Council to demand a cease-fire by the two sides. Two days of Israeli bombings killed 47 Lebanese and wounded 103, Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalife said. Besides the Israeli civilian, eight Israeli soldiers have also been killed — the highest death toll for the army in four years.

Hezbollah guerrillas, who are backed by Iran, seized the soldiers Wednesday in a cross-border raid. Israel has since attacked Lebanon by air and sea and has sent in troops to look for the captured soldiers.

Israel's foreign ministry said Thursday that Lebanese guerillas holding the two soldiers captive are trying to transfer them to Iran. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev did not disclose the source of his information.

Iran denied the suggestions, saying Jerusalem was "talking absurdities," Reuters reported.

"I strongly deny such reports," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said. "Because of its desperation and increasing isolation in the world and because of the tension and crisis created inside Israel, it is now talking absurdities."

They were two of dozens of retaliatory attacks by Hezbollah guerrillas on northern Israel in the heaviest cross-border fighting in years, including a rocket attack on the border town of Safed, wounding six people and killing one, witnesses and medics said. It was the first attack on the town since the 1990s. Rockets also hit the town of Carmiel, also in northern Israel. Earlier, a rocket killed a second Israeli woman in the border town of Nahariya.

[Ryan Ruck]

IAF Jets Bomb Al-Manar Television

IAF jets attacked the Al-Manar television station in Beirut belonging to the Hizbullah organization on Thursday morning.

There were no immediate reports of casualties. The station was apparently continuing to broadcast from the station.

The attack was part of a military campaign which the IDF vowed would be harsh and quick against the Lebanese government and Hizbullah, which killed eight IDF soldiers and kidnapped two others along the northern border on Wednesday.

Earlier Thursday morning, IAF fighter jets bombed runways at Beirut International Airport. Al-Jazeera television network reported that 15 people were killed in the airstrike.

The IDF said that the airport was targeted because it was used by Hizbullah to import weapons.

The IAF attack forced the closure of the airport and the diversion of two flights to Cyprus.

[Aplomb]

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/N...968148,00.html

Israel blitzes, diplomacy falters
15/07/2006 12:09 - (SA)


Beirut - Israel kept up its blistering offensive against Lebanon on Saturday after Hezbollah guerrilla leader Hassan Nasrallah defiantly declared open war in a conflict that appears to be spiralling dangerously out of control despite international calls for restraint.

Lebanon failed at an emergency UN Security Council debate to secure any action for a cease-fire to halt Israel's fiercest assault on its neighbour in a decade, underscoring rifts among world powers over how to handle the crisis.

Combat jets bombarded Lebanon in a series of dawn raids, slamming missiles into bridges and petrol stations and killing four people on the fourth day of fighting that has so far claimed the lives of at least 90 people on both sides.

"You wanted an open war, you will get an open war," Nasrallah warned as he emerged unscathed after Israeli air strikes late on Friday destroyed his home and office in Beirut's southern suburbs.

And in a dramatic new development, Nasrallah boasted that Hezbollah had struck an Israeli warship patrolling off the coast of Lebanon, telling his supporters to "watch it burning".

Israel has recovered the body of one of four sailors missing after the attack on the vessel, which reports said was hit either by a rocket or an explosives-laden drone.

Another civilian ship, believed to be Egyptian, was also hit and set ablaze.
'We will wipe him out...'

As a fresh barrage of guerrilla rockets rained on northern Israel from Lebanon, Israel warned that Nasrallah was still in its sights.

"We will wipe him out at the first opportunity. That's why he had better pray to Allah," said cabinet minister Zeev Boim.

Despite urgent appeals for restraint, international diplomatic efforts at containing the conflict have so far failed, with the United States standing firmly behind its ally Israel despite growing criticism of its actions.

The onslaught was unleashed after Hezbollah guerrillas snatched two Israeli soldiers on Wednesday, opening up a new battleground following a similar deadly offensive against Gaza over the capture of another soldier by Palestinian militants three weeks ago.

Israel is under fire from some members of the Security Council, including France and Russia, for using "disproportionate force" against Lebanon and Gaza.

