Biblical countries, in the news.

[Shammu]

President Assad Discusses on Phone with Iranian President Ahmadinejad Developments of Israeli Aggression on Lebanon

Local News /
Aug 05, 2006 - 11:00 PM

Damascus, July 05 (SANA)-

President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday night made a phone call with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran in which both leaders discussed developments of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon and means of backing the steadfastness of this country.

President Assad Discusses on Phone with Iranian President Ahmadinejad Developments of Israeli Aggression on Lebanon

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Syrian FM to participate in Arab meeting in Beirut: diplomat
(AFP)

5 August 2006


BEIRUT - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem is due to participate in an Arab ministerial meeting in Beirut next week on Israel’s military offensive, an Arab diplomat told AFP on Saturday.

Muallem will join other Arab foreign ministers in Monday’s meeting called to support the Lebanese government amid ongoing Israeli attacks on the country, the diplomat said.

The ministerial meeting was especially meant to back the seven-point plan of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, he said.

Siniora has proposed a seven-point plan to end hostilities which erupted after Israel launched a massive offensive on Lebanon following the capture of two soldiers by Hezbollah on July 12.

The plan calls for Israel’s troop pullout from southern Lebanon, the expansion of UN peacekeeping forces in the area, the deployment of the Lebanese army to the borders and the disarming of Hezbollah guerrillas.

Syrian FM to participate in Arab meeting in Beirut: diplomat

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 Arab world unified in supporting Lebanon: AL chief
2006-08-05 20:18:15

Special report: Israel-Lebanon conflicts

    CAIRO, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa said on Saturday that the entire Arab world was now moving in one direction in support of Lebanon against the Israeli aggression, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.

    Moussa made the remarks in Cairo during an interview with the BBC earlier in the day, said the report.

    The AL chief is expected to visit Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon soon.

    Moussa said that his regional tour, which has taken him to Jordan on a two-day visit, was aimed to consult with Arab countries over the Lebanon crisis and show support for the Lebanese people's steadfastness in defiance of Israel's military offensive.

    The trip will be a chance to discuss with Arab nations the latest developments in the region and the preparation work for an extraordinary foreign ministerial meeting of the AL in Beirut scheduled for Monday, Moussa said.

    He again criticized the UN Security Council for failing so far to pass a ceasefire resolution, adding that the AL could have been able to offer a lot if the Security Council had done its duty to end hostilities.

    The AL has been doing its best to offer political support to Lebanon, unify Arab stands on the current Lebanese situation and mobilize efforts to reconstruct the country and rebuild its economy, said Moussa.

    He also denied claims that his visit to Lebanon and the visits by some Arab officials to Beirut recently were aimed at pressuring the Lebanese to make concessions.

    The AL declared on Friday that foreign ministers from Arab countries would hold an extraordinary meeting in Beirut on Monday,t he second of its kind since the eruption of the Hezbollah-Israel conflict on July 12.

    On July 15, foreign ministers or representatives of the AL's 22 member states convened an emergency meeting in Cairo over the violence in Lebanon.

    The conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah guerillas erupted on July 12 when Hezbollah guerillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight during cross-border raids.

    Lebanon said over 900 Lebanese were killed and 3,000 wounded in the violence. Over 70 Israelis have also been killed in the 25 days of fighting.

Arab world unified in supporting Lebanon: AL chief

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Palestinians: Parliament speaker seized

1 hour, 6 minutes ago

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israeli forces arrested the speaker of the Palestinian parliament at his house early Sunday, Palestinian officials said.

The officials — the director of the speaker Abdel Aziz Duaik's office and security officers — said about 20 Israeli army vehicles surrounded the house of Duaik, a member of Hamas, and took him into custody.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Palestinians: Parliament speaker seized

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Hezbollah equipped like the `Syrian or Iranian army'
Israel's enemy is no ragtag militia

Anti-tank missiles proving deadly
Aug. 5, 2006. 01:00 AM
BENJAMIN HARVEY
ASSOCIATED PRESS

JERUSALEM—Hezbollah's sophisticated anti-tank missiles are perhaps its deadliest weapon in the fighting in Lebanon, with their ability to pierce Israel's most advanced tanks.

