Biblical countries, in the news.

[Shammu]

Israel shoots down Hizbollah drone

1 hour, 9 minutes ago

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli aircraft shot down an unmanned spy plane launched by the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah as it was about to enter Israeli territory on Monday, the Israeli army said.

"The (army) identified the drone just before it crossed the border into Israel and planes were sent to intercept it," an army spokesman said.

"The aircraft was intercepted at a short height above the sea and Israeli navy boats collected the remains."

It was the third time in the past two years that Hizbollah had tried to fly a drone over Israel, the army said. The most recent incident was in April 2005, when an unmanned plane flew over the Western Galilee region before returning to Lebanon.

Israel's Channel One television reported the drone shot down on Monday was armed, but the army had no comment.

Israel shoots down Hizbollah drone

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Iran Receives New Missiles from North Korea
August 07, 2006 12:02 AM EST

Iran has received a shipment of North Korean missiles capable of reaching Europe, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Israel’s military intelligence chief. On Thursday, Ha’aretz quoted Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin as saying that Iran recently received a shipment of BM-25s from Pyonyang, boosting its locally made Shihab missile batteries.

The BM-25 is capable of carrying nuclear warheads and has a maximum range of 1,500 miles. Last February, the German news media reported that Iran had ordered 18 disassembled BM-25s from North Korea.

Iran has also tested several long-range missiles in recent weeks, including a "top secret" missile capable of being fired from all military helicopters and jet fighters, the Iranian state-run television reported.

Iran also tested the Fajr-3, a missile it said can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads. Iran also has tested what it calls two new torpedoes. American intelligence officials have said that Iran is now at an advanced stage of developing a missile that can carry a nuclear warhead.

Meanwhile, Israeli intelligence is monitoring the missiles in fear that Iran may provide one of two of them to Hezbollah.

Iran Receives New Missiles from North Korea

[Shammu]

Iran to Provide Hezbollah with Anti-Aircraft and Other Weapons System
 

By Jim Kouri

(AXcess News) New York - While the Israeli forces have been able to maintain total air supremacy in the skies over Lebanon, Iran is preparing to turn over state-of-the-art anti-aircraft weapons systems to Hezbollah for use against Israeli military planes, according to a report in Friday's Jane's Defense Weekly.

Jane's reported that during a strategy meeting last month, Hezbollah requested that its Iranian sponsors "accelerate and extend the scope of weapon shipments from Iran to the Islamic Resistance, particularly advanced missiles against ground and air targets."

Jane's report also stated that, "Iranian authorities conveyed a message to the Hezbollah leadership that their forces would continue to receive a steady supply of weapons systems."

Intelligence agencies in Israel and the US believe that Iran has already supplied the Lebanese-based terrorist group with highly-advanced anti-ship missiles, one of which was used in the early days of fighting to damage and Israeli warship stationed off the coast of Lebanon.

So far, Hezbollah has not mounted any defensive attacks against Israeli planes which continue to bomb throughout Lebanon unhindered by any viable air defenses, evidence that Iran has not delivered the anti-aircraft systems.

In a separate report appearing on the The Conservative Voice website, the Iranian government received a delivery of medium-range missiles from North Korea. Some analysts fear these types of missiles, which are much more accurate than those in Hezbollah's current arsenal, may end us in the hands of the terrorists.

Also, according to Jane's, a shipment of Russian-made surface-to-air missile systems is expected in the coming weeks to address that issue.  Both Russia and China have been selling weapons systems and arms to the Iranians.

Israel's effective Merkava tanks have been exposed to some of the most sophisticated and powerful anti-tank missiles in use in the Middle East. Majority of  Israeli force casualties are the result anti-tank missile attacks.

According to the Associated Press, a military intelligence officer said that Hezbollah possesses "some of the most advanced anti-tank missiles in the world."