But at Friday's debate, the United States refused to caution restraint from Israel, instead laying the blame firmly at the feet of Israel's archfoes Iran and Syria.

Former Israeli premier Ehud Barak also said he did not rule out military strikes against Syria, which backs Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamist movmement Hamas - both regarded as terror groups by the United States.

Lebanon is virtually cut off from the outside world after Israel imposed an air and sea blockade, launched repeated strikes on the country's only international airport and bombed the main highway to neighbouring Syria as well as bridges and power stations.

"Lebanese brace for long war" was the front-page headline in the English-language Daily Star.

'Lebanon is paying a very heavy price'

Shops have been closed up as Lebanese scramble to stock up on basic necessities, with many Beirut residents planning to flee for the perceived safety of the mountains outside the capital.

In a sign that there would be no early easing of the crisis, Israel army chief Dan Halutz warned his forces would continue to strike Hezbollah and other infrastructure targets in Lebanon.

"Lebanon is paying a very heavy price because of Hezbollah: bridges, roads and airports destroyed - and it could yet be deprived of other infrastructure," he said.

Northern Israel has been hit by a barrage of rocket fire from Lebanon since Wednesday, including an attack that reached as far south as the Mediterranean port city of Haifa.

Four people have been killed and scores wounded, sending tens of thousands of residents into bomb shelters or fortified rooms.

On Saturday, four civilians, including an Egyptian worker, were killed in a series of Israeli air raids across southern and eastern Lebanon. War planes also struck the suburbs of Tripoli, in the first such strike so far north.

"It's sparing nobody, in no area of Lebanon. Actually it is cutting the country into pieces, whereby more than 20 bridges in the country have been destroyed," Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora told CNN.
A UN mission despatched to the region by Secretary General Kofi Annan arrived in Egypt on Friday ahead of an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers.

[Joey Bagadonuts]

This just in:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...7-15-07-28-21#

Israel: Iran Aided Hezbollah Ship Attack

By MATT MOORE
Associated Press Writer



JERUSALEM (AP) -- A missile fired by Hezbollah, not an unmanned drone laden with explosives, damaged an Israeli warship off Lebanon, the army said Saturday. Elite Iranian troops helped fire the missile, a senior Israeli intelligence official said.

One sailor was killed and three were missing.

The intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said about 100 Iranian soldiers are in Lebanon and helped fire the Iranian-made, radar-guided C-102 at the ship late Friday.

The official added that the troops involved in firing the missile are from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, an elite corps of more than 200,000 fighters that is independent of the regular armed forces and controlled directly by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.



Initial information indicated the guerrillas had used a drone for the first time to attack Israeli forces. But the army's investigation showed that Hezbollah had fired an Iranian-made missile at the vessel from the shores of Lebanon, said Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan.

"We can confirm that it was hit by an Iranian-made missile launched by Hezbollah. We see this as very profound fingerprint of Iranian involvement in Hezbollah," Nehushtan said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Another Hezbollah missile also hit and sank a nearby merchant ship at around the same time, Nehushtan said. He said that ship apparently was Egyptian, but had no other information.

Nehushtan said the body of one of the four Israeli soldiers missing in the attack was found aboard the damaged warship. Other Israeli military officials said two bodies had been found.


The Israeli vessel, a Saar 5-class missile ship named the "Spear," was heading to its home port in Israel on Saturday, the army said.

A military official said the ship is one of the most technologically advanced in the Israeli fleet, boasting an array of Harpoon and Gabriel missiles, along with a system for electronically jamming attacking missiles and other threats.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said the missile detection and deflection system was not operating, apparently because the sailors did not anticipate such an attack.

The Israeli intelligence official said Hezbollah also has Iranian-made drones, and warned that they are more accurate than missiles.

Israel launched an offensive after Hezbollah guerrillas crossed the Israel-Lebanon border on Wednesday and captured two Israeli soldiers. Israel has bombarded Lebanon's airport and main roads in the most intensive offensive against the country in 24 years, while Hezbollah has launched hundreds of rockets into Israel.

The intense fighting has sent shock waves through a region already traumatized by Israel's battle against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

[American Patriot]

Lebonese PM just called for a cease fire with Israel.