Experts say this is further evidence that Israel is facing a well-equipped army in this war, not a ragtag militia.

Hezbollah has fired Russian-made Metis-M anti-tank missiles and owns European-made Milan missiles, the army confirmed yesterday.

In the last two days alone, these missiles have killed seven soldiers and damaged three Israeli-made Merkava tanks, vaunted as symbols of Israel's might, the army said. Israeli media say most of the 44 soldiers killed in four weeks of fighting were hit by anti-tank missiles.

"They (Hezbollah guerrillas) have some of the most advanced anti-tank missiles in the world," said Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior military intelligence officer who retired earlier this summer.

"This is not a militia, it's an infantry brigade with all the support units," Kuperwasser said.

Israel contends Hezbollah gets almost all of its weaponry from Syria and by extension Iran, including its anti-tank missiles.

That's why cutting off the supply chain is essential and why fighting Hezbollah after it has spent six years building up its arsenal is proving so painful to Israel, officials say.

"To the best of my understanding, they (Hezbollah) are as well-equipped as any standing unit in the Syrian or Iranian armies," said Eran Lerman, a retired army colonel and now director of the Israel/Middle East office of the American Jewish Committee. "This is not a rat-pack guerrilla, this is an organized militia."

Besides the anti-tank missiles, Hezbollah is also known to have a powerful rocket-propelled grenade known as the RPG29. These weapons are also smuggled through Syria, an Israeli security official said, and were used by Palestinian militants in Gaza to damage tanks.

Yesterday, Jane's Defence Weekly, a defence industry magazine, reported that Hezbollah asked Iran for "a constant supply of weapons" to support its operations against Israel.

It cited Western diplomats as saying Iranian officials promised Hezbollah a steady supply of weapons "for the next stage of the confrontation."

Top Israeli intelligence officials say they have seen Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers on the ground with Hezbollah troops. They say that permission to fire Hezbollah's longer-range missiles would likely require Iranian go-ahead.

Hezbollah equipped like the `Syrian or Iranian army'

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 Iranians Suspected Of Operating Training Camps For Bombers
By Jim Kouri
Aug 5, 2006

British government officials have shown -- and continue to show -- American intelligence officials information indicating that Iran is operating "training camps" for bombers who carry out terrorist attacks on coalition forces, Iraqi security forces and civilians.  It appears that the training is accelerating in order to create havoc and destabilize the fledgling Iraqi government at the same time that the terrorist group Hezbollah has instigated a war with Israel.

Previously, the British accused Iran of being accessories in the killings of soldiers using sophisticated explosive devices.  But intelligence officers go much further now by saying the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which has close links to the government, is teaching Shia fighters how to make the bombs in Iran and then they're transporting them across the border into Iraq.

These latest charges come after Iraqi and coalition forces discovered unexploded devices and submitted them to ordinance experts.  A forensic examination of the bombs is being made in Baghdad which military experts believe will aid in devising security measures and may also reveal evidence of an Iranian signature.  The armor-piercing, infrared bombs have reportedly killed dozens of US and British soldiers.

Government officials in Britain have accused the Iranians of tactical involvement in Iraq as a result of what Tehran perceives as Western bullying over the nuclear issue.  It's also to believed the Iranians wish to keep US and British forces tied down in Iraq to avert a possible attack on Iran.  Iran has vehemently denied the accusations and has claimed instead that Britain is pressuring Iran over its nuclear program by publicizing the bombing incidents.

The revelations of the alleged Iranian involvement made by defense and diplomatic sources in Iraq is compelling and detailed.  The military says they are "trying to counter the bomb threat by training the trainers and the [Iranians] are doing the same.  People are being trained [in Iran] and then slip back into Iraq, 10 at a time, to train others maybe 50 at a time."