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

Israel fears that failing to meet its military objectives this time around will mean a far more difficult, protracted and bloody battle the next time with Hezbollah since there's little doubt they will continue to build on their military capabilities

Iran to Provide Hezbollah with Anti-Aircraft and Other Weapons System

[Shammu]

 Iranian Military Chief: US and Israel Will Not Survive Attack on Iran 
12:10 Aug 08, '06 / 14 Av 5766

(IsraelNN.com) The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Monday that neither the United States or Israel would survive if they attacked Iran.

"Without doubt, if criminal [United States and Israel] want to make any moves against Iran they will be stricken by a blow 100 times stronger and they will not survive in the face of Iran's power," General Yahya Rahim Safavi said.

Iran's leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction in recent months, stating last week that Israel had “pushed the button of its own destruction,” an allusion to Iran's nuclear intentions.

Iranian Military Chief: US and Israel Will Not Survive Attack on Iran

[Shammu]

Ties With Moscow Must Be Restored — Ukraine Foreign Minister

Created: 07.08.2006 17:34 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 17:34 MSK, 20 hours 28 minutes ago

MosNews

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk says Kiev must restore ties with Russia, which have been put on hold by the country’s four-month struggle to form a government, RFE/RL reports.

In an interview with RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, Tarasyuk says the two countries must solve long-running disputes and that the new prime minister’s “first visit should be to Moscow. Many problems have accumulated, among them energy problems and questions relating to trade.”

Last week, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko endorsed the candidacy of his pro-Russian rival Viktor Yanukovych to be prime minister. The Ukrainian parliament approved the nomination on August 4.

Tarasyuk also said Ukraine’s different political parties agree on the need to complete all legal procedures required to enter the World Trade Organization.

Ties With Moscow Must Be Restored — Ukraine Foreign Minister

[Shammu]

Russia Seeks More Satisfying UN Resolution for Lebanon

Created: 08.08.2006 12:25 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:11 MSK, 49 minutes ago

MosNews

Russia favors a Security Council resolution that would satisfy Lebanon, Russia’s ambassador to the UN has said.

The conflict between Lebanon-based radical Islamic movement Hezbollah and Israel has been continuing for three weeks in southern Lebanon and has claimed almost 1,000 lives.

“It is obvious to us that a draft resolution that fails to satisfy the Lebanese side should not be adopted because it will only further escalate the violence,” Vitaly Churkin was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying after consultations at the UN Security Council on Monday.

The Security Council decided to convene an open session Tuesday to discuss a draft resolution on Lebanon with all interested parties, including a delegation from the Arab League and, in particular, diplomats from Qatar, the only Muslim country on the UN Security Council.

The session will focus on a resolution drafted by the United States and France earlier this week. The document stipulates no immediate ceasefire or Israel’s pullout from Lebanon. Islamic countries, including Lebanon, have slammed the document for what they called legitimizing Israel’s aggression.

“At the moment, intensive efforts, including contacts and consultations, are being made... to try to make the resolution more acceptable for Lebanon,” Churkin said, though he declined to make any forecasts on when this could happen.

He said Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon to beyond the Blue Line, a provisional border between the two countries, remained the stumbling bloc on the way to a resolution.

“The draft resolution envisions a political process that is supposed to lead out Israeli troops but this is something that you can only discover after thorough analysis of the text,” Churkin said, adding that the document stipulated no 100-percent guarantees that this would happen soon.

“The Lebanese government is demanding a clear resolution that Israel will withdraw from southern Lebanon shortly after the hostilities are over,” he said.

Churkin continued that an alternative plan proposed by the Lebanese government to introduce a 15,000-strong Lebanese contingent into the area after Israel’s departure could bring a resolution to the conflict closer.

“I think that this new element must be seriously studied by the UN Security Council,” he said.

Churkin’s French counterpart in the UN, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, said the Security Council would try to improve the text of the resolution Tuesday but added that the Franco-American draft was a good piece of work.

