Biblical countries, in the news.

[Shammu]

 Grassroots Support for Israel From Abroad
00:32 Jul 26, '06 / 1 Av 5766
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

Messages of solidarity with Israel are coming from delegations visiting the country, as well as from rallies overseas. Even US troops in Iraq have expressed their support.


Prime Minister Ehud Olmert thanked a delegation of the Jewish Federations of North America Tuesday for their solidarity with Israel. He told the delegates that Hizbullah terrorists "are fighting against innocent civilians and... are not fighting against those who can fight back."

"This is the war of the Israeli people and of Israeli society," the prime minister said. "This is a complex confrontation [and] this is a long process.... The Jewish and human warmth that you are providing to the population reinforces the important message that we are all responsible for each other."

European Jewish leaders are also visiting Israel this week in a show of solidarity. A European Jewish Congress (EJC) mission to Israel included representatives of 24 European Jewish communities, as well as non-Jewish lawmakers from France, Ukraine and the Netherlands. The delegation is led by Israel Singer, chairman of the Policy Council of the World Jewish Congress, and Pierre Beisnainou, president of the EJC.

The French Jewish umbrella organisation, CRIF, organised its own solidarity visit to Israel. Over 70 Jewish community leaders from France arrived in Israel on Monday.

Christian Zionist individuals and groups are also expressing their support for Israel at this time. Some hotels in the north of the country reported that they have seen a few Christian Zionist pilgrims who refuse to be scared away by the Islamist attacks. US-based Christian broadcaster Earl Cox is calling on Christians across America to join him in prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem beginning on Sunday, July 30. In a statement, Cox said, "Our Jewish brothers and sisters need friends now more than ever before since becoming a nation in 1948. Christians must put prayer boots on the ground in Israel to fight the spiritual war being waged against Israel, while Israel fights the physical war."

Outside of the country, Jewish communities have been holding and planning events in support of Israel.

In London, several thousand people turned out at a solidarity rally on Sunday. Israeli Ambassador Zvi Haifetz and British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks were among those on the list of speakers. The event followed a large anti-Israel protest held earlier in the day.

In Rome, both right-wing and left-wing Italian politicians joined hundreds of people in a public display of support for the Jewish State. The rally was held outside Rome's main synagogue, in the former Jewish ghetto, on Monday. Among those addressing the crowd were outgoing Israeli ambassador to Italy Ehud Gol, Rome’s mayor Walter Veltroni, leader of the Left-Democrats Piero Fassino, and leader of the rightist National Alliance party, former Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini.

In North America, the Jewish communities of New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington DC, Toronto, Baltimore and St. Louis, among others, have had, or will soon hold, rallies in solidarity with Israel in its war against Arab terrorism.

Among the largest of the rallies held in the US was the Sunday gathering in Los Angeles, which drew about 10,000 people. Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center opened the event and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also addressed the crowd.

"While we all regret the loss of innocent life, there is no doubt that Israel has the right to take all appropriate steps to keep its people safe," Gov. Schwarzenegger said.

American soldiers stationed in Iraq have also sent messages of support and encouragement to the IDF via a new web site established to express solidarity with Israel. "Take care of the Hizbullah; we will take care of Iran," wrote one US soldier. Another wrote, "From Iraq, we wish good tidings for you brave IDF soldiers. The American army is 100 percent for Israel."

More than 400 messages from outside Israel have been sent to IDF soldiers via the new site thus far. British citizen John Wilkes, who established the forum, says that he did so primarily out of concern for a friend of his in the IDF.

Grassroots Support for Israel From Abroad
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My own message, to Israel is in here too. 

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Israel says killed senior Hizbollah commander

Tue Jul 25, 4:52 PM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli troops on Tuesday killed a senior Hizbollah commander in fighting near the Lebanese border, the army said.

The army identified the man as Abu Jaafar and said he was the commander of Hizbollah's "central sector" on the Lebanese border with Israel.

The army said he was killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli troops near the Lebanese border village of Maroun al-Ras.

Israel says killed senior Hizbollah commander

[Shammu]

Hizbollah defiant ahead of talks

July 26, 2006 - 7:54AM

Hizbollah's leader vowed he would not accept any "humiliating" conditions for a ceasefire with Israel ahead of an international conference in Rome aimed at seeking an end to the 15-day-old conflict.

An Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon killed four United Nations peacekeepers on Tuesday night prompting UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to call for an Israeli probe into the "apparently deliberate targeting" of the UN post.

"This coordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long established and clearly marked UN post at Khiam occurred despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert," Annan said.

Lebanon and its Arab allies will plead for an immediate ceasefire in Israel's war with Hizbollah at the Rome conference on Wednesday, but the US will insist a lasting solution needs to be agreed first.

Israel, with apparent US approval, has declared it would forge on with its two-week-old campaign against the Shi'ite guerrillas.

It also said it plans to set up a free fire "security strip" in Lebanon until international forces deploy.

Arab leaders and Annan want the Rome meeting to call a quick halt to the war which has killed 418 people in Lebanon and 42 Israelis since July 12.

But US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who reached Italy late on Tuesday after visiting Beirut and Jerusalem, says she prefers to get conditions right for "a durable solution".

In a televised address Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the conflict with Israel had entered a new phase and that Israeli incursions into southern Lebanon would not stop Hizbollah rocket fire into northern Israel.

"We cannot accept any condition humiliating to our country, our people or our resistance," Nasrallah said.

Hizbollah wants a ceasefire to be followed by negotiations on swapping two Israeli soldiers it captured in a cross-border raid on July 12 for Arab and Lebanese prisoners in Israel.

The United States demands that Hizbollah free the soldiers unconditionally and pull back from the border before disarming.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Abdelelah al-Khatib spoke of a "clear Arab stance in Rome demanding an immediate ceasefire" and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said Italy's priority for the talks was a ceasefire, followed by humanitarian assistance.

Saudi Arabia, a key US ally, has blamed Hizbollah for starting the fighting, but in outspoken new comments, King Abdullah said Israel risked sparking a wider regional war.

A spokesman for Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair echoed Rice's line, saying diplomatic efforts should push for a ceasefire that "isn't just another sticking plaster".

Israel is not invited to the Rome talks and neither is Syria, Hizbollah's main ally along with Iran.

Israel, the US and the Europeans agree on the need to see Hizbollah disarmed, but some of the Europeans think this should not be a pre-condition for any peace deal.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the gap in aspirations for the talks was "really worrying".

The Rome meeting will also seek agreement on what kind of stabilisation force could be sent into southern Lebanon, a mission fraught with danger unless Hizbollah consents.

Rice has called for a more "robust" force than the existing UN force of 2,000 troops, but there is disagreement on whether it should be led by NATO - favoured by Israel but tricky in political and practical terms for NATO members - or by the United Nations, or simply with UN authorisation.

Senior Israeli government officials said a 10,000 to 20,000 member force would be needed and that it could be deployed one to two weeks after Western powers approve it.

The estimate of 20,000 would be nearly double the size of the multilateral force being discussed by European powers.

"The important point in encouraging countries to join such a force is to know there is a genuine international consensus behind it," said a Blair spokesman. "That is tomorrow's point."

United Nations humanitarian agencies said they were still largely blocked from bringing relief supplies into Lebanon and from getting wounded and very sick people to hospitals.

Lebanon says Israel's bombardment has displaced a fifth of its population. Most of its dead are civilians.

Hizbollah defiant ahead of talks

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US Cops Continue Studying Counterterrorism in Israel
 
[jim_kouri.gif]

By Jim Kouri

(AXcess News) New York - A private US-Israeli company, Security Solutions International, is responding to the need for better quality training by sponsoring a training missions to Israel for US law enforcement and security officers.

While the Department of Homeland Security continues to fund courses for law enforcement at local community colleges and other educational institutes, they are not exactly what most first responders really need. "I think that while the curriculum in these courses is well thought out, law enforcement needs to have real-time, real-world experience of the terror situation to be able to really counter terror," says Henry Morgenstern, Security Solutions' President.

SSI looked at what first responders really need and has created a training mission that reflects US security needs. The participants will be looking at the main areas of Homeland Security -- Port Security, Airports, Malls and Public Events, Critical Infrastructure and Government buildings -- and seeing for themselves what security measures the Israelis have in place to protect against terror attacks.

