Matthew 24:6 War, and rumor of war.

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Israel Pounds Border Crossings to Syria
Aug 11 11:23 AM US/Eastern
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By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
Associated Press Writer

BEIRUT, Lebanon

Israeli airstrikes pounded south Beirut and border crossings to Syria, killing at least 14 people across Lebanon as ground fighting picked up intensity in the south.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is dissatisfied with the emerging cease-fire deal and told his defense minister in a meeting Friday to get ready for a wider ground offensive in Lebanon, a senior Israeli official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the contents of the Olmert-Peretz meeting. It was not immediately clear whether the Israeli threat was meant to pressure the U.N. Security Council or whether Israel is determined to send troops deeper into Lebanon.

Jets struck twice at a busy bridge at the Abboudiyeh border crossing into Syria, killing at least 12 people and wounding 18 others, hospital and security officials said. The checkpoint is some 10 miles inland from the Mediterranean coast, on Lebanon's northern border.

Hezbollah TV reported Friday that guerrillas destroyed an Israeli gunboat off the coast of Tyre, killing or wounding the crew of 12.

The Israeli army said it was not aware of a strike on any of its vessels, which have been enforcing a blockade of the Lebanese coast since fighting began 30 days ago. Larger craft have repeatedly fired shells against Hezbollah positions and strongholds, including in south Beirut.

Israel also struck an area close to the Lebanese border crossing at Masnaa in the Bekaa Valley, about 30 miles southeast of Beirut, but there were no reports of casualties. Masnaa is the main border crossing with Syria, and has been closed after four previous strikes. It was the main escape route for hundreds of foreigners and displaced Lebanese who fled the country over land.

Only one other official border crossing, at the northern coastal town of Arida, is open.

Israeli warplanes also struck three vehicles near the eastern city of Baalbek, killing at least one person and wounding two others, security officials said. Witnesses said the vehicles were directly hit and caught fire. It was unclear whether they were cars or pickup trucks _ a frequent target of Israeli raids.

A drone fired a missile at a motorbike on the southern coastal highway between Sidon and Tyre, killing its driver, security officials said. Jets also hit roads and residential areas near the southern market town of Nabatiyeh, flattening a deserted house there, they said. It was unclear if its owner, Zaino Yassin, was a Hezbollah activist, they said.

Israeli warplanes struck roads and villages in mountainous areas in the southeastern part of the Bekaa Valley as well, security officials said. No casualties were reported.

At least 20 explosions rang out across the Lebanese capital as thick black smoke rose from the southern suburbs. Hezbollah said it unleashed "a new barrage of rockets on Haifa" in response. Later the group said it fired at the Israeli towns of Kiryat Shemona, Nahariya, Avivim, Kfar Giladi, Margelot and Metulla "in response to the continuing Zionist attacks on Lebanese civilians."

Warplanes returned to the capital midday and sent missiles into Chiah, a south Beirut neighborhood where at least 41 people were killed in a strike Monday. Friday's attack came a day after Israeli jets dropped leaflets over Beirut, warning Chiah residents to leave. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

In another statement, Hezbollah said its fighters killed or wounded about 15 Israeli soldiers trying to advance toward the border village of Aita al-Shaab. "The remaining soldiers retreated under the cover of artillery shelling," the statement said. Aita al-Shaab is one of several Lebanese border towns where gunbattles have been raging for weeks between Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerrillas.

The group later said it killed four Israeli soldiers in Qantara, about 5 miles from the Israeli border. Hezbollah said its guerrillas inflicted casualties on Israeli forces in the village of Rachaf as well, some 9 miles from the border.

"The Islamic Resistance (Hezbollah) has since early morning been engaged in fierce clashes (with Israeli troops) on the southwestern outskirts of Rachaf. By 9:40 a.m., the (Israeli) enemy was trying to evacuate its casualties from the battlefield," Hezbollah said in a statement broadcast on its Al-Manar television.