Russia Seeks More Satisfying UN Resolution for Lebanon

[Shammu]

President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez: Israel Uses the Methods of Hitler, the U.S. Uses the Methods of Dracula. I'm a Nasserist who Has Crossed the Deserts, Ridden Camels, and Sung Along with the Bedouins. Al-Jazeera Plays a Role in Liberating the World

Following are excerpts from an interview with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on August 4, 2006.

Hugo Chavez: I want to congratulate the people of Qatar, and its leader, my friend and brother, Prince Hamad. From this pulpit, I send my brotherly congratulations to the entire Arab people. I'm celebrating my birthday in the heart of the Arab homeland, on Arab land. What a happy coincidence! My heart beats along with millions of Arab hearts. I could have been an Arab. I have crossed deserts, I have ridden camels, and I have sang along with the Bedouins. I have learnt in those years to love and respect the Arab people.

[...]

We feel that the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians and against Lebanon is directed against us too. This aggression is unjustified. It is perpetrated in the fascist manner of Hitler. Israel is justified in criticizing Hitler and his aggression - and we criticize this as well - but now they are doing what Hitler did to the Jews. They are killing innocent children and whole families. They dismantled the legitimate government of Palestine, and thwarted tremendous efforts to achieve peace and establish a Palestinian state.

Now they are attacking Lebanon, and have destroyed more than half of it, according to the latest information. They have assassinated hundreds of innocent people, and to what end? There is no justification for this. I am telling you with all honesty that the hand of the Americans is spurring them on. This hand is behind the Israeli aggression. It is imperialistic aggression. The real threat to the world is the imperialistic threat posed by the U.S., and Israel is one of its imperialistic instruments in this part of the world.

[...]

On this day, as I am celebrating my birthday, I demand, on behalf of the people of Venezuela, that Israel withdraws from the land of Palestine and from Lebanon. There must be an immediate cease-fire. We must give room for diplomacy, and respect law and human rights. We cannot go back to living in caves. This will be terrible for the future of humanity.

[...]

Once again, the mask has fallen from the Satanic imperialistic face of the U.S. They used their veto to prevent the Security Council from activating the mechanism of the U.N. in order to put an end to this aggression.

[...]

Interviewer: Mr. President, could this lead us to say, as has been claimed, that this is an American war by proxy, rather than an Israeli war against Lebanon and Palestine?

Hugo Chavez: Yes, I have no doubt about this.

[...]

In 50 years, the U.S. consumed the energy consumed by humanity in 150 years. Now, they are working to take control of the petroleum of the peoples, in order to consume it, just like Dracula. They are like Count Dracula - always in search of petrol and blood. Why? Because they want to preserve something transient - the American imperialistic way of life.

[...]

In all honesty, I say that it is the U.S. that should formulate a plan for post-imperialism. American society cannot and should not come to an end, but the imperialism of the fascist elite will. We must defeat imperialism in this century, so that this elite will not annihilate the world. Either we succeed in 1,000 different ways to end imperialism, or else imperialism will use 1,000 different ways to annihilate the world. This would constitute the end of mankind, the end of our hopes. Jesus Christ called on us to live in the Kingdom of Peace, but there can be no peace without freedom. I'm a Christian, and I believe that Jesus came to announce to us the coming of the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of God is peace, equality, and justice. The American empire is the number one enemy in the way of the Kingdom of Peace and Justice.

[...]

How can this be achieved? The answer has to do with the strategy that will allow us to reach our goal - reaching what Jesus called the Kingdom of Heaven. How? This can be done in a multi-polar world. The answer is that we must create a multi-polar world. This is the spirit of the foreign policy of Venezuela, my dear friend and brother, Muhammad.

[...]

Someone talked to me about his pessimism regarding the future of Arab nationalism. I told him I was optimistic, because the ideas of Nasser are still alive. Nasser was one of the greatest people of Arab history, to say the least, a Nasserist, ever since I was a young soldier.

[...]

