Commandos Attack Hezbollah Deep Inside Lebanon
By SAM F. GHATTAS, AP
BEIRUT, Lebanon (Aug. 19) - Israeli commandos raided a Hezbollah stronghold deep inside Lebanon Saturday, sparking a fierce clash with militants that killed one Israeli. Lebanon called the raid a "flagrant violation" of the U.N.-brokered cease-fire, while Israel said it was aimed at disrupting arms shipments from Iran and Syria.
Witnesses said Israeli missiles also destroyed a bridge during the raid in what would be the first such airstrike since the cease-fire took effect Monday, ending 34 days of warfare between the two sides.
The fighting did not appear to be escalating, but it highlighted the fragility of the truce as the United Nations pleaded for nations to contribute to an international peacekeeping force due to patrol southern Lebanon.
Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr threatened to halt the army's deployment in south Lebanon if the United Nations does not take up the issue of the raid. A stop to the deployment would deeply damage efforts to move in the U.N. force to strengthen the cease-fire.
"If there are no clear answers forthcoming on this issue, I might be forced to recommend to the Cabinet early next week the halt of the army deployment in the south," Murr told reporters after a meeting with U.N. representatives.
In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev defended the raid as a response to "a violation of the cease-fire."
"The U.N. Security Council resolution on Lebanon is very explicit: It says that Hezbollah cannot use the cease-fire to rearm, to receive more missiles and more rockets from Syria and Iran. That was happening, and Israel acted to prevent that from happening," he said.
Regev indicated Israel could conduct further raids until Lebanese and international troops take up positions to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its arsenal _ a goal that the U.N. resolution sets as part of a long-term end to the conflict but does not immediately require.
"If the Syrians and Iran continue to arm Hezbollah in violation of the resolution, Israel is entitled to act to defend the principle of the arms embargo," Regev said. "Once the Lebanese army and the international forces are active ... then such Israeli activity will become superfluous."
The first small contingent of reinforcements for the peacekeeping force _ 49 French soldiers _ landed Saturday in inflatable dinghies at the southern Lebanese coastal town of Naqoura, with 200 more expected next week.
But Deputy U.N. Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said more countries need to step forward to fill out a vanguard of 3,500 soldiers that the U.N. wants on the ground by Aug. 28 to help ensure the truce holds.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora called Saturday's commando raid a "flagrant violation" of the cease-fire, and said he would take the issue up with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Murr said the raid could spark Hezbollah retaliation, which in turn could lead to Israeli reprisals. He suggested Israel might be trying to provoke a response, so it could have an excuse to attack the Lebanese army. "We will not send the army to be prey in an Israeli trap," he said.
Under the cease-fire terms, Israel has said it will conduct defensive operations if its troops are threatened. But the raid took place far from positions of Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.
Such a bold operation suggested Israel was going after a major target _ perhaps to rescue two Israeli soldiers snatched by Hezbollah on July 12, or to try to capture a senior guerrilla official to trade for the soldiers.
Hezbollah has said it wants to exchange the two soldiers for Arab prisoners, but the cease-fire resolution demands Hezbollah unconditionally release the soldiers.
The Israeli commandos were dropped by helicopter on a hill outside the village of Boudai west of Baalbek and apparently were seeking a guerrilla target in a nearby school, Lebanese security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release information to the media.
Local media said Sheik Mohammed Yazbeck, a senior Hezbollah official in the Bekaa Valley and a member of the group's Shura council, may have been the target. Yazbeck is a native of Boudai.
Hezbollah TV said the guerrillas foiled the raid. Israel said the force completed its mission, with one officer killed and two soldiers wounded.
Lebanese security officials said three guerrillas were killed and three were wounded. A Hezbollah spokesman said none of his fighters died.
Hezbollah officials at the scene said the Israeli commandos brought two vehicles with them that they used to drive into Boudai. They identified themselves as the Lebanese army when intercepted by Hezbollah fighters in a field, but the guerrillas grew suspicious and gunfire erupted, according to the officials.
Israeli helicopters fired missiles as the commandos withdrew and flew out of the area an hour later, they said.
Witnesses saw bandages and syringes at the landing site outside Boudai, about 10 miles west of Baalbek and 15 miles west of the Syrian border. A bridge was destroyed bridge about 500 yards from the area in what witnesses said was an Israeli airstrike.
The ancient town of Baalbek is the birthplace of the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah. The area in the eastern Bekaa Valley, 60 miles north of the Israeli border, is a major guerrilla stronghold.
On Aug. 2, Israeli commandos targeted the Iranian-funded, Hezbollah-run Dar al-Hikma Hospital in Baalbek, killing 16 people, according to Lebanese police. Israel said that the building was a Hezbollah base, not a hospital, and that its soldiers captured five guerrilla fighters and killed 10 more before withdrawing.
Under the cease-fire, some 15,000 Lebanese soldiers are to move into the south, backed by the beefed-up U.N. peacekeeping force known, as Israeli forces withdraw. Once there, the troops are to enforce the cease-fire.
Lebanon has said Hezbollah will not be allowed to show its weapons in public, but has not said whether it will try the more controversial step of disarming the guerrillas.
The Lebanese army has deployed more than 1,500 soldiers in three sectors that Israeli forces have left, and the U.N. force _ currently numbering 2,000 _ has set up checkpoints and started patrolling the areas.