[American Patriot]

Ahmadinejad Says Israel Does Not Have Power to Harm Iran
Friday, July 14, 2006


TEHRAN, Iran — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday that Israel could not harm Iran, even as the Jewish state expanded its offensive into Lebanon to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

"Despite the barbaric and criminal nature of the occupiers of Jerusalem, the regime and its Western supporters do not even have the power to give Iran a nasty look," the agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in Osku, in northwestern Iran.

His declaration came just hours after he warned Israel against extending its Lebanon assault into neighboring Syria, saying such a move would be seen as an attack against the whole Islamic world. Ahmadinejad made those comments in a telephone conversation with Syrian President Bashar Assad, to assure him of his support, IRNA reported.

Syria and Shiite Muslim Iran are allies, and together are the top backers of the Shiite Hezbollah guerrilla group in Lebanon.

CountryWatch: Iran

Israel has intensified its attacks on Lebanon, striking bridges, airports and the main highway leading to Syria to put pressure on the government and force Hezbollah to free the two Israeli soldiers it captured Wednesday.

(Story continues below)

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Ahmadinejad also said attacks and threats against Lebanon and Syria prove that Israel's "fake regime" would not survive under peaceful conditions, and he urged Israel's allies to stop supporting its military operations.

"One day all supporters of Israel, especially the U.S., should be held accountable," he said.

He held the Jewish state responsible for unjust conditions in neighboring countries, saying Israel's "impudence and shamelessness" help deny the region of advanced technology.

"Opposition to Iran's achievements toward peaceful nuclear technology is an example," Ahmadinejad said.

Iran is under international pressure to suspend its nuclear program and resume negotiations over a package of incentives offered last month by permanent members of the U.N Security Council plus Germany. The Islamic country could face punishment by the council if it rejects the package.

The U.S. accuses Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to build weapons. Tehran has denied the charges, saying its nuclear program is geared only toward generating electricity.

Iran and Israel have been arch enemies since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, which toppled a pro-Western monarchy and installed an anti-West, pro-Palestinian clerical establishment in Tehran.

In April, Iran said it would give the Palestinian Authority US$50 in aid after the militant group Hamas won power in Palestinian parliamentary elections.

Iran threatened Israel in May that it would be Iran's first retaliatory target in response to any U.S. attack.

Last year, Ahmadinejad said the Holocaust was a myth and that Israel should be wiped out.

[American Patriot]

Iran - Ahmadinejad says Israel uses the same methods as Hitler
AFP via Babelfish translation | July 15, 2006


ALARM - Ahmadinejad affirms that Israel uses the same methods as Hitler

TEHERAN - the president Iranian ultraconservator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad affirmed Saturday which Israel used the same methods as Adolf Hitler, in its offensive against Hezbollah Lebanese and in the Gaza Strip.

[American Patriot]

Iran and Radical (Islamofacists) Push for War
UK Daily Star ^ | July 15, 2006 | David Ignatius

Israeli and American doctrine is premised on the idea that military force will deter adversaries. But as more force has been used in recent years, the deterrent value has inevitably gone down. That's the inner spring of this crisis: The Iranians (and their clients in Hizbullah and Hamas) watch the American military mired in Iraq and see weakness.

The danger of Iranian-backed adventurism is immense right now, but that's all the more reason for America and Israel to avoid past mistakes in countering it. Reliable strategic lessons are hard to come by in this part of the world, but here are a few.

The first is that in countering aggression, international solidarity and legitimacy matter. In responding to the Lebanon crisis, the United States should work closely with its allies at the G-8 summit. Iran and its proxies would like nothing more than to isolate America and Israel.

A second point - obvious from Gaza to Beirut to Baghdad - is that the power of non-state actors is magnified when there is no strong central government. One way to boost the Lebanese government (and deflate Hizbullah) would be to negotiate the return of Israeli-occupied territory known as the Shebaa Farms. That chance is lost for now, but the Bush administration should find other ways to enhance authority.

A final obvious lesson is that in an open, interconnected world, public opinion matters. For a generation, America maintained a role as honest broker between Israel and the Arabs. The Bush administration should work hard to refurbish that role.