Whenever I meet an Al-Jazeera reporter, I feel like giving him an interview or a statement. Allow me to say to the Al-Jazeera staff that I am amazed by them. As someone who fights for a just world, it is an honor for me to be here, and to sit across from you in these studios, and among these colleagues and brothers in Al-Jazeera. I say to the media people I have met here, and with some of whom I shook hands, that you are an example and a model of honor, bravery, and the fight for justice. You are committed to the code of journalistic work, and to the breaking of the monopoly over the media, and the distortion of the truth, despite all the pressure.

[...]

My heart is with Al-Jazeera and with its media people, its employees, and its workers. You should continue to serve as an example, and present the truth to the world, because the truth is that you have a role in liberating the world.

I'm a Nasserist who Has Crossed the Deserts, Ridden Camels, and Sung Along with the Bedouins.

[Shammu]

How China's Secret Deals Are Fueling the ME War
By Stephen Pollard
Times Online | August 8, 2006

The story behind the story in the Middle East today is the proxy war, as Israel, on behalf of the US, takes on Hezbollah, which fights on behalf of Iran and Syria. Indeed, one can widen it further and describe the participants as proxies for the West versus militant Islam.

This analysis of the conflict sometimes mentions, in passing, Russia’s declining influence. But there is another player that has somehow received almost no coverage.

For decades China has been building up influence in the Middle East. It suits China’s strategy well that coverage has been almost non-existent. As Deng Xiaoping once put it, China must “hide brightness and nourish obscurity . . . to bide our time and build up our capabilities”. As China develops into the role of global power, its influence on the region is no longer obscure; it cannot now be ignored.

The original postwar Middle East proxies were the US and the Soviet Union. Washington supporting Israel and the Kremlin sponsoring enemy regimes and their terrorist offshoots. But the Sino-Soviet split, which began in the 1960s, meant a lifting of the constraint on China getting involved, and it soon began to develop ties to countries that were not under Soviet influence, such as Egypt under Sadat.

A brilliant analysis of China’s role by Barry Rubin, in the Middle East Review of International Affairs, describes China’s first steps thus: “As hope for global revolution faded and Beijing switched its partners from tiny opposition groups to governments, China now projected itself as leader of the Third World, struggling against the hegemony of the two superpowers, the USSR and the United States. Lacking the strength and level of development of other great powers, China would try to make itself the head of a massive coalition of the weaker states.” That meant, in the Middle East, Israel’s enemies.

Today countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan — all key states in the region — have strong ties to China, which they are all likely to see as a counterbalance to American power in the Middle East and beyond.

As President Jiang Zemin put it in 1994, US “hegemony” should be opposed, in part by helping countries such as Iran, which were already fighting that battle. But China’s strategy dovetailed geopolitics with economic necessity. Without access to oil markets, China had to fuel economic expansion by turning to more neglected suppliers, such as Iran, Iraq and Sudan. And with a growing consumption of Gulf oil, so China has had to direct its security policy towards ensuring that the US will not be able to interfere with the flow of oil. This means developing ever stronger political and strategic relationships with oil exporters.

Jiang’s state visit in 1999 to Saudi Arabia cemented what he termed a “strategic oil partnership”. In 1996 Saudi exported 60,000 barrels per day to China. By 2000 exports stood 350,000 bpd (17 per cent of Beijing’s oil imports). Iranian oil exports rose even faster, from 20,000 bpd in 1995 to 200,000 bpd in 2000.

The Middle East is now China’s fourth largest trading partner. But its trade is hardly traditional. As Rubin puts it: “Being so late in entering the region — and having less to offer in economic or technology terms than the United States, Russia, Japan, and Europe — China must go after marginal or risky markets . . . supplying customers no one else will service with goods no one else will sell them.” What that means, of course, is arms.