Intelligence reports strongly suggest that terrorist training camps are being run in Iran, and that there is some intelligence that strongly suggests there are camps in Syria.  Forensic examinations of explosive devices shows that the technology has been "proliferating," leading to a drastic rise in attacks on civilians and soldiers which now average more than three per week.

US, British and Iraqi security forces have uncovered caches of weapons including over 60 rockets, mortars and landmines, as well as the Iranian-made infrared explosive devices.  Intelligence officers believe weapons are being stashed by insurgents throughout Iraq in the hopes of initiating a major insurgency offensive.  And Iran gains time to continue their nuclear weapons program by helping to keep coalition forces bogged down in Iraq. 

Iranians Suspected Of Operating Training Camps For Bombers

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 Heavy Rocket Barrage Hits North: Mother, Two Daughters Killed
22:19 Aug 05, '06 / 11 Av 5766
by Debbie Berman

An estimated 120 katyusha rockets landed throughout the north within a 90 minute period late Saturday afternoon. A mother and her two daughters were killed in the village of Arab al-Aramshe.


Fadya Juma, 60, and her daughters Samira, 33, and Sultana, 31 were killed when their home in the Arab-Israeli village of Arab-al-Aramshe suffered a direct rocket hit just after 4:00 PM. Members of the village located near Shlomi along the Lebanese border grieved openly, mourning the loss of the three family members.

Some 170 rockets were thrown at northern Israel during the day on Saturday, landing in Kiryat Shmona, Safed, Nahariya, the Tiberias area, Shlomi, and Ma'alot. During the heaviest bombardment 120-130 rockets fell within a one and a half hour period in the late afternoon between 4:00 and 5:30 PM. According to Israel Radio security sources confirmed that long-range rockets were launched and hit Israel in the Hadera area on Friday.

Two people sustained light injuries in Kiryat Shmona and an ammonia leak was reported after a rocket hit a factory in the city's industrial zone. Authorities cautioned residents to stay clear of the area while they determined the extent of the leak and whether it would be harmful to the public.

In the Haifa area the rocket barrage lightly wounded eight people while 16 others suffered from shock. An 85-year-old woman from Kiryat Ata went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead after her arrival at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. The woman had reportedly run to a nearby shelter while the air raid siren sounded and suffered the heart attack while returning to her apartment.

A fire broke out after a rocket directly hit a residential building in Haifa. Industrial buildings and cars in the area were also hit and the rocket attack caused a temporary disruption to the electrical power supply in the Haifa area.

Two buildings in Ma'alot and one in Nahariya were hit by katyushas. Fires were reported in both cities as well as the in the Golan Heights. Alarms went off in cities throughout northern Israel including Safed, Rosh Pina, Nazareth, Afula, Haifa, Akko and Karmiel.

Heavy Rocket Barrage Hits North: Mother, Two Daughters Killed

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IDF Naval Commando Hits Top Hizbullah Operatives In Tyre raid
23:10 Aug 05, '06 / 11 Av 5766
by Debbie Berman

Two soldiers were seriously wounded when IDF naval commandos targeted a Hizbullah long-range missile-launching site during a heroic overnight raid on the Lebanese city of Tyre on Saturday.

According to Brigadier General Noam Feig, head of naval shipyards, the Naval Commando 13's operation in Tyre targeted senior Hizbullah operatives responsible for the launch of long-range rockets, like the ones fired at Hadera on Friday. “The goal of the operation was a commando raid against senior Hizbullah operatives involved in launching long-range rockets. Among other things, they were involved in launching rockets at Hadera Friday. The operation brought closure to all other operations," he said.

Feig stressed that the heroic operation was deemed necessary in an effort to combat the threat of long-term rocket launches into Israel while minimizing the possibility of Lebanese civilian casualties. "The force, under the command of a Commando 13 commander, was made up of three separate forces. Hizbullah's pattern of operations, hiding in apartments, endangers the lives of Lebanese civilians and necessitates selective and accurate capabilities," Feig stated.