So far, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Italy, France and Finland have promised troops. In an effort to encourage more countries to sign on, Annan said the peacekeeping force would not "wage war" on Israel, Lebanon or Hezbollah militants, addressing a key concern of many countries.
Turkey's government said this week that during the Lebanon war it forced Syria-bound Iranian planes to land and be searched for rockets and other military equipment.
The newspaper Hurriyet reported that two Iranian planes were forced to land at Diyarbakir airport on July 27 and Aug. 8 but that no military equipment was found.
Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Murat Ozcelik said those were not the only planes forced to land. "We inspect Iranian planes upon any suspicion that they may be carrying any weapons," he said, but declined to give details.
8/19/2006 12:04:41 EDT
CRISIS in the MIDDLE EAST
Moderators: Cell_Leader, ikaotiki, Julstar
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theone666
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theone666
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Lebanon truce shaky after battle
Saturday, 19 August 2006, 22:30 GMT 23:30 UK
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed deep concern over Saturday's Israeli commando raid on Lebanon, which he called a truce violation.
Lebanon has said it may halt its army deployment in the south - a key element of the ceasefire plan.
The night raid in the eastern Bekaa Valley - deep inside Lebanon - left one Israeli soldier dead and two injured.
Israel said it was trying to disrupt weapons supplies from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah, and insisted the truce held.
The raid centred on the village of Bodai, west of the city of Baalbek, some 100km (60 miles) north of the Israeli border and is the most serious incident since the UN-brokered truce came into effect on Monday.
"The secretary general is deeply concerned about a violation by the Israeli side of the cessation of hostilities," a spokesman for Mr Annan said on the UN website.
Such violations "endanger the fragile calm", the statement said.
It also called on "all parties to respect strictly the arms embargo".
Threat to ceasefire
Lebanon's Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, called the raid a "naked violation" of the six-day-old UN truce.
His Defence Minister, Elias al-Murr, said that if the UN failed to give "clear answers" in response to the raid he "might be forced to ask the cabinet early next week to halt the army deployment in the south".
The BBC's Nick Childs in Beirut correspondent says the UN's main concern is that the incident both highlights the urgent need for UN reinforcements and will put off potential troop contributors, because it projects an image of insecurity.
Fifty French military engineers arrived in the Lebanese port of Naqoura on Saturday, the first soldiers to bolster the UN peacekeeping force.
They are among 200 extra troops promised by France, as the UN struggles to build its expanded force.
The UN wants 3,500 troops on the ground by the end of August, to be increased later to 15,000. It says it is disappointed with the French contribution and wants other European nations to offer more help too.
Lebanon will be the focus of emergency talks between Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Sunday. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallim will not attend, Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV reported.
Heavy fighting
Blood and bandages at the scene of the Israeli raid were evidence of the haste with which the Israelis had to treat their wounded, the BBC's Jon Leyne reports.
Local people said the Israelis came down from the hills in two jeeps and drove across a cornfield.
The troops then battled Hezbollah forces for more than two hours before being flown out by helicopter while fighter jets provided cover, the villagers said.
There is speculation locally that the Israelis may have been trying to capture a senior Hezbollah figure who lives in the village.
Lebanese sources earlier told Reuters agency that three militants died in the incident.
Israel insisted it had not breached the ceasefire.
"We had specific information of arms transfers taking place and we acted to prevent that violation, so that violation is not from the Israeli side - we were responding to a violation of the resolution by Hezbollah," said Israeli spokesman Mark Regev.
Israel has said it will continue to carry out such actions until an expanded international military force is in place to prevent Hezbollah's rearmament.
The UN resolution which stopped the conflict said Israel should end all offensive military action and Hezbollah should end all attacks.
It also called for a halt to all unauthorised arms deliveries to Lebanon.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed deep concern over Saturday's Israeli commando raid on Lebanon, which he called a truce violation.
Lebanon has said it may halt its army deployment in the south - a key element of the ceasefire plan.
The night raid in the eastern Bekaa Valley - deep inside Lebanon - left one Israeli soldier dead and two injured.
Israel said it was trying to disrupt weapons supplies from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah, and insisted the truce held.
The raid centred on the village of Bodai, west of the city of Baalbek, some 100km (60 miles) north of the Israeli border and is the most serious incident since the UN-brokered truce came into effect on Monday.
"The secretary general is deeply concerned about a violation by the Israeli side of the cessation of hostilities," a spokesman for Mr Annan said on the UN website.
Such violations "endanger the fragile calm", the statement said.
It also called on "all parties to respect strictly the arms embargo".
Threat to ceasefire
Lebanon's Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, called the raid a "naked violation" of the six-day-old UN truce.
His Defence Minister, Elias al-Murr, said that if the UN failed to give "clear answers" in response to the raid he "might be forced to ask the cabinet early next week to halt the army deployment in the south".
The BBC's Nick Childs in Beirut correspondent says the UN's main concern is that the incident both highlights the urgent need for UN reinforcements and will put off potential troop contributors, because it projects an image of insecurity.
Fifty French military engineers arrived in the Lebanese port of Naqoura on Saturday, the first soldiers to bolster the UN peacekeeping force.
They are among 200 extra troops promised by France, as the UN struggles to build its expanded force.