In the war-by-proxy analysis, Iran is rightly said to be the power and arms supplier behind Hezbollah. But the issue of where Iran’s arms come from has been ignored. China has sold Iran tanks, planes, artillery, cruise, anti-tank, surface-to-surface and anti-aircraft missiles as well as ships and mines. It is also Iran’s main supplier of unconventional arms and is thought by almost all monitors to be illicitly involved in supplying key elements in Iran’s chemical and nuclear weapons programme. This is despite China being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

China has sold nuclear reactors to Algeria, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, and Chinese nuclear weapons designs were found in Libya. It has also negotiated with Syria on the sale of M11 ballistic missiles. China is one of the few global suppliers of ballistic missiles. and can charge a heavy price. It demanded of the Saudis, for instance, to whom it sold CSS2 missiles, payment in cash, ensuring both the cementing of a key strategic relationship and total deniability of the sale.

Both nations have kept the relationship as secret as possible, but one expert, Robert Mullins, estimates that at least 1,000 Chinese military advisers have been based at Saudi missile installations since the mid-1990s. Such secret deals are handled by Polytechnologies Incorporated, a defence firm controlled by the People’s Liberation Army, which both installs weapons and trains handlers.

But like all the most successful illicit traders, China is ideologically profligate in its relations. Keen to supply weapons to Israel’s enemies in return for oil, it is equally happy to trade with Israel in return for its technology. As Benjamin Netanyahu put it to the Chinese when, as Prime Minister, he championed an Israeli investment in China: “Israeli knowhow is more valuable than Arab oil.” The estimates are that there has been between $1 billion and $3 billion of arms trade between China and Israel. But in this case the flow of arms and weapons technology has been from Israel to China.

In the immediate analysis of the present conflict, it is clearly Iran and Syria that, as President Bush put it, should “stop doing this gotcha2”. But any deeper explanation of the realpolitik of the Middle East has to include the insidious role of the Chinese, the 21st century’s next superpower.

How China's Secret Deals Are Fueling the ME War

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Scholar Warns Iran's Ahmadinejad May Have 'Cataclysmic Events' In Mind For August 22
Tue Aug 08 2006 10:22:35 ET

In a WALL STREET JOURNAL op-ed Tuesday, Princeton's Bernard Lewis writes: "There is a radical difference between the Islamic Republic of Iran and other governments with nuclear weapons. This difference is expressed in what can only be described as the apocalyptic worldview of Iran's present rulers."

"In Islam as in Judaism and Christianity, there are certain beliefs concerning the cosmic struggle at the end of time -- Gog and Magog, anti-Christ, Armageddon, and for Shiite Muslims, the long awaited return of the Hidden Imam, ending in the final victory of the forces of good over evil, however these may be defined."

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "and his followers clearly believe that this time is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the US about nuclear development by Aug. 22," which this year corresponds "to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to 'the farthest mosque,' usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f., Koran XVII.1).

"This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind."

Ahmadinejad May Have 'Cataclysmic Events' In Mind For August 22

[Shammu]

‘12th Imam,’ key facet of Islamic prophecy, fueling Middle East turmoil, experts say
Aug 7, 2006
By Olivia Tulley
Baptist Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Among the nearly 68 million people in Iran, the vast majority are Muslim who place their hope not in modern-day politics or rulers but in a person who walked the earth centuries ago and is promised to return.

“Both Islam and Christianity have a very well-defined eschatology, or period of the last days; both of them cannot be correct …,” said William Wagner, senior professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and author of the book, “How Islam Plans to Change the World.”

A majority of Shiite Muslims traditionally believe that the “12th Imam” (Islamic religious leader), born in 868 A.D., was placed by God into hiding (known as occultation) until the day of judgment. Southern Baptist author and evangelist Anis Shorrosh explained that many Shiites also refer to the 12th Imam as the Mahdi, an Arabic word that generally references a messiah, or a guide.

“This man will come to show them the way, because the prayer of every Muslim five times a day … ends with ‘Show us the right path, not the path of those who have incurred your anger or those who are lost, but those upon whom grace has come,’” Shorrosh said.

Though most strains of Islam have a belief in the Mahdi, Shiites traditionally believe he is Mohammed ibn Hasan, the 12th in the line of imams who were descendents of the prophet Mohammed. Though they do not know when the Mahdi will return, they believe he will come to end the misery of his people. Some strains of Islam even hold a belief that Jesus will be the Mahdi who will return and proclaim Islam as the true religion.