The elite commando unit killed four terrorists, while two IDF soldiers sustained serious injuries in the battle. “At 3:15 a.m., the force forged their way into the target. In the fight over the target in the apartment, the force killed four terrorists who belonged to the launching unit. Upon entrance into the apartment, one of the soldiers was injured. Another soldier in the inner circle was also injured,” Feig reported.

Feig presented a video documentary highlighting the mission that showed the soldiers enterance into the building complex and the barrage of fire aimed at them when they emerged. The commandos worked cooperatively with the IAF who sent planes and drones to clear a route for the unit to exit. “The two soldiers were treated in the field by a medical unit under the command of the unit's doctor and an operation was performed in the field. The force evacuated under fire to the coast, where a helicopter waited, as planned, to transport them back to Israel at 5 a.m. All in all – fighting and presence in the field - one hour and 45 minutes," explained Feig.

IDF Naval Commando Hits Top Hizbullah Operatives In Tyre raid

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Iran statement 'irresponsible': Singapore

Saturday, August 05, 2006 -

LONDON, August 5 (IranMania) - According to an AFP report, Singapore described Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's latest call to wipe out Israel "irresponsible and provocative."

Speaking at an emergency meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference called to address the Middle East crisis, Ahmadinejad said the solution would be the "elimination of the Zionist regime."

"We are utterly appalled by the statement. The situation in Lebanon is very grave. The urgent immediate need is to secure humanitarian relief for the civilian casualties," a Singapore foreign ministry spokesman said.

"Such irresponsible and provocative statements are obviously intended only to further inflame the conflict and not address either the immediate humanitarian needs or the longer term goal of a durable solution that will address the security concerns of all parties."

Iran is one of the main backers of the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah militia, which captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12 and triggered the Israeli offensive.

Iran, like Syria, has been accused of financing and arming Hezbollah but has always maintained it only gives the Hezbollah moral support. Ahmadinejad had previously called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

Iran statement 'irresponsible': Singapore

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US imposes sanctions on Russia for Iran sales

Saturday, August 05, 2006

LONDON, August 5 (- According to an AFP report, the United States announced sanctions against seven foreign firms, including the Russian aircraft maker Sukhoi, for providing Iran with materiel that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction or missile systems.

The move drew an angry response from Moscow, which called the punitive action "unlawful" and "unacceptable".

The sanctions, imposed under a six-year-old US law, targetted major Russian airplane manufacturer Sukhoi, Moscow's state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, as well as two Indian companies, a Cuban entity and two North Korean firms, the State Department said.

The measure bars US government agencies from purchasing any goods or services from, or providing any assistance to the targetted firms.

It also outlaws the sale of sensitive military equipment, services or technologies to the companies or any of their subsidiaries.

The sanctions took effect on July 28 and will remain in place for at least two years, the State Department said.

US officials said there were no current or pending contracts between government agencies and the seven firms which would be affected by the sanctions.

But it was not immediately clear if the move could jeopardize some business relationships, including a joint project involving Sukhoi and US aeronautics giant Boeing in the development of civilian passenger aircraft.

Russia denied any wrongdoing and condemned the sanctions, which came at a time when the two governments are already involved in difficult diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

"We consider such actions by the United States to be unacceptable," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement, calling the move "the latest unlawful attempt to force foreign companies to work by domestic American rules".

"We want to underline that Russia always limits its exports to Iran to arms used only for defense and not capable of destabilising the situation in the region."

Sukhoi denied having any contracts with Iran within the past "six or seven" years.

The sanctions were ordered under a 2000 US law, the Iran Nonproliferation Act.

"They were imposed on these entities because there was credible information indicating that they had transferred to Iran since January 1, 1999, either chemical, biological, nuclear or missile systems," Jim Kelman, an official with the State Department's nonproliferation department, told AFP.