The UN wants 3,500 troops on the ground by the end of August, to be increased later to 15,000. It says it is disappointed with the French contribution and wants other European nations to offer more help too.
Lebanon will be the focus of emergency talks between Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Sunday. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallim will not attend, Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV reported.
Heavy fighting
Blood and bandages at the scene of the Israeli raid were evidence of the haste with which the Israelis had to treat their wounded, the BBC's Jon Leyne reports.
Local people said the Israelis came down from the hills in two jeeps and drove across a cornfield.
The troops then battled Hezbollah forces for more than two hours before being flown out by helicopter while fighter jets provided cover, the villagers said.
There is speculation locally that the Israelis may have been trying to capture a senior Hezbollah figure who lives in the village.
Lebanese sources earlier told Reuters agency that three militants died in the incident.
Israel insisted it had not breached the ceasefire.
"We had specific information of arms transfers taking place and we acted to prevent that violation, so that violation is not from the Israeli side - we were responding to a violation of the resolution by Hezbollah," said Israeli spokesman Mark Regev.
Israel has said it will continue to carry out such actions until an expanded international military force is in place to prevent Hezbollah's rearmament.
The UN resolution which stopped the conflict said Israel should end all offensive military action and Hezbollah should end all attacks.
It also called for a halt to all unauthorised arms deliveries to Lebanon.
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theone666
- Major [O-4]
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Israeli commando raid alarms UN
Sunday, 20 August 2006, 05:46 GMT 06:46 UK
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed deep concern over Saturday's Israeli commando raid deep inside Lebanon, calling it a truce violation.
Lebanon has said it may halt its army deployment in the south - a key element of the ceasefire plan.
The Bekaa Valley early on Saturday left one Israeli dead. Hezbollah denies reports it lost three militants.
Israel said it was trying to disrupt weapons supplies from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah, and insisted the truce held.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is reported to have defended the raid during a telephone conversation with Mr Annan.
He is facing growing criticism in Israel for not having achieved one of his key objectives at the beginning of the conflict - the disarmament of Hezbollah, the BBC's Bethany Bell reports from Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, an Israeli commission of inquiry into the way the military campaign in Lebanon was handled begins its work on Sunday.
'Fragile calm'
The raid centred on the village of Bodai, west of the city of Baalbek, some 100km (60 miles) north of the Israeli border.
It is the most serious incident since the UN-brokered truce came into effect on Monday.
"The secretary general is deeply concerned about a violation by the Israeli side of the cessation of hostilities," a spokesman for Mr Annan said on the UN website.
Such violations "endanger the fragile calm", the statement said.
It also called on "all parties to respect strictly the arms embargo".
Threat to ceasefire
Lebanon's Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, called the raid a "naked violation" of the six-day-old UN truce.
His Defence Minister, Elias al-Murr, said that if the UN failed to give "clear answers" in response to the raid he "might be forced to ask the cabinet early next week to halt the army deployment in the south".
The BBC's Nick Childs in Beirut correspondent says the UN's main concern is that the incident both highlights the urgent need for UN reinforcements and will put off potential troop contributors, because it projects an image of insecurity.
Fifty French military engineers arrived in the Lebanese port of Naqoura on Saturday, the first soldiers to bolster the UN peacekeeping force.
They are among 200 extra troops promised by France, as the UN struggles to build its expanded force.
The UN wants 3,500 troops on the ground by the end of August, to be increased later to 15,000. It says it is disappointed with the French contribution and wants other European nations to offer more help too.
Lebanon will be the focus of emergency talks between Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Sunday. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallim will not attend, Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV reported.
Heavy fighting
Blood and bandages at the scene of the Israeli raid were evidence of the haste with which the Israelis had to treat their wounded, the BBC's Jon Leyne reports.
Local people said the Israelis came down from the hills in two jeeps and drove across a cornfield.
The troops then battled Hezbollah forces for more than two hours before being flown out by helicopter while fighter jets provided cover, the villagers said.
There is speculation locally that the Israelis may have been trying to capture a senior Hezbollah figure who lives in the village.
One Israeli officer was killed and two other officers were wounded in what unnamed Israeli military sources quoted by Haaretz newspaper said was a fierce battle:
"We had great luck that the operation didn't result in 10 fatalities from the force."
Lebanese sources earlier told Reuters agency that three militants had died in the incident but Hezbollah has denied the reports.
'Specific information'
Israel insisted it had not breached the ceasefire.
"We had specific information of arms transfers taking place and we acted to prevent that violation, so that violation is not from the Israeli side - we were responding to a violation of the resolution by Hezbollah," said Israeli spokesman Mark Regev.
Israel has said it will continue to carry out such actions until an expanded international military force is in place to prevent Hezbollah's rearmament.
The UN resolution which stopped the conflict said Israel should end all offensive military action and Hezbollah should end all attacks.
It also called for a halt to all unauthorised arms deliveries to Lebanon.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed deep concern over Saturday's Israeli commando raid deep inside Lebanon, calling it a truce violation.
Lebanon has said it may halt its army deployment in the south - a key element of the ceasefire plan.
The Bekaa Valley early on Saturday left one Israeli dead. Hezbollah denies reports it lost three militants.
Israel said it was trying to disrupt weapons supplies from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah, and insisted the truce held.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is reported to have defended the raid during a telephone conversation with Mr Annan.