“Satan always tries to duplicate everything that God does,” Wagner said, “and I believe he has created his own eschatology that is somewhat similar to that of Christianity, but false enough to where it is apparent that it is not the truth.”

Ray Tallman, director of the school of intercultural studies at Golden Gate Seminary, noted that the major eschatological question for Shiite Muslims is when the Mahdi’s return will take place -– and many hold the belief that the time is near. The increasing clash with Israel and that with Christianity are two indications to Shiites that the Mahdi’s return could be near, said Tallman, who spent seven years as the international director for Arab World Ministries.

“All of that is sort of a sign of the times that now it has come to this, and that what is actually being done now out of hate has an eschatological sign of promise to it,” Tallman said of the Shiite view.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been cited by various news sources as not only believing in the eventual return of the Mahdi, but that the return is near and that it is the responsibility of the Iranian government to prepare the country for his return.

“Belief in a savior is universal,” BBC News quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in January. “It is the pivot of our beliefs as Muslims and Iranians. We believe that an offspring of the prophet, may peace be upon him, will be the ultimate savior. His name and attributes are clear. He will come and will administer ultimate justice.”

The belief that the Mahdi’s return is near is not a new claim among Shiites, Wagner said, but one that has been held almost since the 12th Imam was historically placed into hiding.

“Almost every generation has some figures in Islam that either claim to be the 12th Imam or claim that the 12th Imam will come to himself,” Wagner said.

Although Shiites and Sunnis often battle against each other, as is currently the case in Iraq, Wagner noted common efforts among both groups of Muslims to destroy Israel, which is a critical part of Islam taking control in the world and thus ushering in the Mahdi.

“They feel like one of the major blocking points is Israel, and that is one reason why they feel like they must destroy Israel,” Wagner said.

Wagner further noted that Islam is “on the march” with the intention of the entire world becoming Muslims.

“The problem is that in many parts of the world today, Christianity has become very weak,” Wagner said. “It is extremely necessary for all Christians to reevaluate their faith and to become stronger in their faith in Jesus Christ. This is the one thing that Islam fears the most because, down deep; they know that they cannot compete with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Wagner also noted that Islam is a religion of fear, with many Muslims fearing their own faith.

“It is the task of Christians to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to Muslims everywhere so that they can be released from this fear and find the assurance of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ,” Wagner said.

‘12th Imam,’ key facet of Islamic prophecy, fueling Middle East turmoil, experts say

[Shammu]

 Heavy Fighting in Southern Lebanon; Sleeping Terror Cell Caught
17:04 Aug 08, '06 / 14 Av 5766
by Hillel Fendel

      IDF captures 5 Hizbullah fighters overnight, including a cell that had fallen asleep. Two soldiers killed. Olmert meets with Katzav, says Lebanese proposal to take over south is "interesting."


In the Bint Jbeil area of southern Lebanon, Israeli paratroopers discovered a small group of sleeping Hizbullah terrorists, complete with heavy weaponry and other equipment. The Israelis woke them up and brought them to Israel.

In a separate incident, a unit of reservists captured a Hizbullah unit with rockets ready for firing. Five Hizbullah terrorists were captured in total, and between 7 and 15 were killed. Heavy fighting continues in the area, and only at 1:30 PM was it released for publication that two soldiers had been killed. One soldier was brought to an Israeli hospital with a serious head wound, and seven others were lightly wounded.

Over 110 Katyushas have been fired at various Israeli cities in the north since this morning, including Kiryat Shmonah, Tzfat, Maalot, Nahariya and more. Sirens continue to sound all over the region, sending people to their shelters and generally increasing the feelings of helplessness and uncertainty suffered by the residents for the past month.