But Kelman would not provide any further details on just what the firms allegedly sold to Tehran.

In addition to the Russian firms, the sanctions hit Balaji Amines and Prachi Poly Products of India; Cuba's Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; and the North Korean firms Korean Mining and Industrial Development Corporation (KOMID) and Korea Pugang Trading Corporation, the State Department said.

Gladys Gines of the State Department's Office of the Procurement Executive said the punitive measure would have no immediate economic effect given the lack of dealings between US government agencies and the seven firms.

"But it will obviously have an impact on any potential future arrangements," she said.

After weeks of diplomatic jousting, Russia this week joined the United States and other members of the UN Security Council in voting for a resolution giving Iran until the end of the month to suspend uranium enrichment activities that could help the Islamic republic develop nuclear weapons.

But Moscow remains a major partner for Tehran, notably building Iran's first nuclear reactor and agreeing late last year to sell it 700 million dollars worth of surface-to-air missile defense systems.

The sanctions could also complicate relations between the United States and India amid controversy over a landmark US decision to ease restrictions on Indian access to nuclear technology for its civilian energy industry.

US officials have defended the decision in part by saying it will advance US non-proliferation goals by bringing India into the international mainstream.

But Friday's sanctions gave ammunition to critics of the deal who complain that India has still not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

US imposes sanctions on Russia for Iran sales

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US sanctions on Russia 'unlawful': Iran Ministry

Saturday, August 05, 2006

LONDON, August 5 - Russia slammed as "unlawful" Friday sanctions by the United States on aircraft maker Sukhoi and the arms export agency Rosoboronexport over their dealings with Iran, AFP reported.

"We consider such actions by the United States to be unacceptable. In essence we are talking about the latest unlawful attempt to force foreign companies to work by domestic American rules," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Such sanctions implemented unilaterally by the United States against third countries and their organisations are clear historical and legal anachronisms," it added.

"We want to underline that Russia always limits its exports to Iran to arms used only for defence and not capable of destabilising the situation in the region."

Sukhoi denied having any contracts with Iran and said it was concerned about the effect of the sanctions on its civil aviation operations, most notably the upcoming 100-seat regional airliner known as "Superjet 100" -- a joint project with US aerospace giant Boeing and others.

"Sukhoi has not delivered anything to Iran for six or seven years," the company's chairman Alexander Klementev told radio station Echo of Moscow.

Italy's Alenia Aeronautica, part of defence group Finmeccanica, owns a 25 percent stake in Suhkoi's civil aviation division.

The US said Friday it had implemented sanctions against seven foreign firms for providing Iran with material that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction or missile systems.

As well as the two Russian firms, the sanctions, which came into effect on July 28, affect two Indian companies, a Cuban organisation and two North Korean firms, the State Department said.

The measure, imposed for an initial period of two years, bars US government agencies from purchasing any goods or services or providing any assistance to the seven firms.

It also bars the sale of sensitive military equipment, services or technologies to the companies or any of their subsidiaries.

The sanctions were ordered under the 2000 Iran Nonproliferation Act, which aims to prevent the sale to Iran of equipment and technology "having the potential to make a material contribution to the development of weapons of mass destruction or cruise or ballistic missile systems".

In addition to Sukhoi and Rosoboronexport, the Russian monopoly arms exporter, the sanctions targeted Balaji Amines and Prachi Poly Products of India; Cuba's Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; and the North Korean firms Korean Mining and Industrial Development Corporation (KOMID) and Korea Pugang Trading Corporation, the State Department said.

US sanctions on Russia 'unlawful': Iran Ministry

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'Iran's surface-to-air missiles to back Hezbollah'

Saturday, August 05, 2006
 
Iran will supply Hezbollah with surface-to-air missile systems in the coming months, boosting the guerrillas' defences against Israeli aircraft, according to a report by specialist magazine Jane's Defence Weekly, citing unnamed Western diplomatic sources.