Fighting also continued in Beit Yahoun, with Hezbollah saying it destroyed an Israeli tank and bulldozer, killing or wounding their crews. The town is about 7 miles from the Israeli border.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on Hezbollah's statements.

An Associated Press reporter in the southern port city of Tyre heard a huge sonic boom over the town early Friday, likely from Israeli jet fighters breaking the sound barrier overhead.

Israel Pounds Border Crossings to Syria

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IDF says 'green light' issued for wider Lebanon operation

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Friday that the government has given the green light for army to widen its operations in southern Lebanon and to capture the territory south of the Litani River, officers confirm.

Large troops along the border are preparing to enter Lebanon.

IDF says 'green light' issued for wider Lebanon operation

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Egeland: Mideast anger worst in 20 years

By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer Fri Aug 11, 12:36 PM ET

GENEVA - U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said Friday the anger on all sides in the Middle East is the greatest he has seen in two decades of trying to help the troubled region make peace.

"I've never seen nations as polarized as during this recent visit," said Egeland, who was in Lebanon, Israel and the Gaza Strip at the end of July.

"People were enraged collectively in Lebanon, everybody against the Israeli indiscriminate onslaught," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "In Israel, they were a united front to support the strong military measures. In the Palestinian areas, I've never seen them as full of hatred collectively as now. It has to be defused."

Egeland, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said he was counting on the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution that will stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and serve as a first step to finally concluding a peace settlement in the Middle East.

"Everybody wants now to find a permanent political solution," he said in his office in the world body's European headquarters. "This has now become a powder keg. You have really to defuse it. You cannot just delay further conflict."

Egeland said the tensions were the worst he had seen in the more than 20 years he has been working to promote peace and human rights in the Middle East, including a stint as a soldier in the U.N. force in Lebanon in 1978 and involvement in securing the Oslo agreement between Israel and the PLO in the 1990s.

Egeland said the Israel-Hezbollah fighting could be stopped immediately if there is the will because it isn't protracted and there are only two parties, not 20 as in the Sudanese region of Darfur, which has been wracked by conflict since 2003.

The Security Council has to come up with a resolution that will be respected, Egeland said.

"We've seen resolutions that are effective and we've seen resolutions that are ineffective, and an ineffective one doesn't help us at all," he said. "There has to be some teeth in it and there has to be pressure on the parties to respect it.

"Every day of non-decision in the Security Council costs lives," Egeland said.

Hundreds of Lebanese have already died and the numbers are likely to start going up sharply soon, he said.

"Imagine the predicament of the civilian population. On the one side they've been asked by Israel to leave because it's too dangerous to stay. At the same time, now the Israelis say that they will fire at any truck moving that has not been cleared as a humanitarian convoy by the U.N. or the Red Cross," Egeland said. "The people are really in a desperate situation."

He said it was impossible to predict how many people will die.

"People do not start to starve immediately in a place like Lebanon if they are cut off. For weeks they can eat from whatever reserves they have. Disease does not start to spread immediately. But after a few weeks, there are no more coping mechanisms. Sick people die. Hospitals stop to function, and that has already started because they do not have fuel. Wounded people die because they cannot get medical attention.

"It's not going slowly to the worst, it's going dramatically down after a few weeks in this kind of a situation, and that's why it's so urgent to stop it all with a U.N. resolution and get a cease-fire."

He said that by some measures, the situation for civilians in Congo, Sudan's Darfur region and Iraq is worse than it is in Lebanon, but that the number of Lebanese who have fled their homes was very high.

He said the tensions in the region have made it very difficult to avoid offending parties to the conflict.

"It's part of our lives as humanitarian workers to try to be impartial and neutral in political minefields," Egeland said. "But this one has been particularly difficult to tread. I feel that they are weighing my every word."

"Israel was outraged when I said that it was clearly excessive, clearly disproportionate, and I said a war where you kill more children than armed men — there is something wrong with the way of waging hostilities. Hezbollah was outraged when I said that they are blending in to the civilian population, and it's cowardly to blend in among women and children. It's tough."