In the Lebanon crisis, we have a terrifying glimpse of the future: Iran and its radical allies are pushing toward war. The radicals want to lure America and Israel deeper into the killing ground, confident that they have the staying power to prevail.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailystar.com.lb .

[American Patriot]

Israel Has 'Specific Information'-Soliders to be Sent to Iran
World Tribune ^ | July 14, 2006 | East West News Services

Israel has 'specific information' soldiers will be sent to Iran

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Friday, July 14, 2006 JERUSALEM — Iran plans to take two Israeli soldiers abducted by Hizbullah.

Israeli officials said Hizbullah intends to transfer the Israeli soldiers captured on July 12 to Iran. They said the transfer would ensure that Israel could not win the release of the soldiers through military means.

"We also have specific information that Hizbullah is planning to transfer the kidnapped soldiers to Iran," Foreign Minister deputy director-general Gideon Meir told a briefing on Thursday. Hours later, Iran denied that it wants the abducted Israeli soldiers, Middle East Newsline reported. An Iranian spokesman said the Israeli charge indicated the panic of the Jewish state.

Meir said Iran has been coordinating with Hizbullah and Syria in the current crisis along the Israeli-Lebanese border. He said Iran provides "funding, weapons, and directives" to Hizbullah.

Israel has assessed that at least one Israeli soldier abducted by Hizbullah was transferred to Iran. The soldier was identified as Ron Arad, an air navigator captured after he bailed out of his downed F-4 fighter-jet over southern Lebanon in 1986.

Israel has already threatened to assassinate Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah as well as other leaders of the organization. Officials said Nasrallah and his senior aides would no longer be immune from Israeli attack. At the same time, officials said the Cabinet appeared divided over launching a ground force operation in Lebanon.

"Nasrallah wants to be the landlord of the Middle East," Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said. "It is us against Hizbullah, Iran and Syria."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright © 2006 East West Services, Inc.

[American Patriot]

Bodies of Two Israeli Sailors Found Aboard Hezbollah-Damaged Ship
FoxNews ^ | July 15th, 2006 | FoxNews/AP

JERUSALEM — The bodies of two of the four Israeli soldiers missing in a Hezbollah attack on their warship off Lebanon were found Saturday aboard the damaged vessel, military officials said.

The ship was severely damaged Friday either by a drone loaded with explosives or a missile fired by Hezbollah as the Israeli navy blockaded Lebanon as part of its military offensive against the guerrillas.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...

[American Patriot]

Hizballah Brings out Iranian Silkworm to Hit Israel Navy Corvette(Ship)
DEBKAFILE ^ | 15 JULY 2006 | Debka

The disaster that overtook one of the Israeli Navy’s state of the art warships, Ahi-Hanit, was thoroughly planned in advance by an enemy which managed to take Israel’s military commanders by surprise. It has shocked Israel’s military to a degree comparable to the profound effect on US forces of al Qaeda’s 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Aden.

The Saar-5 class corvette, with a crew of 61 seamen and a 10-man helicopter crew, was hit Friday, July 17 at 20:15 hours, while shelling Beirut international airport. Four crewmen were reported missing. One was found dead Saturday aboard the crippled ship. Three are still sought by rescue teams.

DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal that the warship was struck from Beirut by an Iran-made C-802 shore-to-sea missile of the Silkworm family. Weighing 715 kilos, with a range of 120km, the missile is armed with a strong anti-jamming capability, which lends it a 98% success rate in escaping interception.

The Israeli ship is armed with an advanced Barak anti-missile system, which may have missed the incoming missile. Israeli military planners must now look at the vulnerability of the navy following the appearance of the first Iranian C-802 missiles

The Israeli chief of staff, Lt.Gen. Dan Halutz, started his news conference Friday night just 15 minutes earlier at 20:00. The campaign was then 60 hours old from the moment Hizballah raiders captured two Israel soldiers in an ambush inside Israel. He was poised, assured and clear, until a reporter asked if the military goals of the Lebanese offensive matched the objectives set out in government decisions. His answer was: “Don’t start looking for cracks.”