One person in Maalot suffered "moderate" wounds and four were wounded when a building was hit, while a similar strike in the Arab village of Kasuta wounded two. Over a dozen people were treated for shock - in addition to 17 people, including five children, treated for such in one afternoon attack in Tzfat.

More than 160 Katyushas were fired on Monday, wounding 17 people. Close to 3,150 rockets have been fired at Israel since the beginning of the war four weeks ago; 75 people are still hospitalized as a result.

Four soldiers were killed on Monday in three separate battles with Hizbullah terrorists. One, 22-year-old Staff Sergeant Malko (Moshe) Ambao of Lod, was killed Monday morning in a fierce exchange of gunfire with Hizbullah terrorists. Two other soldiers - Maj. Yotam Lotan from Kibbutz Beit Hagotcha2ah and Sgt. Noam Meirson, 23, of Jerusalem - were killed in a later incident when a rocket hit their tank nearby. Still later, an anti-tank rocket hit an IDF force in the village of Debl, killing First Sgt. Philip Mosko, 21, of Maaleh Adumim and lightly wounding five soldiers.

Olmert Studies Interesting Proposal
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert briefed President Moshe Katzav on the war this morning, and then met with reporters. He said that he and the government ministers are "studying" the proposal for the Lebanese Army to take immediate control of the south of the country, in place of Hizbullah. Calling it "interesting," the Prime Minister said the practicality of the idea would have to be looked into. It is not clear how it could be guaranteed that Hizbullah terrorists would not be integrated into the Lebanese forces. Hizbullah is a member of the Lebanese government coalition.

Speaking beforehand in a special broadcast to Jewish fundraisers in the United States, Olmert said, "We will win, but we will have to pay a terrible price." A special emergency appeal is underway in the U.S. for Israel's war effort.

"Our enemies wish to kill us," Olmert told them, "in the hope that they will help actualize the Iranian president's pledge to wipe Israel off the map."

Heavy Fighting in Southern Lebanon; Sleeping Terror Cell Caught

[Shammu]

3,050 rockets have hit Israel so far
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST    Aug. 8, 2006

Since the fighting in the North began 28 days ago, 3,050 rockets have landed on Israeli soil, police summarized on Tuesday.

In total, 750 of the rockets landed within city boundaries, while the rest hit open areas.

In all, rockets have killed 49 people, and 75 of the wounded are still being hospitalized.

3,050 rockets have hit Israel so far

[Shammu]

Livni: Siniora must wipe away his tears and start acting

Foreign minister says in special Knesset discussion, in which families of kidnapped soldiers participate, that Israel is paying for weakness of Lebanese government. Knesset speaker, MK Itzik, attacks war critics and decisions of political and military apparatuses: 'We cannot conduct this war in atmosphere of inquiry committee'
Ilan Marciano

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called Tuesday in her Knesset speech to the Prime Minister of Lebanon Fouad Siniora "to wipe away his tears and to start acting in order to create a better future for the citizens for whom he is crying." In a special discussion in which the families of the kidnapped soldiers participated, Livni related to Siniora's crying in front of the foreign ministers of the Arab world in Beirut Monday.

 
According to Livni, Israel is paying the price for the weakness of the Lebanese government, the same price the Lebanese people are paying. "Siniora is using his weakness to call the international community to strengthen him. We say to the international community not to leave its decisions as mere decisions on paper, which are later pointed to when they are preserved in archives. We must not give veto power to Hizbullah. With the international community understands Siniora's weakness it gives more power to Hizbullah."

The foreign minister mentioned the draft resolution submitted by the US and France to the UN Security Council, but refused to give Israel's official position on the issue, claiming that "we are also still asking to make corrections."

 
Among the changes Israel is asking be made are establishing Hizbullah, using their specific name in the draft, as the party that started the confrontation and not mentioning the kidnapped soldiers in the same clause as the prisoners. "At the same time, a discussion was held on the demands for an immediate ceasefire, at the end of which the future of Lebanon will be discussed, a demand which we claim will create a vacuum," Livni said.