He is facing growing criticism in Israel for not having achieved one of his key objectives at the beginning of the conflict - the disarmament of Hezbollah, the BBC's Bethany Bell reports from Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, an Israeli commission of inquiry into the way the military campaign in Lebanon was handled begins its work on Sunday.
'Fragile calm'
The raid centred on the village of Bodai, west of the city of Baalbek, some 100km (60 miles) north of the Israeli border.
It is the most serious incident since the UN-brokered truce came into effect on Monday.
"The secretary general is deeply concerned about a violation by the Israeli side of the cessation of hostilities," a spokesman for Mr Annan said on the UN website.
Such violations "endanger the fragile calm", the statement said.
It also called on "all parties to respect strictly the arms embargo".
Threat to ceasefire
Lebanon's Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, called the raid a "naked violation" of the six-day-old UN truce.
His Defence Minister, Elias al-Murr, said that if the UN failed to give "clear answers" in response to the raid he "might be forced to ask the cabinet early next week to halt the army deployment in the south".
The BBC's Nick Childs in Beirut correspondent says the UN's main concern is that the incident both highlights the urgent need for UN reinforcements and will put off potential troop contributors, because it projects an image of insecurity.
Fifty French military engineers arrived in the Lebanese port of Naqoura on Saturday, the first soldiers to bolster the UN peacekeeping force.
They are among 200 extra troops promised by France, as the UN struggles to build its expanded force.
The UN wants 3,500 troops on the ground by the end of August, to be increased later to 15,000. It says it is disappointed with the French contribution and wants other European nations to offer more help too.
Lebanon will be the focus of emergency talks between Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Sunday. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallim will not attend, Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV reported.
Heavy fighting
Blood and bandages at the scene of the Israeli raid were evidence of the haste with which the Israelis had to treat their wounded, the BBC's Jon Leyne reports.
Local people said the Israelis came down from the hills in two jeeps and drove across a cornfield.
The troops then battled Hezbollah forces for more than two hours before being flown out by helicopter while fighter jets provided cover, the villagers said.
There is speculation locally that the Israelis may have been trying to capture a senior Hezbollah figure who lives in the village.
One Israeli officer was killed and two other officers were wounded in what unnamed Israeli military sources quoted by Haaretz newspaper said was a fierce battle:
"We had great luck that the operation didn't result in 10 fatalities from the force."
Lebanese sources earlier told Reuters agency that three militants had died in the incident but Hezbollah has denied the reports.
'Specific information'
Israel insisted it had not breached the ceasefire.
"We had specific information of arms transfers taking place and we acted to prevent that violation, so that violation is not from the Israeli side - we were responding to a violation of the resolution by Hezbollah," said Israeli spokesman Mark Regev.
Israel has said it will continue to carry out such actions until an expanded international military force is in place to prevent Hezbollah's rearmament.
The UN resolution which stopped the conflict said Israel should end all offensive military action and Hezbollah should end all attacks.
It also called for a halt to all unauthorised arms deliveries to Lebanon.
-
theone666
- Major [O-4]
- Posts: 1434
- Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 5:00 am
Hamas plea over seized deputy PM
Sunday, 20 August 2006, 05:18 GMT 06:18 UK
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has appealed to the international community for help to secure the release of his deputy.
Nasser al-Shaer was detained by the Israeli army early on Saturday.
The Israeli army said it had detained Mr Shaer because he was a member of a "terrorist organisation".
Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian and wounded three near Nablus in the north of the West Bank on Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.
Mr Haniya, from the Islamic militant movement Hamas, said the arrest was part of an Israeli attempt to undermine the Palestinian political system
Mr Shaer is also a member of Hamas which formed the Palestinian government after winning parliamentary elections earlier this year.
He was seized in a raid on his home in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Israeli crackdown
Four other ministers and many senior officials are also being held by Israel following the capture of an Israeli soldier by militants in Gaza in June. It has released several others.
Mr Shaer's wife said her husband had been in hiding since Israel began its crackdown in late June.
He was rarely home during that period, she said.
An unnamed Israeli army spokesman quoted by the AFP news agency said Mr al-Shaer's detention was "part of our fight against the radical Hamas movement".
Israel's crackdown has largely focused on the Gaza Strip, Hamas's stronghold.
But politicians from the Islamist movement - which does not recognise Israel - have also been detained in the West Bank.
Israel's position is that Hamas is a terrorist organisation and its leaders are therefore "targets for arrest".
In a separate development, an Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian gunman in the West Bank, the army said.
The gunman was then shot dead, officials say. The incident happened at a checkpoint near the city of Nablus.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has appealed to the international community for help to secure the release of his deputy.
Nasser al-Shaer was detained by the Israeli army early on Saturday.
The Israeli army said it had detained Mr Shaer because he was a member of a "terrorist organisation".
Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian and wounded three near Nablus in the north of the West Bank on Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.
Mr Haniya, from the Islamic militant movement Hamas, said the arrest was part of an Israeli attempt to undermine the Palestinian political system
Mr Shaer is also a member of Hamas which formed the Palestinian government after winning parliamentary elections earlier this year.
He was seized in a raid on his home in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Israeli crackdown
Four other ministers and many senior officials are also being held by Israel following the capture of an Israeli soldier by militants in Gaza in June. It has released several others.