But Hizballah found the cracks 15 minutes later. Its secretary general Hassan Nasrallah put in a telephone appearance on Al Manar TV straight after General Halutz to inform his listeners across the Middle East that one of Israel’s warships was ablaze at that very moment. He said the ship had been crippled while it was bombing Beirut and was sinking. Hizballah, he added, had prepared a number of surprises for Israel and its armed forces Despite several Israeli air raids, the station is still broadcasting.

In Israel, the Hizballah chief’s words were taken at first as an implausible threat for the future – until the order of events began to unfold.

DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal:

Shortly before 20:00 hours Friday, Hizballah launched a pair of land-to-sea C-802 missiles against the Israeli ship from the coast of Beirut. The trajectory of the first was adjusted to a landing amidships from above. It missed and exploded in the water. The second was rigged to skim the water like a cruise missile. It achieved a direct hit of the Ahi Hanit’s helicopter deck, starting a fire. The ship began to sink, as Nasrallah said, and would have been lost were it not for the speed and bravery of crewmen who jumped into the flames and doused them before the ship exploded and sank.

It is not known whether the men dead and missing paid with their lives for saving the ship.

This was the second time in 48 hours that the Israeli high command was taken by unawares.

July 12, the day that Hizballah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, was also the deadline for Iran to deliver its answer to the six-power package of incentives for giving up its nuclear enrichment program. Tehran let the day go by without an answer. Someone should have kept an eye on Iran’s Lebanese surrogate and made the connection with a fresh virulent threat against Israel from Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However, the high alert declared earlier this month for Israeli units on the Lebanese border was not restored.

The Hizballah guerrillas took advantage of this lack of vigilance to infiltrate Israel near Zarit, penetrate to a distance of 200 meters, fire RPGs and roadside bombs at two Israeli Hammer jeeps on patrol, and make off with Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Eight Israeli soldiers lost their lives as a result of this attack.

The IDF ground pursuit for the two men was cut short when an Israeli tank was blown up by a massive 300-kilo bomb in south Lebanon, killing the four-man crew and a fifth soldier who tried to rescue his comrades.

The attack on the Ahi-Hanit was the third surprise.

When General Halutz was asked if Israel does not fear Syrian and Iranian intervention in the hostilities, he replied firmly in the negative. But Iran has been involved from the very first moment.

This localized perception of the Just Reward campaign in Lebanon, contrary to Israeli leaders’ rhetoric, is hampering its effectiveness. The war embarked on Wednesday night, July 12, must be seen in its regional strategic dimensions. It is therefore not enough to bash Nasrallah without taking into account beforehand that his strings are pulled by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ahmadinejad from Tehran and the Syrian president Bashar Assad, who opened up Damascus military airport for the delivery of Iranian missiles to his militia.

Saturday morning, Hizballah TV broadcast a videotape showed a blurred object looking like a small unmanned aircraft purportedly packed with explosives exploding in the water. This was an attempt to muddy the trail leading to Tehran and present the fatal attack as an extraordinary feat of arms by Hizballah. It was also another move in and intense psychological war to undermine Israeli morale. The inference they are trying to get across is that if the Shiite terrorists have a weapon that can hit a moving target at sea, the will not find it hard to reach any part of Israel including Tel Aviv.

[American Patriot]

US prepares to evacuate nationals from Lebanon
ABC News ^ | Jul 15, 2006 | Reuters

Jul 15, 2006 — ROME (Reuters) - Italy began evacuating its nationals from Lebanon Saturday while the United States, France and the Netherlands prepared to do the same as Israeli planes pounded the country.

Some 410 people left Beirut in an Italian convoy of vehicles on Saturday, Italy's Foreign Ministry said. The group was mostly made up of Italians and other Europeans, who were expected to arrive in the Syrian port city of Latakia.

Two C130 Italian military aircraft will then fly the group back to Rome, with help from a commercial flight departing from Cyprus, the ministry said.

The State Department said it was working with the Defense Department on a plan to transport Americans to Cyprus, from where it recommended they return to the United States by commercial airlines.

