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July 13, 2006

News Summary: Israel At War

Topics: Middle East News and Perspectives

Here's a summary of the latest news on Israel's response to having Islamic terrorists from Hizbollah and Hamas crossing into Israel and capturing its soldiers. (IMHO the real force behind what is fastly becoming an all out war is - Iran indirectly, pulling the strings, Syria more directly, the puller of the strings, and Hamas and Hizbollah, the puppets of Iran and Syria. What brings all this to a screeching halt? As pointed out an earlier post, when Syria realizes that the price for its involvement in the snatching of the soldiers and the rocket attacks on Israel - this war is over. If Syria fails to realize the cost of its involvement, or waits too late to do so, the entire Middle East is likely to explode.)

According to DEBKAfile (not always reliable, but in this case their analysis is in sync with other sources I've read), Hizballah acted on orders from Tehran to open a second front against Israel, partly to ease IDF military pressure on the Hamas in the Gaza Strip. This was in response to an appeal Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal made to the Iranian ambassador to Damascus Mohammad Hassan Akhtari Sunday, July 9.

... Sending Hizballah to open a warfront against Israel is the logical tactical complement to its latest order to go into action against American and British forces in southern Iraq.

... Tehran hopes to hijack the agenda before the G-8 summit opening in St. Petersberg, Russia on July 15. Instead of discussing Iran's nuclear case and the situation in Iraq along the lines set by President George W. Bush, the leaders of the industrial nations will be forced to address the Middle East flare-up

News Summary:

Israel attacks Beirut airport and imposes sea and air blockade on Lebanon : Israel also clamped an air, sea and land blockade on Lebanon, bombing Beirut airport and sending warships into Lebanese waters following Hizbullah's snatching of two soldiers, military sources said.

Israel blocks Lebanon ports: Since this morning Israeli naval vessels have enforced a full naval closure on Lebanon, because Lebanon's ports are used to transfer both terrorists and weapons to the terror organisations operating in Lebanon," a military spokesman said. ... The spokesman declined comment on whether Israel was also enforcing a closure of Lebanon's airspace. ... Israeli media said the aim was to put pressure on the Lebanese government to act against Hezbollah, which seized the soldiers and killed seven others in an attack yesterday.

Israel attacks Beirut international airport runways, airport closed: Israel widened its offensive against Hezbollah guerrillas Thursday, targeting the country's only international airport in the capital's suburbs, forcing its closure, and blasting southern Lebanon for a second day...

Northern Israeli city hit by rockets from Lebanon: At least two Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon slammed into the northern Israeli city of Nahariya on Thursday, wounding three civilians, the Israeli army said. ... The Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah said it had fired 60 rockets at Nahariya, a coastal city south of the Lebanese border.

Head of Hamas' Military Wing Injured in Airstrike: Mohammed Deif, the shadowy Palestinian who is among the militants most wanted by Israel, was injured in an airstrike early Wednesday, the army said. Deif, an experienced bomb maker who heads Hamas' military wing, was wounded during an attack on a house where the Islamist group's leaders had gathered, the Israeli military said. At least nine civilians, all members of the same family, were killed, Palestinian officials said.

Israeli aircraft attack Palestinian Foreign Ministry: An Israeli air strike destroyed the office of Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar on Thursday in an attack that signaled Israel would pursue its Gaza offensive while fighting along a second front in Lebanon. ... the ministry was used by the governing Hamas group to further the movement's activities.

Sign That Crisis Is Regional, Not Just Israel vs. Palestinians: The expansion of the Gaza crisis into southern Lebanon, confronting Israel with a conflict on its northern and southern borders, has demonstrated that the central issue at stake is regional, not local. ... For Israel the issue is not simply the Palestinians and their actions, including the rocket fire into Israel. It is the broader problem of radical Islam -- of Hamas, as a part of the regional Muslim Brotherhood, and of Iran, a serious regional power with considerable influence on Syria, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and the military wing of Hamas.

Posted by Richard at July 13, 2006 12:45 AM

Articles Related to Middle East News and Perspectives:

• Hezbollah Captures Two Israeli Soldiers - Israeli Forces Cross Into Lebanon (Running Updates Below) - Jul 12, 2006
• Breaking: Israel Army 'Enters Central Gaza' - Jul 11, 2006
• Palestininian Authority Ideology Portrays Palestinians As Jesus - Jul 10, 2006
• 'The Palestinians Have Once Again Proven They Are The Most Stupid Of All Arabs' - Jul 09, 2006
• Israel Pursuing Palestinians - With Warplanes And Tanks - Jul 08, 2006
• Hamas' Pathological Dependence On Hating Israel - Jul 06, 2006
• Israel To Palestinian Islamic Terrorists: If Shalit Is Killed, 'The Sky Will Fall' - Jul 04, 2006
• IAF Warplanes Strike Haniyeh's Office in Gaza - So Where's The 'Real' Palistinian Control? - Jul 01, 2006
• Israel To Hamas: No Deal! - Jul 01, 2006
• Gaza - A Proper Perspective - Jul 01, 2006

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Comments

Great and informative post, though I have a quibble with a portion of the prologue.