According to Morgenstern, the group is a mixture of law enforcement personnel (from patrol officers right up to police captains) from local, state and federal agencies, and Fortune 500 and other private security officers. They will be going out every day to get a detailed view of the Israeli security arrangements and then coming back for another four hours of classroom training daily on a variety of subjects. The participants will be learning about a wide variety of subjects including: suicide bombers, IED (improvised explosive devices), dealing with suspicious objects and much more.

Despite the poor response from Homeland Security funding that clearly stipulates monies for learning about the terror threat as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative, many participants are willing to fund the cost of the training even if it comes from their own pockets.

"I tried with my department but could not get the grant money. I think this is so worthwhile so I decided to pay for the trip myself," says a police officer from Texas, "I mean where else can you find out what you really can do to stop terror if not Israel."

US Cops Continue Studying Counterterrorism in Israel

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Hezbollah: War With Israel Will Widen

Hezbollah's representative in Iran struck a defiant tone Monday, warning that his Islamic militant group plans to widen its attacks on Israel until "no place" is safe for Israelis.

Hossein Safiadeen also reinforced earlier threats by Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah to widen the scope of attacks, which have included unprecedented missile strikes deep into northern Israel.

"We are going to make Israel not safe for Israelis. There will be no place they are safe," Safiadeen told a conference that included the Tehran-based representative of the Palestinian group Hamas and the ambassadors from Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian Authority.

"You will see a new Middle East in the way of Hezbollah and Islam, not in the way of Rice and Israel."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Beirut on Monday while en route to Israel. Rice met with Lebanese Prime Minister Faud Saniora about the surge in fighting along the southern border in the last two weeks.

Rice told him, "Thank you for your courage and steadfastness."

Safiadeen's comments reflected the deep opposition within Hezbollah to the efforts to broker a truce, including apparent attempts by Arab powers to pressure Syria into ending its support for Hezbollah, leaving Iran as the group's lone major backer.

Iran and Syria are the main sources of funds and equipment for Hezbollah, which was founded in the early 1980s and took inspiration from Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Syria said Sunday it was willing to work with the United States and others to press for an end to the worse Arab-Israel battles in 24 years - but set conditions that Israel is unlikely to accept. Those conditions include a broader regional peace initiative that would discuss the return of the Golan Heights, which was captured by Israel in 1967.

Arab powerhouses Egypt and Saudi Arabia also were pushing Syria to end its support for Hezbollah fighters, Arab diplomats in Cairo said.

Safiadeen told The Associated Press he "had no news" about Syria considering withdrawing its support for Hezbollah, which touched off the crisis July 12 with a cross-border raid that captured two Israeli soldiers.

"We will expand attacks," he said. "The people who came to Israel, (they) moved there to live, not to die. If we continue to attack, they will leave."

Israel claims Iran has supplied Hezbollah with long-range missiles, which have hit the port of Haifa and other places. Iran denies the charges but does not hide its high-level support for Hezbollah.

"This war will be remembered as the beginning of the end for Israel," Safiadeen said.

Nasrallah said in remarks published Monday that an Israeli ground invasion would not prevent Hezbollah from firing rockets into northern Israel.

"Any Israeli incursion will have no political results if it does not achieve its declared goals, primarily an end to the rocketing of Zionist settlements in northern occupied Palestine," Nasrallah told As-Safir newspaper. "I assure you that this goal will not be achieved, God willing, by an Israeli incursion."

Responding to reports about diplomatic efforts to end the fighting, Nasrallah said the priority was to end Israeli attacks on Lebanon, but he added that he was open to discussing initiatives.

Those attending Monday's conference included a top Foreign Ministry official and Gen. Mirfaisal Bagherzadeh of the powerful Revolutionary Guards.

The Palestinian ambassador, Salah Zavavi, said he believes the chances for a comprehensive political solution have passed. Israel also is battling Hamas-backed militiamen in the Gaza Strip claiming to hold an Israeli soldier missing since an ambush last month.

Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections last month but has been snubbed by Israel and many Western countries as it refuses to recognize Israel and renounce violence.

"The resistance groups will not accept a political end to this," Zavavi said. "They will not put down their weapons."

Hezbollah: War With Israel Will Widen

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Israel isolates prisoner leaders from outside world

A Palestinian lawmaker on Tuesday accused Israel of confining Palestinian prisoners and isolating them from the outside would.

"Israel has imposed isolation on Hadarim jail, where a big number of leaders (of Palestinian factions) are held," said Eissa Qaraqe, a lawmaker representing President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.