 
"The understanding in the draft is that Hizbullah must stop their attacks against everyone, including soldiers, not only Israeli civilians. Israel is asked to suspend operations, but there is no demand to withdraw our forces. Of course we still have the right to respond," Livni clarified.

 
Itzik: They invented term 'refugee' for us

 
At the start of the discussion MK Itzik attacked those who criticize the war and the conduct of the military and political apparatuses saying that this is not the time to deal with "the day after." According to her, "There are those who it is important to them to be petty and find flaws in what we are doing while we are burying our dead. This is not the time. A country cannot conduct a way in an atmosphere of an inquiry committee.

 
She made a subtle criticism of the Arab Knesset members. "Also, for those among us who are calling in the name of humanitarianism to make a ceasefire, here and now with no conditions – the pictures from Lebanon are difficult to see, I admit, but they are no more difficult that pictures of thousands of Israeli children torn from their houses to the south away from the threat of rockets. They are no more difficult than the images of destruction and the burning of cities, towns, and agricultural areas from Haifa and northward. They are no more difficult than the pictures of the blood and killing in Kfar Giladi, Haifa, or Majdal Krum."

 
To those who are disturbed by the images of Lebanese refugees, Itzik said: "There is no nation who can teach us what it means to a refugee and uprooted. They invented the term 'refugee' for us. Enough of the self-flagellation and the self-righteous moral preaching. Anyway we are conducting this war with one hand tied behind our back because of our interest in protecting humanitarian and moral principles against a murderous enemy who makes no distinction and value of human life. I am still waiting for the first Hizbullah members, the first Lebanese, who will express regret or apologize for the suffering of innocent people on the Israeli side."

 
On the years gone by since IDF forces withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, Itzik said, "We exploited our exit to build guest houses, and on the other side of the border they exploited it to arm with rockets. When we cultivated agriculture, the economy, tourism, they cultivated the ability to launch rockets."

 
Like Livni, Itzik also made a call to the Lebanese prime minister saying, "Stop crying and start doing. Expel this excessive terrorist parasite called Hizbullah and out two nations will be able to go back to smiling."

 
Before the discussion, Itzik met with the families of the kidnapped soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev, and Gilad Shalit, who came on their own initiative to the Knesset to ensure that any political arrangement will include the return of their beloved. Itzik praised the restraint and the resilience of the families.

Livni: Siniora must wipe away his tears and start acting

[Shammu]

Nearly all Palestinians back Hezbollah: poll

Mon Aug 7, 6:59 AM ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Nearly all Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza back Hezbollah against Israel and would oppose the unconditional release of captured Israeli soldiers to shorten the war, a poll has showed.

Hezbollah had the support of 97 percent of Palestinians, compared with three percent who said they were opposed to the group, according to the poll.

It said that 93 percent of Palestinians thought that two Israeli soldiers captured in a July 12 cross-border raid that sparked the war in Lebanon should not be released unconditionally even if it means an easing of the conflict.

Six percent of those questioned said the soldiers should not be released under any circumstances but one percent said they should be freed without conditions to put an end to the Israeli offensive.

The poll was conducted by the Ramallh-based Near East Consulting group. It questioned 713 people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and had a 6.3-percent margin of error.

Nearly all Palestinians back Hezbollah: poll

[Shammu]

Iran answers Hizbullah call for SAM systems

By Robin Hughes JDW Deputy Editor
London Additional reporting by Alon Ben-David JDW Staff Reporter
Israeli-Lebanese border

Iran is to supply the Islamic Resistance - the armed wing of the Lebanese Shi'ite Party of God (Hizbullah) - with a quantity of surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems over the coming months, Western diplomatic sources have confirmed to Jane's.

According to the sources, Tehran will supply Hizbullah with Russian-produced SAMs, including the Strela-2/2M (SA-7 'Grail'), Strela-3 (SA-14 'Gremlin') and Igla-1E (SA-16 'Gimlet') man-portable SAM systems.

Iran answers Hizbullah call for SAM systems