" . . . when Syria realizes that the price for its involvement in the snatching of the soldiers and the rocket attacks on Israel - this war is over. If Syria fails to realize the cost of its involvement, or waits too late to do so, the entire Middle East is likely to explode."

It's not that they don't already realize the price they may pay, it's that they don't think the war will come to their shores nor can they do anything about when the nation's only real ally, Iran, has Syria in a noose fitting of Iranian occupation in Syria itself. Iran has a very tight grip on all things from their own soil to the Mediterranean Sea, and Syria is a part of that grip.

At least that is my opinion of the climate in the Middle East and how/if Syria will respond. I don't think they can reasonably respond therefore the events are playing out just as Iran wants.

# Posted by Chad at 07/13/2006 02:18 am - reply- forum

Richard:

I caught this news update:

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/israel-attacks-beirut-international/20060711185409990027

Updated: 01:41 AM EDT

Israel Attacks Beirut International Airport

Blasts Mark Second Day of Lebanon Strikes Over Kidnapping of Soldiers
By SAM F. GHATTAS, AP
BEIRUT, Lebanon (July 13) - Israel widened its offensive against Hezbollah guerrillas on Thursday, targeting Beirut's international airport and blasting southern Lebanon for a second day, police and airport officials said. Twenty-two civilians were reported killed in the south, local media said.

Warplanes struck the runways of the country's only international airport early Thursday during Israel's ongoing air and sea assault against Lebanon, which began a day earlier after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. The airport was later closed, forcing flights to be diverted to nearby Cyprus, officials said.

Israel's Army Radio said the object of Thursday's attack was to shut down air traffic in and out of Beirut. The airport is located in the capital's southern suburbs, which are controlled by Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, Israeli aircraft and artillery continued attacking targets in southern Lebanon overnight, police reported. Leading TV station LBC said at least 22 civilians were killed in the attacks, including a family of 12 in the village of Dweir.

Israeli medics also reported Thursday that an Israeli woman was killed when a Hezbollah rocket hit her home in a northern border town. The Israeli military said it was checking the report.

Israel bombed and shelled southern Lebanon and sent ground troops over the border for the first time in six years Wednesday after the two soldiers were captured. The fighting killed eight Israeli soldiers and three Lebanese.

Hezbollah's brazen cross-border raid opened a second front for the Israeli army. The army is now fighting Islamic militants in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, where it is looking for another soldier who was captured more than two weeks ago by Hamas-linked militants.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the Hezbollah raid an "act of war" by Lebanon and threatened "very, very, very painful" retaliation. The Cabinet, meeting in the wake of the military's highest daily death toll in four years, decided to continue the army operation and call on the international community to disarm Hezbollah, according to participants.

Residents of northern Israeli towns were ordered to seek cover in underground bomb shelters as Hezbollah, an anti-Israel guerrilla group that essentially runs southern Lebanon, launched rockets across the border throughout the day.

Overnight, Hezbollah fired rockets and shells at Israeli military bases along the border, the military said. Also, an Israeli civilian was wounded by a rocket explosion in the border village of Zarit. His condition was not known.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said he would free the Israeli soldiers only in a prisoner swap, adding that he was open to a package deal that would include the release of the soldier held in Gaza.

"The capture of the two soldiers could provide a solution to the Gaza crisis," he told reporters in Beirut.

At least 23 Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Wednesday. And an Israeli airstrike early Thursday destroyed the building housing the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Foreign Ministry. Palestinian medics said 13 people in the neighborhood, including six children, were injured, mainly from flying glass and debris.

The Gaza crisis began June 25 when Palestinian militants dug a tunnel out of the coastal strip and attacked an army position inside Israel, seizing Cpl. Gilad Shalit and demanding the release of 1,500 prisoners held by Israel. Although Israel has made prisoner exchanges in the past, Olmert ruled out any negotiations for Shalit's return, saying that would only encourage more kidnappings.

Instead, Israel unleashed an offensive against Gaza, sending in troops, firing artillery and carrying out airstrikes on militant targets in an effort to force the Palestinians to free Shalit.

In an attempt to assassinate top Hamas fugitives Wednesday, Israel dropped a quarter-ton bomb on a home in Gaza City, killing a couple and seven of their children, ages 4-18. Hamas said its leaders escaped harm, but militants took over the intensive care unit of a hospital, barring reporters.

Palestinian security officials said Mohammed Deif, leader of Hamas' military wing and No. 1 on Israel's wanted list for more than a decade, was among the wounded - suffering severe back injuries that could paralyze him.

Palestinians in Gaza welcomed the attack in Lebanon, hoping it would force Israel to shift its focus away from them.

"People are cheering this attack ... because they view it as a kind of revenge and reprisal against what Israel has been doing in Gaza," said Salah Bardawil, a spokesman for Hamas in the Palestinian parliament. "Militarily, by opening a new front against Israel, it would ease the pressure on us. Israel is using a huge force in Gaza now. It will have to use part of its military capacity in Lebanon."