He said that those who were put in solitary confinement were senior Fatah official Marwan Barghothi and a number of leaders from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad (Holy War).

Qaraqe, also a human rights activist, said that the Israeli authorities prevented prisoners from meeting their lawyers and families, adding that their televisions and radios were confiscated.

The Israeli move came as "those jailed leaders have drawn up the Document of National Accordance," said Qaraqe.

The document, also known as the Prisoners' Document, called for establishing a Palestinian state in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967 alongside with the state of Israel.

Last month, Palestinian factions, including Hamas, agreed in principle on the document which implicitly recognized Israel, but the abduction of an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip two days after the agreement was reached has hampered efforts to press ahead with implementing the document.

The kidnappers demanded that Israel release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israeli prisons in exchange for the hostage, but Israel rejected the idea.

Israel isolates prisoner leaders from outside world

[Rookieupgrade1]

I think its time to withdraw from the UN.............

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2 U.N. Peacekeepers Killed In Lebanon
Two More Feared Dead After Israel Hits Observation Post

(CBS News) JERUSALEM An Israeli bomb destroyed a U.N. observer post on the border in southern Lebanon, killing two peacekeepers and leaving two others feared dead in what appeared to be a deliberate strike, U.N. chief Kofi Annan said.

The bomb made a direct hit on the building and shelter of the observer post in the town of Khiyam near the eastern end of the border with Israel, said Milos Struger, spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL.

Annan issued a statement saying two U.N. military observers were killed with two more feared dead. Earlier, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the Security Council was informed that four officers were killed, but he had no other information.

Rescue workers were trying to clear the rubble, but Israeli firing “continued even during the rescue operation,” Struger said.

As reports of the attack emerged, Annan rushed out of a hotel in Rome following a dinner with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

"I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defense Forces of a U.N. Observer post in southern Lebanon," Annan said in the statement.

Annan also said in his statement that the post had been there for a long time and was marked clearly, and was hit despite assurances from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that U.N. positions would not be attacked.

"I call on the goverment of Israel to conduct a full investigation into this very disturbing incident and demand that any further attack on U.N. positions and personnel must stop," Annan said in the statement.

U.N. officials said four observers were in the post when the bomb hit, and the building had been destroyed. Two bodies had been recovered and two were unaccounted for, apparently still in the rubble. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Since Israel launched a massive military offensive against Lebanon and Hezbollah guerrillas July 12, an international civilian employee working with UNIFIL and his wife have been killed in the crossfire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas in the southern port city of Tyre.

Five UNIFIL soldiers and one military observer have also been wounded, Struger said.

The strike comes just hours after the departure of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from the Mideast as Israel resumed its bombings of Beirut, while Hezbollah continued its rocket attacks into northern Israeli cities.

A series of at least four heavy blasts were heard in Beirut, the first Israeli strikes in the city in nearly two days. A grey cloud billowed up from the capital's southern district, a Hezbollah stronghold that has been heavily bombarded.

But there were no reports of casualties, and there may not have been any casualties, reports CBS News' Vicki Barker. The neighborhood hit has been bombed so often in the past two weeks that most of the residents have fled, many now camping out at schools and public parks.

Israeli troops sealed off a Hezbollah stronghold in fierce fighting in south Lebanon and warplanes struck the market city of Tyre Tuesday, killing six people.

Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsh told CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan that he didn’t feel any political pressure to stop anytime soon.

"We have plenty of time, and I intend to use it. As long as it takes," he said.

An official with the U.S. Central Command, which is in charge of operations in Lebanon, says the Israelis believe there are 1,000 hard-core Hezbollah and 2,000 to 3,000 part-time fighters that still have to be rooted out of southern Lebanon, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. They expect the incursion to take another two weeks.

More than 424 people have been reported killed in Lebanon and Israel since fighting broke out July 12.

Israeli military said it had killed at least 40 Hezbollah guerrillas in what it calls the "capital of terror" in southern Lebanon, Bint Jbeil. Armored brigade commander Col. Amnon Eshel Assulin, told the Jerusalem Post that the operation proves the army's ability to reach any location in Lebanon, even Beirut, if Israel decides to enter the Lebanese capital.