The State Department estimates that about 25,000 U.S. citizens, including people with dual citizenship, live in Lebanon, although summer visits could expand that community. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2196086

[American Patriot]

Saudis attribute offensive to Hizbullah's rogue 'adventure'
The Daily Star (Lebabon) ^ | July 15, 2005 | Walid Choucair

Comments from a Saudi official made Thursday that the people should distinguish between legitimate resistance and dangerous adventurism by some parties without cooperation from their governments and the Arab states represented a major shift in the kingdom's position regarding the escalating violence in Lebanon.

A ministerial source in Beirut said Lebanon had been informed of the Saudi position during a telephone call Wednesday between Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.

The source added that the Saudi stand reflected the

position of the Gulf countries, which have reservations regarding the respective political positions of Hamas and Hizbullah, both of which are supported by Syria and Iran.

The Gulf states also believe the ongoing Israeli siege of Lebanon is due to an "unpredicted adventure" led by Hizbullah, which took place without the consent of the Lebanese government.

The Gulf states are of the opinion that certain parties are carrying out actions that suit their allies' interests, and then ask the Arab countries to help them avoid the consequences of their actions.

In this context, some Arab officials were quoted as having said: "We cannot play the role of mediators upon the request of some parties that act without taking into consideration the consequences of their actions."

The ministerial source said the Gulf states are critical of the fact that some parties in Lebanon are engaging in their "adventures" with outside support, in reference to Syrian and Iran.

The source stressed that Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been deploying continuous efforts to convince these Syrian counterparts that adopting the Islamic Republic's strategy will cause great harm to Damascus.

While the Arabs are continuing with their efforts to resolve the international crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions, several Gulf states are being held responsible for the Islamic Republic's regional policies.

However, the source said the Arab attempts to persuade Syria to abandon the Iranian strategy have not yielded positive results.

The source added that Syrian President Bashar Assad's latest trip to Cairo had seen an Egyptian attempt to convince Assad to change his policy toward Tehran.

However, officials in Damascus have said recent developments, namely the clashes between Hamas and Israel, have shown the need to maintain close relations with Iran.

Accordingly, Assad made clear that he would not rethink his strategy.

The ministerial source also said Saudi Arabia's position would be taken into consideration at an Arab foreign ministers' meeting scheduled on Saturday.

[American Patriot]

Air Force strikes home in Gaza City
Jerusalem Post ^ | 7/15/6 | JPost.com.staff & AP

Air FOrce helicopters fired two missiles at a house in Gaza City in central Gaza Saturday morning.

The IDF said that a member of Hamas's military wing, Izzadin al-Kassam, was killed in the blast, and that the home belonged to a professor from the Islamic College in Gaza. The home, according to the IDF, was being used as a Kassam-making factory.

Palestinians were preparing rockets in the house, witnesses said.

At least eight people were wounded in the strike.

Earlier Saturday, the IAF attacked a PA government office and a bridge in the central Gaza Strip in separate airstrikes early Saturday, Palestinian officials said. There were no reports of casualties.

The first airstrike hit offices of the Hamas-controlled economy ministry, setting the building on fire. Rescue teams rushed to the scene of the attack, located near a housing complex inhabited by some 600 people.

Later, an IAF airstrike destroyed a small bridge near the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, Palestinian officials said.

The IDF confirmed both air strikes.

Israeli helicopters also opened fire on an area in northern Gaza where militants had gathered to fire rockets at southern Israel, killing an 18-year-old Bedouin, Khalil Abu Naghafieb, said hospital officials.

[American Patriot]

Divisions over Hezbollah legitimacy as Arab FMs hold emergency talks
Haaretz ^ | 7-15-06 | Staff

CAIRO - Foreign ministers of 18 Arab countries held an emergency summit in Cairo on Saturday over Israel's expanding assault on Lebanon, but squabbles over the legitimacy of Hezbollah's attacks on Israel - including the capture of two Israel Defense Forces soldiers that sparked the 4-day battle - appeared likely to keep participants from reaching a consensus, delegates said.

The Saudi foreign minister appeared to be leading a camp of ministers criticizing the guerrilla group's actions, calling them "unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible acts."

"These acts will pull the whole region back to years ago, and we cannot simply accept them," Saudi al-Faisal told his counterparts.