Mr Shaer's wife said her husband had been in hiding since Israel began its crackdown in late June.
He was rarely home during that period, she said.
An unnamed Israeli army spokesman quoted by the AFP news agency said Mr al-Shaer's detention was "part of our fight against the radical Hamas movement".
Israel's crackdown has largely focused on the Gaza Strip, Hamas's stronghold.
But politicians from the Islamist movement - which does not recognise Israel - have also been detained in the West Bank.
Israel's position is that Hamas is a terrorist organisation and its leaders are therefore "targets for arrest".
In a separate development, an Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian gunman in the West Bank, the army said.
The gunman was then shot dead, officials say. The incident happened at a checkpoint near the city of Nablus.
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theone666
- Major [O-4]
- Posts: 1434
- Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 5:00 am
Lebanon sounds ceasefire warning
Sunday, 20 August 2006, 16:23 GMT 17:23 UK
Lebanon's defence minister says anyone firing rockets at Israel from the south will be considered a traitor and be firmly dealt with by the army.
Elias Murr's remarks are being seen as a warning to militias, but he also expressed confidence Hezbollah was committed to the UN-brokered truce.
Mr Murr was speaking a day after an Israeli raid raised new concerns about the stability of the truce.
But he did not repeat a warning about halting army deployments to the south.
Meanwhile, Israel's military chief, Den Halutz, has said that the conflict ended in an Israeli victory.
'Totally committed'
Mr Murr told a Beirut news conference that any ceasefire violation that would give Israel the justification to strike Lebanon would be "treated harshly".
"It will be considered as direct collaboration with the Israeli enemy," Mr Murr said, adding that those responsible "will be tried and referred to a military tribunal."
But he said Hezbollah was "totally committed" to the ceasefire, which came into effect on Monday to end a month of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah militants.
Mr Murr's remarks seemed to carry two messages, says the BBC's Nick Childs in Beirut.
Firstly, that the government was really concerned about the fragility of the ceasefire and secondly that the Lebanese authorities were fulfilling their truce obligations a day after the Israeli commando raid deep inside Lebanon.
However, Mr Murr did not repeat an earlier Lebanese warning that it might halt the deployment of its army in the south in response to the Israeli raid.
Israeli 'victory'
Meanwhile, an Israeli panel of inquiry into the way the military campaign in Lebanon was handled has held its first meeting.
Defence Minister Amir Peretz said Israel had to examine its failures.
However on Sunday, military chief of staff Dan Halutz reportedly gave a positive assessment of the operations as he addressed a cabinet meeting.
"Tallying up the points, it is definitely a victory, perhaps not a knockout, but in terms of achievements, it is [a victory]," Mr Halutz was quoted as saying by participants in the meeting.
Arab League foreign ministers have convened in Cairo to discuss the Lebanon conflict.
The meeting is examining the implementation of the UN resolution that aimed to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as reconstruction efforts needed in Lebanon.
"Lebanon is awaiting more Arab aid for its reconstruction," Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Sallukh told journalists after speaking to Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa.
Syria is not represented at the meeting. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad angered some Arab governments last week when he criticised them for being too inadequate to defeat Israel in battle.
'Criminal act'
In Lebanon itself, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the bloodshed and destruction caused by Israel during the month-long conflict amounted to a crime against humanity.
"This is a criminal act which reflects Israel's hatred to destroy Lebanon and its unity," he said during a visit to Beirut's heavily bombed southern suburbs.
Also on Sunday, a contingent of 150 French soldiers sailed from the French port of Toulon, to join the 50 French soldiers who arrived in Lebanon a day earlier.
The new contingent is to be deployed "close to the Israeli border," their commander, Colonel Christophe Issac, told AFP news agency.
The UN force and the deployment of Lebanese government troops to the south of the country, where Hezbollah have been active, is one of the conditions of the ceasefire.
The UN wants 3,500 troops on the ground by the end of August, to be increased later to 15,000.
It says it is disappointed with the French contribution and wants other European nations to offer more help too.
On Sunday France called for a European Union meeting next week to determine how member countries planned to support the UN force.
"We ask that European solidarity is expressed as soon as possible about Lebanon," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed deep concern over Saturday's Israeli raid in the Bekaa Valley, calling it a ceasefire violation.
Israel said it was trying to disrupt weapons supplies from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah, and insisted the truce held.
The raid left one Israeli dead. Hezbollah denies reports it lost three militants.
Lebanon's defence minister says anyone firing rockets at Israel from the south will be considered a traitor and be firmly dealt with by the army.
Elias Murr's remarks are being seen as a warning to militias, but he also expressed confidence Hezbollah was committed to the UN-brokered truce.
Mr Murr was speaking a day after an Israeli raid raised new concerns about the stability of the truce.
But he did not repeat a warning about halting army deployments to the south.
Meanwhile, Israel's military chief, Den Halutz, has said that the conflict ended in an Israeli victory.
'Totally committed'
Mr Murr told a Beirut news conference that any ceasefire violation that would give Israel the justification to strike Lebanon would be "treated harshly".
"It will be considered as direct collaboration with the Israeli enemy," Mr Murr said, adding that those responsible "will be tried and referred to a military tribunal."