LONDON, August 5  - Iran will supply Hezbollah with surface-to-air missile systems in the coming months, boosting the guerrillas' defences against Israeli aircraft, according to a report by specialist magazine Jane's Defence Weekly, citing unnamed Western diplomatic sources.

In a meeting, held late last month, the Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia called on Tehran to "accelerate and extend the scope of weapon shipments from Iran to the Islamic Resistance, particularly advanced missiles against ground and air targets."

Hezbollah's representatives pressed for "an array of more advanced weaponry, including more advanced SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems," Jane's said.

"Iranian authorities conveyed a message to the Hezbollah leadership that their forces would continue to receive a steady supply of weapons systems,"it added.

"The details coming from the meeting reveal that they are about ensuring a constant supply of weapons to support Islamic Resistance operations against Israel," said Robin Hughes, the magazine's Middle East Editor.

"We are told the latest meeting was attended by senior representatives of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' Qods force which is responsible for training and logistic support for Iranian-backed insurgent groups."

According to Jane's Defence Weekly, Iranian authorities have supplied the militia with Iranian-made Noor radar-guided anti-ship cruise missiles and Chinese QW-1 (Vanguard) shoulder-launched SAMs.

Russian-made SAMs will reportedly be supplied at a later date.

Hezbollah has been locked in a more than three-week long deadly conflict against Israel since it kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others on July 12, AFP added.

Israel has carried out a widespread bombing campaign of southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based, and Hezbollah has fired rockets into northern Israel.

A Hezbollah anti-ship missile also damaged an Israeli corvette off the Lebanese coast in the early days of the conflict, killing four sailors. Israel said the missile was Iranian-built but Tehran denied involvement.

'Iran's surface-to-air missiles to back Hezbollah'

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Tehran Sends Archterrorist Mughniyeh to Rescue Hizballah

Exclusive Military Report

August 5, 2006, 4:57 PM (GMT+02:00)
   
In the middle of the fourth week of the Lebanon War, the tide began to turn in Israel’s favor. DEBKAfile’s military sources report the battlefield finally responded to the effect of Israel’s air might, its tank columns, the pounding by mobile artillery and naval craft and its repeated armored infantry assaults.

After losing 44 fighting men, more than 30 civilians, many thousands of wounded and billions of dollars of damage, finally, the Israeli military was given the chance to do what it does best: focus its firepower instead of spreading it out thin over too many targets.

The setbacks of the first three weeks were partly due to tactical incompetence and laggard decision-making on the part of prime minister Ehud Olmert and defense minister Peretz. Israeli troops therefore spent too long in abrading combat against stubborn Hizballah resistance in such places as Maroun er Ras and Bint Jubeil. But as soon as Israeli ground forces shifted to the massive, long-distance firing mode which they knows best, the impact on the warfront was immediate. The battle went their way with a minimum of casualties. In places where Israeli troops adhered to the close combat tactics practiced in the first three weeks, they continued to suffer high casualties.

Hizballah soon showed signs of distress. Lacking the weapons and resources to stand up to IDF’s precise-shooting juggernaut, their commanders quickly pulled their men out most combat sectors of South Lebanon and ordered them to regroup in five places:

1. The Western Sector and the center of Tyre.

2. The Wadi Hajar pocket east of Tyre.

3. The Central Sector surrounding Bint Jubeil, where the outcome is still unresolved after many days of fighting.

4. The Wadi Saluki area northwest of the northernmost Israeli town of Metullah.

5. The Eastern Sector, including al Khiam, the Shabaa Farms and Mt Dov, which has seen little fighting - although last week Israeli forces began - then stopped - a major offensive before it got underway.

These pockets are now the main launching-pads for rockets fired into Israel.

Outside, there is no ground fighting in South Lebanon but for Israeli air strikes.