However, an Israeli military official said the army had no intention of moving any forces from the Gaza theater. The troops already on the northern border would deal with the conflict with Lebanon, backed by reinforcements if needed, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss troop movements.

Israel and Lebanon have a history of conflict, punctuated by a full-scale Israeli invasion in 1982, and its 18-year occupation of a buffer zone in southern Lebanon that was intended to prevent attacks on Israel. The United Nations certified that Israel's 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon was complete, but Lebanon laid claim to a sliver of border territory, still held by Israel, that the U.N. said was actually part of Syria.

Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria and branded a terror group by the U.S. and Israel, used the dispute to justify cross-border attacks. But the fighting Wednesday was by far the worst since Israel withdrew six years ago, and it threatened to escalate.

"This is a terrorist attack and it is clearly timed to exacerbate already high tensions in the region and sow further violence," U.S. National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones said. "We also hold Syria and Iran - which directly support Hezbollah - responsible for this attack and for the ensuing violence."

Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa denied his country had a role in either of the abductions and instead blamed Israel. "For sure, the occupation (of the Palestinian territories) is the cause provoking both the Lebanese and Palestinian people, and that's why there is Lebanese and Palestinian resistance," he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for restraint. "We would not want to see an expansion, an escalation, of conflict in the region," he said. He also condemned "without reservations the attack" by Hezbollah fighters.

Hezbollah fighters began their attack Wednesday by firing a barrage of rockets at communities in northwestern Israel. The guerrillas then crossed the border and launched a surprise attack on two Israeli Humvees, killing three soldiers, wounding two and capturing the two others, the Israeli army said.

Israel quickly sent armored vehicles over the border on a rescue mission, but one of the tanks rolled over a large mine, killing the four soldiers inside and sparking a battle that killed another soldier, the army said.

Israel also sent warplanes deep into southern Lebanon - targeting bridges, roads and Hezbollah positions. One blast hit a major junction along the main north-south coastal highway, wrecking the road and wounding two people. Two civilians were killed in the attacks, Lebanese officials said.

Another airstrike targeted a Palestinian guerrilla base south of Beirut, Lebanese security officials said.

Israeli artillery and gunboats fired into the area, as well. The military said it attacked 40 targets to stop Hezbollah from moving the soldiers. It did not say how many ground troops were involved, but witnesses said dozens entered southwestern Lebanon.


07-13-06 01:59 EDT

With Aloha,

# Posted by harry at 07/13/2006 03:36 am - reply- forum

Chad wrote:

Great and informative post, though I have a quibble with a portion of the prologue. " . . . when Syria realizes that the price for its involvement in the snatching of the soldiers and the rocket attacks on Israel - this war is over. If Syria fails to realize the cost of its involvement, or waits too late to do so, the entire Middle East is likely to explode." It's not that they don't already realize the price they may pay, it's that they don't think the war will come to their shores nor can they do anything about when the nation's only real ally, Iran, has Syria in a noose fitting of Iranian occupation in Syria itself. Iran has a very tight grip on all things from their own soil to the Mediterranean Sea, and Syria is a part of that grip. At least that is my opinion of the climate in the Middle East and how/if Syria will respond. I don't think they can reasonably respond therefore the events are playing out just as Iran wants.

Surely Iran is the hand behind the hand behind the hands, but in the end, Syria will have to look to its own interests - otherwise Assad's clock is likely to be cleaned by Israel, who are likely to do it in a NY minute. I don't recall exactly where I read it, but there are some who believe that Assad is in danger of being able to hold on to power, and a war with Israel is likely to hurry that along.

Your post brings to mind a possible REAL 2 state solution. Israel cleans Syria's clock - resulting in Israel and Iraq getting a break. And then there's Iran......

# Posted by Richard at 07/13/2006 06:39 am - reply- forum

"I don't recall exactly where I read it, but there are some who believe that Assad is in danger of being able to hold on to power, and a war with Israel is likely to hurry that along. "

I have heard the same thing too several times over, but I actually think a war with Israel would have the opposite effect and that such a war, provided of course that Syria isn't completely rolled over, will hoist Assad's rating within Syria because the people would have another enemy to focus their ire upon.

I just see this entire situation, starting two or more weeks ago, as being completely planned out by Iran because it fits their desires so perfectly. Even if Assad objected, would Iran listen to his objections and not continue as planned? It's the relationship between Syria and Iran that needs to be studied and it is that relationship which has prevented U.S. and Iraqi incursions upon Syria, or so I have been told by people that should know.

The great deal of relative unknowns exists. Is the military alliance solid and would Iran go to war upon Israel, the U.S. or Iraq if Syria was even bombed?

# Posted by Chad at 07/13/2006 05:32 pm - reply- forum

Time to drag out our own space battleships....

# Posted by Richard at 07/13/2006 05:37 pm - reply- forum

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