But he said Hezbollah was "totally committed" to the ceasefire, which came into effect on Monday to end a month of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah militants.
Mr Murr's remarks seemed to carry two messages, says the BBC's Nick Childs in Beirut.
Firstly, that the government was really concerned about the fragility of the ceasefire and secondly that the Lebanese authorities were fulfilling their truce obligations a day after the Israeli commando raid deep inside Lebanon.
However, Mr Murr did not repeat an earlier Lebanese warning that it might halt the deployment of its army in the south in response to the Israeli raid.
Israeli 'victory'
Meanwhile, an Israeli panel of inquiry into the way the military campaign in Lebanon was handled has held its first meeting.
Defence Minister Amir Peretz said Israel had to examine its failures.
However on Sunday, military chief of staff Dan Halutz reportedly gave a positive assessment of the operations as he addressed a cabinet meeting.
"Tallying up the points, it is definitely a victory, perhaps not a knockout, but in terms of achievements, it is [a victory]," Mr Halutz was quoted as saying by participants in the meeting.
Arab League foreign ministers have convened in Cairo to discuss the Lebanon conflict.
The meeting is examining the implementation of the UN resolution that aimed to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as reconstruction efforts needed in Lebanon.
"Lebanon is awaiting more Arab aid for its reconstruction," Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Sallukh told journalists after speaking to Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa.
Syria is not represented at the meeting. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad angered some Arab governments last week when he criticised them for being too inadequate to defeat Israel in battle.
'Criminal act'
In Lebanon itself, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the bloodshed and destruction caused by Israel during the month-long conflict amounted to a crime against humanity.
"This is a criminal act which reflects Israel's hatred to destroy Lebanon and its unity," he said during a visit to Beirut's heavily bombed southern suburbs.
Also on Sunday, a contingent of 150 French soldiers sailed from the French port of Toulon, to join the 50 French soldiers who arrived in Lebanon a day earlier.
The new contingent is to be deployed "close to the Israeli border," their commander, Colonel Christophe Issac, told AFP news agency.
The UN force and the deployment of Lebanese government troops to the south of the country, where Hezbollah have been active, is one of the conditions of the ceasefire.
The UN wants 3,500 troops on the ground by the end of August, to be increased later to 15,000.
It says it is disappointed with the French contribution and wants other European nations to offer more help too.
On Sunday France called for a European Union meeting next week to determine how member countries planned to support the UN force.
"We ask that European solidarity is expressed as soon as possible about Lebanon," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed deep concern over Saturday's Israeli raid in the Bekaa Valley, calling it a ceasefire violation.
Israel said it was trying to disrupt weapons supplies from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah, and insisted the truce held.
The raid left one Israeli dead. Hezbollah denies reports it lost three militants.
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theone666
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Lebanon Warns Cease-Fire Violators
By SAM F. GHATTAS, AP
BEIRUT, Lebanon (Aug. 20) - Lebanon's defense minister warned Sunday of a harsh response to any group that breaks the Middle East cease-fire, saying Israel could use rocket attacks as a pretext to renew airstrikes, but he expressed confidence Hezbollah will abide by the truce.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, meanwhile, toured the rubble of south Beirut and called Israel's bombing campaign a "crime against humanity."
The developments came a day after Israeli commandos engaged in a gunbattle with Hezbollah guerrillas during a raid on a stronghold of the Islamic militant group deep in Lebanon.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's office called the Israeli attack a violation of the cease-fire that took effect a week ago.
But Israel said the raid was launched to stop arms smuggling from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah and promised to continue to act on its own to enforce an arms embargo until the Lebanese army and an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force are in place.
"If the Syrians and Iran continue to arm Hezbollah in violation of the resolution, Israel is entitled to act to defend the principle of the arms embargo," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Saturday.
Iran denies it armed Hezbollah with sophisticated missiles and trained its fighters.
Tehran also rejected reports it is pouring cash into Lebanon to help the Shiite guerrillas rebuild hundreds of homes destroyed during the 34-day war with Israel, although the Iranians said aid would be forthcoming.
"So far neither the quantity nor the quality of help has been determined," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters in Tehran. "It is natural that we are interested to see Lebanon get out of the current situation."
Hezbollah aid workers have been seen in parts of the Lebanese capital distributing $12,000 in cash to people whose homes were destroyed by Israeli bombs.
Asefi dismissed the widely held belief that Iran provided the funds. "Hezbollah is a legitimate body in Lebanon; they have their own economic resources and popular support there," he said.
Arab foreign ministers met in Egypt on Sunday to discuss financing reconstruction in Lebanon, and diplomats said the effort was aimed at countering what their governments perceive as Iran's money help for Hezbollah.
Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said Hezbollah was committed to the U.N cease-fire, but his warning about truce violations reflected concerns that other groups - such as Palestinian guerrillas who have fired rockets at Israel in the past - might provoke Israeli retaliation.
Murr warned that any group firing on Israel would be considered treacherous for giving Israel a pretext to strike. "Any rocket that is fired from the Lebanese territory would be considered collaboration with Israel," he said at a news conference.
Underlining the fragility of the truce, the Lebanese government threatened Saturday to halt further troop deployments in southern Lebanon to protest the Israeli commando raid. That could deeply damage efforts to deploy a strong U.N. peacekeeping force.