Supporting his stance were representatives of Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, delegates said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...

[American Patriot]

Initial assessment of C-802 missile engagment against IDF Saar 5 AAW vessel.
FR Exclusive | July 15, 2006 | Jeff Head
On July 14th the IDF's best anti-air defense vessel was mission killed by a strike from shore off the Beruit, Lebannon coast. It appears that the vessel was hit by a guided missile, launched either by Iranian trained Hezbollah, or by Iranian Guards themselves operating out of Lebannon.


Land-launched Chinese anti-shipping missile, C-802

The missile was apparently a Chinese-made C-802 which is a sub sonic surface to surface anti-shipping missile. The Iranians have purchased a lot of these from China, and is working with N. Korea to improve the design. The missile is capable of a sea-skimming approach, and reportedly outfitted to engage in a high electronic counterm measrue (ECM) environment. On July 14th, it proved, to the advantage of Hezbollah, Iran, China, and N. Korea, that it was capable of doing so in certain engagement envelopes against some of the best western technology available.

The Saar 5 is thought to be the best AAW, Corvette-sized class in the world, rivaling the firepower and capabilities of many nations much larger guided missile destroyers. With two 32 cell Barak anti-missile launchers, and with a 20mm Phalanx CIWS, and outfitted with high tech ECM instrumentation, high tech radars, guidance, fire control, and data link capabilities, it was specifcally designed to protect itself and other vessels against just this type of attack.


IDF Saar 5 Anti-air missile Corvette.

It was there on July 14th to protect the IDF gunboats that were bombarding the Lebannon shore. It was there to protect them and itself precisely form this type of attack.

So why did it fail and get mission killed itself with an attack of two missiles, one of which targeted an Egyptian merchant vessel and the other the IDF ship?

Here's my initial, thought-out assessment:

The IDF had their high value AAW, Saar 5, vessel there to protect its gun boats which were shelling the Lebannon shore. Those gun boat's main batteries have a short range which means the Saar 5 had to be close in to shore to protect them. That allowed it to be targeted in an evironment which minimized it's own defenses and maximized the C-802 capability.

They were too close to respond effectively or in enough time. At ten miles (16 km) off-shore, they had perhaps sixty seconds total to defend themselves, but really only the time between detection and impact. Since the C-802 comes in low, and since it would be hard to detect by airborne AWACS, if they were even watching over this part of the battlefield and if they were data linked to the Saar 5, the threat came upon them quickly and they probably had only their own radar event horizon to respond in. This means they had maybe seconds. Either they were not adequately prepared (which is hard to imagine for the IDF), or they were simply too close and did not have enough time.

In this environment, the Israelis needs longer ranged shore bombarment capability to avoid putting it's modern, sophisticated AAW vessels at such risk, and to give them more time to resspond to a modern SSM threat.

All nations with naval power, the ability to defend it, and the desire to defeat5 it, will study this engagement to the max. My onw opinion is that with mnore time, and in an environment where the Saar 5 systems were maximized, or at least tilted more in their favor, the chances of a successful intercept would have gone up exponentially.

But that environemtn was not the environemnt the Saar 5 found itself in on July 14th, 2006.

As to the threat to USN vessels. It is the same threat, in confied waters like the Straits of Hormuz, that the USN will have to be prepared to defend against...or perahps in the Western Pacific one day.

In order to do so, data linking, longer range, AWACS, opther vessels, will all give the more advanced AEGIS system more time to react. My guess is the USN will conduct heavy air attack suppression of the coastal areas in order to negate as many launchers as possible before attempting to force such waters.

If, like the IDF, this luxury is not available or is constrained by political or other necessities, then the threat will be proportionally higher.

[American Patriot]

Lebanese PM demands ceasefire
Reuters ^ | July 15, 2006



Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called on Saturday for an immediate ceasefire, saying Israeli attacks had turned Lebanon into a disaster area in need of international aid.

"We call for an immediate ceasefire backed by the United Nations," Siniora told a news conference in Beirut. "I declare today that Lebanon is a disaster zone in need of a comprehensive and speedy Arab plan ... and (it) pleads to its friends in the world to rush to its aid."