A 15-year-old girl in the Arab town of Maghar was killed and at least 23 others were injured by a Hezbollah rocket, while at least five people were injured in Haifa, one seriously and two moderately. One rocket hit a bus, but only the driver was aboard at the time. One Haifa man died of a heart attack after a rocket landed near his home, medics said. Israel Radio said the man was running toward a bomb shelter when he collapsed.

Most shops and businesses in Haifa remain closed, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger. An eight-story apartment building was destroyed by a Hezbollah rocket Tuesday.

Rockets also hit the towns of Kiryat Shemona, Nahariya, Tiberias, Acre and Safed.

Israel claimed its planes had destroyed the Katyusha launcher that had fired Tuesday's rockets at Haifa.

Rice, leading the first high-level U.S. diplomatic mission since war broke out in Lebanon, said Tuesday the time has come for a new Middle East and an urgent end to the violence hanging over the region.

"I have no doubt there are those who wish to strangle a democratic and sovereign Lebanon in its crib," Rice said. "We, of course, also urgently want to end the violence."

Standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as they prepared to meet in his office, Rice reiterated the United States position that a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon must come with conditions that make an enduring peace. She said she has "no desire" to be back in weeks or months after terrorists find another way to disrupt any potential cease fire.

Olmert welcomed Rice warmly and vowed that "Israel is determined to carry on this fight against Hezbollah." He said his government "will not hesitate to take severe measures against those who are aiming thousands of rockets and missiles against innocent civilians for the sole purpose of killing them."

Later, Olmert told a group of new immigrants from France that Israel has the stamina for a long fight and is determined to defeat Hezbollah.

After meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas later Tuesday, Rice said, "We need to get to a sustainable peace; there must be a way for people to reconcile their differences."

Rice, who has disappointed some U.S. allies with her support of Israel, also met Tuesday with Peretz. Rice made no public remarks after her meetings with Olmert and Peretz.

But Peretz said Israel still has U.S. support, reports CBS News correspondent Dan Raviv.

"We want to defend our citizens, and we have broad international support ... We have no desire to open a war against Syria," Peretz said.

Syria's military is at its highest state of alert in recent years, Israel's intelligence chief told a parliamentary committee, but it's a defensive mode. Major General Amos Yadlin said "neither Syria nor Israel are interested in a military clash," but Hezbollah would like to involve Syria.

The Bush administration has said it wants to address the overall threat from Hezbollah, a Shiite militia in Lebanon, by creating conditions that will give the weak Lebanese government control over its entire territory, including south Lebanon, which is under Hezbollah control.

In a brazen July 12 raid into northern Israel, Hezbollah killed eight Israeli soldiers and captured two others, provoking Israel's biggest military campaign against Lebanon in 24 years. Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets at northern Israeli communities.

Israeli forces have been hammering Gaza to the south since shortly after the June 25 capture of an Israeli soldier by militants linked to Hamas group. The subsequent turmoil has highlighted the weakness of Abbas, a moderate whose Fatah party lost parliamentary elections to Hamas in January.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah have said the two attacks were not connected. Israel has responded with force on both fronts. The U.S. has insisted it will not support an immediate cease-fire if the conditions behind the fighting aren't addressed.

2 U.N. Peacekeepers Killed In Lebanon

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Annan UN comment shocking: Israel
From: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in United Nations

July 26, 2006
 

ISRAEL'S UN ambassador said he was "shocked" by accusations from UN chief Kofi Annan that the Jewish state may have deliberately targeted an observation post in Lebanon in an air raid that killed as many as four UN observers.
"I was shocked and deeply distressed by the hasty statement by the Secretary Heneral insinuating that Israel has deliberately targeted the UN post at Khiam and surprised at these premature and erroneous assertions," Ambassador Dan Gillerman said to the BBC World Service.

"The Secretary General, while demanding an investigation, has already issued his conclusions," Mr Gillerman said in comments marking the first official Israeli reaction to Mr Annan's comments.

"As I told you, Israel is carrying out a thorough inquiry into this tragic incident and we will inform the UN of its results as soon as possible."

Speaking in Rome, where he was to attend an international conference on the 13-day Lebanese crisis, Mr Annan said he was "shocked" at Israel's "apparently deliberate targeting" of the UN post.

Israel expressed "deep regret" over the incident.