Hizballah also has also been using the Tapuach and al-Haroub areas south and northeast of Sidon for shooting rockets. It is from this region that Hizballah fired the long-range Khaibar-1 missiles at Hadera Friday night, August 4, which came 45 km short of Tel Aviv. Saturday morning, Sidon’s 200,000 inhabitants and its outlying villages up to the Zahrani River were warned to leave their homes and head north to escape the coming Israeli air offensive.

Until the Khaibar attack on Hadera, the concentration of Hizballah’s rocket launchers and stores in and around Sidon had been immune from Israeli attack – largely because Olmert and his senior ministers refused to increase the number of ground troops deployed in Lebanon. The military commanders had to do their best with the limited numbers available.

In other words, with the right manpower level, Hizballah’s abilty to fire rockets can be dented, notwithstanding claims by Israel officials and generals that there is no way to do this when most of Hizballah’s 13,000-rocket stockpile remains intact.

But even cutting down on the daily 200-plus rocket blitz on northern Israel is

not plain sailing because:

cont'd next post

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 First, Neither the Israeli Air Force nor any other air force is capable of completely halting rocket fire from the ground. In the relatively small distances between Lebanon and Israel, the short-range Katyusha rockets have the effect of medium-range weapons, while the short-to-medium range rockets perform like long-range missiles.

Second, Israel does not have enough infantry on the ground to make substantial inroads on Hizballah’s rocket-firing capabilities.

Third, Iran and Syria are constantly restocking Hizballah’s diminishing supplies of rockets of all types, launchers and operating manpower by a round- the-clock airlift from Iran via Syrian military air fields. Some of the incoming supplies are destroyed by Israeli air attacks as they cross into Lebanon, but a substantial part is conveyed to Hizballah by smuggling networks employing mules to traverse Lebanese mountain paths. Even if 2,000 have been wiped out and a similar amount has been fired, no one knows how many are left in stock because it is replenished. As long as that corridor is not severed by bombing the Syrian stopover air facilities, Iran will continue to top up Hizballah’s stockpile. Therefore, the rocket offensive cannot be reduced by very much.

Fourth, Israeli forces do not operate in all parts of South Lebanon.

Hizballah’s withdrawal to five pockets in South Lebanon affords the IDF certain tactical advantages - although liabilities too.

The Advantages:

It is now possible to carve the region the Israeli army controls into three sections, western, central and eastern, a tactic familiar from the Gaza Strip, for encumbering Hizballah guerrilla movement between the sections. The goal is to confine Hizballah to the five pockets and place them under blockade. They can then be made to capitulate or face liquidation.

The Liabilities:

Leaving the two banks of the Litani River, the Nabatea plain and Hazbaya to the north of the river in Hizballah hands leaves a route open for its reinforcements to come through and to strike Israeli forces from the rear.

Nonetheless, by Thursday, August 3, Hizballah was showing signs of being in trouble.

A. Local Hizballah village commanders signaled repeated appeals for more manpower and ammunition. The appeals were not met because outside forces cannot break through the defense lines held by the advancing Israeli troops. The village commanders were therefore told by their superiors to fight to the last man and last bullet and reserve the last grenade for suicide.

B. Hizballah’s shadowy leader, the long-wanted Imad Mughniyeh, was hurriedly appointed commander of the southern front as a last resort to save South Lebanon from falling to Israel.(picture from the 1980s)

DEBKAfile’s military and counter-terror sources maintain that this appointment raises the conflict to a new and dangerous level on several counts.

Mughniyeh, wanted for a quarter of a century by the FBI for the huge bombing attacks he orchestrated on the US embassy in Beirut and American and French troops, as well as a spate of hijackings and murders, is important enough to take orders from no-one ranking lower than Iran’s supreme ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Those orders come through the Revolutionary Guards commander Gen. Rahim Safavi.

Therefore, placing Mughniyeh at the head of Hizballah forces in South Lebanon confronts prime minister Olmert uncomfortably close to Iran’s supreme leader; ranges defense minister Peretz opposite his Iranian counterpart Mustafa Najer and chief of staff Lt. Gen Dan Halutz opposite Gen. Safavi, while on the warfront, Israel’s war leaders face the formidable Mughniyeh, Tehran’s secret weapon for rescuing Hizballah from collapse.