Egeland: Mideast anger worst in 20 years

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U.N. rights body condemns Israel for war

By ELIANE ENGELER, Associated Press Writer 23 minutes ago

GENEVA - The U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday condemned Israel for "massive bombardment of Lebanese civilian populations" and other "systematic" human rights violations, and decided to send a commission to investigate.

European countries, Japan and Canada voted against the resolution, primarily because it lacked balance in failing to name the Hezbollah militia. The United States, which is an observer, has no vote on the 47-member council.

Israeli Ambassador Itzhak Levanon said the discussions were one-sided, referring only to civilian losses in Lebanon while ignoring the deadly Hezbollah missile attacks on northern Israel.

"It is painful and regrettable that the council made a distinction between the sufferings, the blood and the deaths, and this failure will forever be written in the annals of that body," he said.

The council voted 27-11 to pass the resolution, which was proposed by the 57-country Organization of the Islamic Conference. Among those voting for the resolution were China, Russia, India, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay, Zambia and South Africa. Guatemala and seven other countries abstained.

Although the OIC refused to insert "Hezbollah" in the text, it amended its wording to make an indirect reference to the Lebanese militia, urging "all concerned parties to respect the rules of international humanitarian law (and) to refrain from violence against the civilian population."

Louise Arbour, the U.N.'s high commissioner for human rights, told the council it was obligated to consider violations by both sides.

"Israeli attacks affecting civilians continue unabated," she said. "Also unrelenting is Hezbollah's indiscriminate shelling of densely populated centers in northern Israel which has brought death and destruction.

"There have also been repeated allegations of Hezbollah's systematic use of civilians as human shields," she said.

It was the second time the new council has singled out Israel in emergency sessions this summer.

In a meeting July 6, the body voted 29-11 to deplore Israel's military operations in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip. It has no powers to punish countries beyond public condemnation. However, Arbour, a former Canadian Supreme Court justice, warned there could be other proceedings for any war crimes.

"I remind all belligerents that war crimes and crimes against humanity may be committed even by those who believe, accurately or not, that their combat is a just one and their cause a worthy pursuit," she said.

The resolution said an inquiry commission of experts should go immediately "to investigate the systematic targeting and killings of civilians by Israel in Lebanon; to examine the types of weapons used by Israel and their conformity with the international law; to assess the extent and deadly impact of Israeli attacks on human life, property, critical infrastructure and the environment."

It said the Israelis had "caused thousands of deaths and injuries, mostly among children and women, and the displacement of 1 million civilians, according to a preliminary assessment."

It also condemned "Israeli military operations in Lebanon, which constitute gross and systematic human rights violations" and "the massive bombardment of Lebanese civilian populations, especially the massacres in Qana," where 28 people were killed in a July 30 Israeli airstrike, and other Lebanese towns.

The fighting began July 12 after Hezbollah guerrillas based in southern Lebanon kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. Israel responded with an air campaign and later a ground offensive. Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets into northern Israel.

International efforts to agree on a plan for trying to end the fighting have so far failed.

The OIC, which gathered enough signatures to require Friday's meeting in Geneva, kept its focus only on Israel.

"The situation in Lebanon is appalling," said Pakistan Ambassador Masood Khan, speaking for the group of Arab countries and other countries with large Muslim populations.

Lebanon Ambassador Gebran Soufan said Lebanese were being "collectively slaughtered and punished" by the Israelis.

Levanon said both Israeli and Lebanese civilians were suffering from the conflict and that Hezbollah was conducting a "vicious campaign of terror."

He said the council also should recognize as a deeper cause of the conflict the behind-the-scenes roles of Syria and Iran — "those cowardly states which cynically seek to fight their battles through others, on foreign soil."

U.S. Ambassador Warren W. Tichenor objected to the session being held, saying it was "unhelpful and potentially counterproductive to the (U.N.) Security Council's efforts to address the complex issues involved in this conflict."