The cease-fire plans calls for 15,000 Lebanese soldiers to police the truce in the south with an equal number of U.N. peacekeepers.
Lebanon's Western-backed prime minister was accompanied by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah backer, on his tour of south Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold where Israeli bombing destroyed whole neighborhoods.
"What we see today is an image of the crimes Israel has committed," Saniora said. "There is no other description other than a criminal act that shows Israel's hatred."
"I hope the international media transmits this picture to every person in the world so that it shows this criminal act, this crime against humanity that Israel has committed in this area and every region of Lebanon," he added.
U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said more countries need to join the U.N. peacekeeping force. The U.N. wants to have 3,500 soldiers on the ground by Aug. 28 to help police the truce that took effect Monday and ended 34 days of brutal warfare.
A ship carrying 150 French army engineers and 100 vehicles left the French port of Toulon on Sunday and was expected to arrive in Lebanon on Thursday. On Saturday, 49 French soldiers landed in Naqoura, the first reinforcements for the expanded U.N. force.
France, which commands the existing U.N. force, UNIFIL, called Sunday for a quick meeting of European Union countries to determine the number of troops they are prepared to contribute to the U.N. mission.
"We are asking that Europe express its solidarity toward Lebanon as rapidly as possible," Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told radio Franco Info.
Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, also urged Europe to send more ground troops, yet repeated her insistence that her own nation won't provide soldiers.
"I have said clearly that the deployment of combat troops on the ground is ruled out for us," she said in an interview with the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. "That has historical reasons, too."
That was an allusion to concerns rooted in Germany's Nazi past, with officials saying they will not risk putting German troops where they might have to confront Israeli soldiers or civilians. Germany instead is offering a naval contingent to help ensure Hezbollah doesn't get any arms by ship.
AP-ES-08-20-06 1142EDT
BEIRUT, Lebanon (Aug. 20) - Lebanon's defense minister warned Sunday of a harsh response to any group that breaks the Middle East cease-fire, saying Israel could use rocket attacks as a pretext to renew airstrikes, but he expressed confidence Hezbollah will abide by the truce.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, meanwhile, toured the rubble of south Beirut and called Israel's bombing campaign a "crime against humanity."
The developments came a day after Israeli commandos engaged in a gunbattle with Hezbollah guerrillas during a raid on a stronghold of the Islamic militant group deep in Lebanon.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's office called the Israeli attack a violation of the cease-fire that took effect a week ago.
But Israel said the raid was launched to stop arms smuggling from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah and promised to continue to act on its own to enforce an arms embargo until the Lebanese army and an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force are in place.
"If the Syrians and Iran continue to arm Hezbollah in violation of the resolution, Israel is entitled to act to defend the principle of the arms embargo," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Saturday.
Iran denies it armed Hezbollah with sophisticated missiles and trained its fighters.
Tehran also rejected reports it is pouring cash into Lebanon to help the Shiite guerrillas rebuild hundreds of homes destroyed during the 34-day war with Israel, although the Iranians said aid would be forthcoming.
"So far neither the quantity nor the quality of help has been determined," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters in Tehran. "It is natural that we are interested to see Lebanon get out of the current situation."
Hezbollah aid workers have been seen in parts of the Lebanese capital distributing $12,000 in cash to people whose homes were destroyed by Israeli bombs.
Asefi dismissed the widely held belief that Iran provided the funds. "Hezbollah is a legitimate body in Lebanon; they have their own economic resources and popular support there," he said.
Arab foreign ministers met in Egypt on Sunday to discuss financing reconstruction in Lebanon, and diplomats said the effort was aimed at countering what their governments perceive as Iran's money help for Hezbollah.
Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said Hezbollah was committed to the U.N cease-fire, but his warning about truce violations reflected concerns that other groups - such as Palestinian guerrillas who have fired rockets at Israel in the past - might provoke Israeli retaliation.
Murr warned that any group firing on Israel would be considered treacherous for giving Israel a pretext to strike. "Any rocket that is fired from the Lebanese territory would be considered collaboration with Israel," he said at a news conference.
Underlining the fragility of the truce, the Lebanese government threatened Saturday to halt further troop deployments in southern Lebanon to protest the Israeli commando raid. That could deeply damage efforts to deploy a strong U.N. peacekeeping force.
The cease-fire plans calls for 15,000 Lebanese soldiers to police the truce in the south with an equal number of U.N. peacekeepers.
Lebanon's Western-backed prime minister was accompanied by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah backer, on his tour of south Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold where Israeli bombing destroyed whole neighborhoods.
"What we see today is an image of the crimes Israel has committed," Saniora said. "There is no other description other than a criminal act that shows Israel's hatred."
"I hope the international media transmits this picture to every person in the world so that it shows this criminal act, this crime against humanity that Israel has committed in this area and every region of Lebanon," he added.
U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said more countries need to join the U.N. peacekeeping force. The U.N. wants to have 3,500 soldiers on the ground by Aug. 28 to help police the truce that took effect Monday and ended 34 days of brutal warfare.
A ship carrying 150 French army engineers and 100 vehicles left the French port of Toulon on Sunday and was expected to arrive in Lebanon on Thursday. On Saturday, 49 French soldiers landed in Naqoura, the first reinforcements for the expanded U.N. force.