Informed circles in the West have a high opinion of Mughniyeh’s military, intelligence and tactical skills. His hand was seen in the transformation of al Qaeda’s 2001 defeat in Afghanistan into a launch pad for its anti-US campaign in Iraq and many other ventures in the terror war against America. After the death of Abu Musab al Zarqawi, Mughniyeh is rated the world Islamic terror movement’s most outstanding field commander.

Therefore, while the appointment is a measure of Israel’s belated military success in the Lebanese war, it also brings the conflict ever closer to two dangerous orbits – Tehran and al Qaeda. Mughniyeh is the only undercover agent in the Middle East who enjoys the complete personal trust of Khamenei and Osama bin Laden, on both of whom he is in a position to call for aid.

On the diplomatic front, even if the United States and France can get together on a unified UN Security Council ceasefire resolution, DEBKAfile’s military sources report that neither Iran nor Hizballah has any intention of complying with a resolution dictated by the United States, France and Israel.

Tehran Sends Archterrorist Mughniyeh to Rescue Hizballah

[ibTina]

Syria's Christians rally behind Hizbollah
Fri Aug 4, 2006 10:48am ET135

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Seventy-seven-year-old Mona Muzaber lights a candle for Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah at the Orthodox Church of the Cross in the center of Damascus.

"I love him. I never felt Nasrallah was a religious zealot. He is a patriot who doesn't seek personal gain," she said. "I light a candle daily for him to remain under God's protection."

Israel's offensive against Lebanon has brought Christians in neighboring Syria closer to Nasrallah, a Shi'ite Muslim, reviving Arab nationalist feelings and blurring sectarian divisions.

Bishops and priests say Syria's Christians, a devout community of around three million out of a population of 18 million, identify strongly with Nasrallah's battle with Israel, which has occupied Syria's Golan Heights since 1967.

"Pray for the resistance, pray for Hassan Nasrallah. He is defending justice," Father Elias Zahlawi told the congregation at special mass held at the Lady of Damascus, a Catholic church.

Across Damascus Christians, like Muslims, sit glued to Nasrallah's al-Manar television, receptive to his portrayal of the war as one in defense of all Arabs, as well as Muslims.

At the biblical-era Straight Street, Khaldoun Uzrai hung the yellow flags of Hizbollah all over his liquor and grocery shop.

"We are Arabs at the end of the day. Nasrallah is one of our own. He is realizing our dreams," Uzrai said.

At least 720 people have been killed in Lebanon and 750,000 have been displaced by the conflict ignited by a cross-border raid in which Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers. Seventy-two Israelis have been killed, many by Hizbollah rockets.

NOT ENOUGH ROCKETS

Iyad Elias, a doctor working at a hospital in the mixed Jaramana district, wishes Hizbollah could unleash more rockets on the Jewish state.

"Nasrallah transcends religion and ethnicity. Unfortunately he does not have the firepower Israel has," he said.

Jaramana has been a main receiving center for thousands of Lebanese refugees, mostly Shi'ite from the south. They have been housed in schools, mosques, monasteries and private homes.

Thabet Salem, a leading political commentator, said Nasrallah brought out nationalist feelings which have been dormant for years as Israel dealt the Arabs a series of defeats.

"Nasrallah extols the Muslim nation, but he is also seen as a symbol of a national liberation movement. No wonder Christians feel such affinity to him," Salem said.

A leading Christian businessman called Nasrallah "the uncrowned Arab king".

"Unlike most Arab rulers, Nasrallah is not an agent. After all he sacrificed his son," the businessman said, referring to Hadi Nasrallah, who was killed at 18 fighting occupying Israeli forces in south Lebanon.

Syria's Christians rally behind Hizbollah

Ok... am I lost or what?  How can a 'true' Christian be against Israel?