Annan UN comment shocking: Israel

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Rice battles to bring together Mideast foes
26 July 2006

ROME: After two days of diplomatic shuffling between Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinians, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice still looked far on Tuesday from the "sustainable" end to hostilities that Washington wants.

Officials travelling with Rice, who arrived in Rome late on Tuesday for an international meeting on Lebanon, have lowered expectations of a ceasefire deal emerging soon after the meeting in Italy where conditions for a cessation of violence will be discussed as well as the humanitarian crisis.

While Rice pressed on with diplomacy, the fighting raged after an apparent lull on Monday during her surprise visit to Lebanon. Israeli planes bombed south Beirut and Hizbollah rockets hit northern Israeli towns.

In a sign of how sensitive Rice's talks have been with leaders from Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian president, Rice has only read from prepared statements and refused to answer any questions about her efforts to stop fighting between Hizbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon and Israeli forces.

Aides say she wants to keep a low profile so as not to scupper chances of a diplomatic breakthrough.

Arab nations such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia as well as many European countries want an immediate ceasefire but Washington argues it is better to wait for a "sustainable" deal than a hasty truce that breaks down before the ink is dry.

"It's not a question of delaying it (a ceasefire). We would like it to happen tomorrow if all the pieces were in place," said David Welch, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs.
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"We feel some urgency about this, but the object here is to create conditions for a sustainable ceasefire," added Welch, speaking en route to Rome on Rice's plane.

Hizbollah is not represented at the conference and neither is Israel. Any ceasefire deal would have to be agreed by the Jewish state but Washington insists Syrian-backed Hizbollah does not need to be included and it says Lebanon's interests are represented by the anti-Syrian government of Fouad Siniora.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Siniora joined Rice for a private dinner in Rome on Tuesday night to discuss Lebanon but they declined comment on arrival at the hotel.

More than 400 people, many of them civilians, have been killed in Lebanon in two weeks of fighting that began with Hizbollah abducting two Israeli soldiers. The Israeli death toll is at least 42.

A key issue under discussion in Rome is the creation of an international force in southern Lebanon.

A senior official in the administration of US President George W Bush said there was still no agreement over the size of such a force, how far it could go in disarming Hizbollah, who would be involved or whether it would be a Nato force.

After the Rome conference, Rice is scheduled to go to Malaysia to meet Asian ministers but she said she may return to the Middle East on her way home to Washington if it looks as if she can move the process forward.

Rice battles to bring together Mideast foes

[Shammu]

Rice sets tough terms for Lebanon ceasefire
25 July 2006

BEIRUT: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has put forward proposals to Lebanon to end Israel's war on Hizbollah but insisted a ceasefire could only come as part of a wider deal, Lebanese politicians said.

During a surprise visit to Beirut, a city pounded repeatedly by Israeli air strikes since the 13-day-old war began, Rice extended sympathy to the government but offered little hope for an immediate end to the conflict.

"Thank you for your courage and steadfastness," Rice told Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who has pleaded for an immediate ceasefire.

But Rice told Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hizbollah who is also close to Syria, a ceasefire must be part of a deal that included Hizbollah's withdrawal beyond the Litani River, 20km north of Israel, and deployment of an international force in the border region, a Lebanese political source said.

She told Berri: "the situation on the border cannot return to what it was before July 12", referring to the day Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers during a raid into Israel, sparking a war in which 378 people in Lebanon and 41 Israelis have died.

Berri did not reject Rice's proposal but said there should be a sequence of events - "ceasefire, exchange of prisoners, and then discussing all other matters", the source said.

The prime minister's office suggested Siniora was more open to Rice's proposal, saying he discussed the ideas she presented and "ways of developing them".

Israel, where Rice arrived later on Monday, has demanded the release of its soldiers and a Hizbollah withdrawal before it stops the bombardment.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he would press for a truce as well as the deployment of an international force in south Lebanon at a Rome ministerial meeting this week.

But shortly after Rice left Lebanon, the White House reiterated its opposition to an immediate ceasefire, saying it would be unenforceable.

Siniora told Rice that the Israeli bombing had displaced 750,000 people in Lebanon, almost one-fifth of the population, and inflicted multi-billion dollar loses to the economy, a statement from his office said.

Jan Egeland, the UN emergency relief coordinator, said this was "the hour of greatest need for the Lebanese people" as he launched a UN appeal for $US150 million ($NZ241.54 million) in aid. The United States pledged to contribute $US30 million to the appeal.