France, which commands the existing U.N. force, UNIFIL, called Sunday for a quick meeting of European Union countries to determine the number of troops they are prepared to contribute to the U.N. mission.
"We are asking that Europe express its solidarity toward Lebanon as rapidly as possible," Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told radio Franco Info.
Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, also urged Europe to send more ground troops, yet repeated her insistence that her own nation won't provide soldiers.
"I have said clearly that the deployment of combat troops on the ground is ruled out for us," she said in an interview with the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. "That has historical reasons, too."
That was an allusion to concerns rooted in Germany's Nazi past, with officials saying they will not risk putting German troops where they might have to confront Israeli soldiers or civilians. Germany instead is offering a naval contingent to help ensure Hezbollah doesn't get any arms by ship.
AP-ES-08-20-06 1142EDT
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theone666
- Major [O-4]
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- Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 5:00 am
The Israeli raid that went wrong
Sunday, 20 August 2006, 16:49 GMT 17:49 UK
Saturday's top-secret raid by Israeli commandos in eastern Lebanon was carried out by officers from Israel's General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal), known as "The Unit".
It is generally considered the Israeli Defense Forces' most elite special forces unit. It's primary function is to penetrate deep into enemy territory to gather field intelligence.
According to Lebanese reports, two helicopters landed under cover of darkness, just before dawn, in a cornfield near the village of Bodai.
The hilltop village lies some 27km (17 miles) from the Syrian border and 20km (12 miles) west of the town Baalbek, which witnessed some fierce fighting during the recent conflict.
Both are situated in the Bekaa Valley, which is known as a Hezbollah stronghold.
According to reports, the Israeli Air Force flew F-16 fighters over the area, in mock air raids, to drown out the noise of the helicopters.
Questioning
Two military vehicles, believed to have been Hummers, were unloaded. Local people said they saw the Israelis came down from the hills in two jeeps.
It is not known how many Israeli took part in the operation on the ground but the AFP news agency quoted one local man as saying it was fewer than 30.
AFP said the men were dressed in Lebanese army uniforms. The unit was said to have been intercepted by Hezbollah guerrillas who questioned the men briefly. But when they responded in Arabic, the guerrillas were said to have become suspicious of their identity because of the men's accents.
It said the guerrillas sounded the alarm and a clash erupted.
One Israeli officer was killed and two other officers were wounded in what unnamed Israeli military sources quoted by Haaretz newspaper said was a fierce battle:
"We had great luck that the operation didn't result in 10 fatalities from the force."
The BBC's John Leyne, who visited the scene of the attack, said the Israelis seemed to have run into much fiercer resistance than they anticipated before they were extracted by helicopter.
'Target'
He said he saw blood and bandages on the ground, near where the helicopters landed. He said this indicated that medical treatment would have to have been hurried.
According to eyewitnesses, fighter jets provided cover for the helicopters. It is thought the operation was over by 6am.
It was reported that Hezbollah sustained several casualties in the incident, although the organisation has denied this. The Israelis said the aim of the operation was to prevent arms being smuggled from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah.
However, Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the intended target of the unit was senior Hezbollah official Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek, who is originally from the mountain village of Bodai.
Saturday's top-secret raid by Israeli commandos in eastern Lebanon was carried out by officers from Israel's General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal), known as "The Unit".
It is generally considered the Israeli Defense Forces' most elite special forces unit. It's primary function is to penetrate deep into enemy territory to gather field intelligence.
According to Lebanese reports, two helicopters landed under cover of darkness, just before dawn, in a cornfield near the village of Bodai.
The hilltop village lies some 27km (17 miles) from the Syrian border and 20km (12 miles) west of the town Baalbek, which witnessed some fierce fighting during the recent conflict.
Both are situated in the Bekaa Valley, which is known as a Hezbollah stronghold.
According to reports, the Israeli Air Force flew F-16 fighters over the area, in mock air raids, to drown out the noise of the helicopters.
Questioning
Two military vehicles, believed to have been Hummers, were unloaded. Local people said they saw the Israelis came down from the hills in two jeeps.
It is not known how many Israeli took part in the operation on the ground but the AFP news agency quoted one local man as saying it was fewer than 30.
AFP said the men were dressed in Lebanese army uniforms. The unit was said to have been intercepted by Hezbollah guerrillas who questioned the men briefly. But when they responded in Arabic, the guerrillas were said to have become suspicious of their identity because of the men's accents.
It said the guerrillas sounded the alarm and a clash erupted.
One Israeli officer was killed and two other officers were wounded in what unnamed Israeli military sources quoted by Haaretz newspaper said was a fierce battle:
"We had great luck that the operation didn't result in 10 fatalities from the force."
The BBC's John Leyne, who visited the scene of the attack, said the Israelis seemed to have run into much fiercer resistance than they anticipated before they were extracted by helicopter.
'Target'
He said he saw blood and bandages on the ground, near where the helicopters landed. He said this indicated that medical treatment would have to have been hurried.
According to eyewitnesses, fighter jets provided cover for the helicopters. It is thought the operation was over by 6am.
It was reported that Hezbollah sustained several casualties in the incident, although the organisation has denied this. The Israelis said the aim of the operation was to prevent arms being smuggled from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah.
However, Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the intended target of the unit was senior Hezbollah official Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek, who is originally from the mountain village of Bodai.