Rice told reporters in Beirut: "I am deeply concerned about the Lebanese people and what they are enduring."

Hizbollah said it had shot down an Israeli helicopter and hit five tanks in fierce battles after Israeli forces pushed north from a border village.

Israel's army said two airmen died in the helicopter crash, which it said was probably caused by a technical fault, and two soldiers were killed in the fighting.

The tank thrust towards Bint Jbeil, about 4km inside Lebanon, was one of several recent Israeli forays in search of Hizbollah fighters and rocket-launchers.

Israel plans a sweep of Bint Jbeil, which army spokeswoman Brigadier-General Miri Regev said had become a "centre for Hizbollah terrorists" firing Katyusha rockets across the border.

Israeli air raids killed at least eight people and wounded 50 in south Lebanon. Bombs also hit a Shi'ite area of Beirut.

Hizbollah rockets struck Haifa, Nahariya and the border town of Shlomi, wounding at least four people. Rockets have killed 17 Israeli civilians so far. Twenty-four soldiers have also died.

Israel, after initially dismissing the idea, now says it would accept an international force to dislodge Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hizbollah guerrillas from south Lebanon.

But just as Hizbollah has fought Israeli attempts to drive it from the south, it would surely resist military coercion by any international force, assuming one could be assembled.

Several European Union nations said they were ready to contribute to a UN peace force for Lebanon, but EU officials said questions remained over how it could fulfil its mission.

Rice is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before discussing the crisis with European and Arab officials in Rome mid-week.

Israel's Lebanon offensive coincided with an Israeli military push into the Gaza Strip to try to recover a soldier captured by Palestinian militants on June 25.

Israel has killed 121 Palestinians in a nearly month-long offensive in Gaza to free the soldier and halt rocket fire.

Rice sets tough terms for Lebanon ceasefire

[Shammu]

 Thousands at Western Wall Prayers
20:51 Jul 25, '06 / 29 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Thousands of people are praying at the Western Wall following a call from leading rabbis for all Jews, regardless of their identification with Jewish tradition, to recite Psalms in light of the Hizbullah terrorist war against Israel. Special efforts were made to bring children, whose prayers traditionally are considered purer than others.

A large crowd also is beginning the traditional march around the former gates to the Holy Temple, an event that is held near the eve of a new Hebrew month. Tuesday night is the beginning of the month of Av and the beginning of the nine days when Jews traditionally mourn the destruction of the First and Second Temples.

Thousands at Western Wall Prayers

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 Rice to Abbas: Focus on New Arab State
18:26 Jul 25, '06 / 29 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) The Palestinian Authority (PA) focus should be on establishing a new Arab state, which the PA wants to establish with Jerusalem as its capital, American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday afternoon in Ramallah.

She emphasized to reporters "the vision of two states living side by side." Abbas said he is making efforts to help return to Israel Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists last month. He told Secretary Rice that he hopes Israel will "realize the suffering of 10,000 Palestinian families whose sons and daughters are in Israeli jails."

Rice to Abbas: Focus on New Arab State

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 IDF Finds Iranian-Made Equipment in Bint Jbeil
20:16 Jul 25, '06 / 29 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) The IDF has recovered in the village of Bint Jbeil electronic surveillance equipment, weapons and communication devices made in Iran, Brig. General Gal Hirsch said Tuesday.

The IDF took control of the Hizbullah stronghold earlier on Tuesday following fierce battles. Israeli soldiers killed more than 40 Hizbullah terrorists in the battles and now are advancing to the village of Aitroun to the east, where more terrorists have staked out positions.

IDF Finds Iranian-Made Equipment in Bint Jbeil

[Shammu]

 Israel Releases Two Lebanese Prisoners
21:22 Jul 25, '06 / 29 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Security and intelligence personnel have released two Lebanese nationals who were taken prisoner last week during an intense battle for the village of Maroun al-Ras, which had been controlled by Hizbullah terrorists.

The two prisoners were released after it was clear that they were not associated with Hizbullah terrorists. They were the first Lebanese to be arrested by the IDF since the start of the Hizbullah terrorist war, which is also being referred to as the "Re-engagement War," on July 12.

Israel Releases Two Lebanese Prisoners