European diplomats said they tried unsuccessfully to persuade the OIC to put more balance into the resolution, which they considered one-sided.

U.N. rights body condemns Israel for war

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Annan, UN Under Fire for Stance on Israel
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
August 11, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - Jewish organizations are stepping up pressure on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whom they accuse of siding against Israel in its war against Hizballah.

The move comes amid growing criticism of a range of U.N. bodies that have issued declarations blaming Israel for the crisis.

"How many more Israeli civilians must die before you condemn Hizballah?" the Anti-Defamation League asked in an ad published in The New York Times Thursday.

In a letter to Annan sent a day earlier, the organization said: "While you clearly are not at a loss for words when it comes to criticizing and denouncing Israel, a member state of the United Nations, you seen unable to muster an equally strong voice to denounce the daily firing by the terrorist organization Hizballah of hundreds of rockets into Israel specifically aimed at and intended to kill and maim civilians."

The Jerusalem Post reports that the ADL last week joined representatives of three other U.S. groups -- the American Jewish Committee, B'nai B'rith and the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations -- in meeting with Annan.

They reportedly urged him publicly to declare Hizballah a terrorist organization.

Annan's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, issued a statement Thursday saying the secretary-general "reiterates his call that the fighting must stop to save civilians on both sides from the nightmare they have endured for the past four weeks."

Asked during a briefing about the ADL allegations, Dujarric replied: "I think the tone of the ad is misplaced and people should read his statements in full and see that the secretary-general has expressed condemnation for the death of all civilians."

During the conflict, which began when Hizballah mounted a cross-border raid on July 12, killing and kidnapping Israeli soldiers, Annan has issued a number of statements.

A review of them does suggest an attempt to balance the blame, with such references as "the tragic events in Lebanon and northern Israel," and the sending of condolences to the families of victims in Lebanon and Israel.

"It is important to stress that both sides in this conflict bear a heavy responsibility, and there is strong prima facie evidence that both have committed grave breaches of international humanitarian law," he said on July 30.

Four days earlier, Annan called on Hizballah to stop its deliberate targeting of Israeli population centers, and on Israel to stop "bombardments, blockades and ground operations."

And on July 20, he said that while Hizballah's actions were "deplorable," Israel's "excessive use of force is to be condemned."

'Moral equivalence'

But Annan's critics reject what they see as a bid to equate a military operation by a sovereign state with attacks directed intentionally at civilians by a terrorist organization.

They were also particularly incensed by two Annan statements - his charge of Israel's "apparently deliberate targeting" of a U.N. monitoring force base in southern Lebanon in an air strike that killed four observers; and his assessment this week that an Israeli attack on the town of Qana followed "a pattern of violations of international law ... during the course of the current hostilities."

Twenty-eight people died in the July 30 incident. Israel said that it would not have targeted the building had it known civilians were sheltering inside, and said Hizballah had fired more than 150 rockets into Israel from Qana, in line with its strategy of using civilians as shields.

In a hard-hitting letter earlier, the Zionist Organization of America accused Annan of rushing to judgment and of engaging in "moral equivalence" by saying there was evidence both Israel and Hizballah had broken international law.

"Despite lip-service paid to the right of Israel to self-defense, its legitimate military campaign is being distorted and maligned by the United Nations' chief executive officer," ZOA president Morton Klein and others said in the letter.

"Your biased and loaded criticism of Israel is another page of dishonor in the history of the United Nations' conduct towards the state of Israel and its legitimate fight to secure its existence and protect its citizens."

In recent weeks, Israel has been condemned by the U.N.'s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; a U.N. subcommission on human rights; and by six U.N. human rights experts dealing respectively with the rights of internally-displaced persons, the right to housing, the right to food, the right to freedom of expression, the right to health, and the right to education.

On Friday, the U.N.'s flagship rights body, the Human Rights Council (HRC), is holding a special session, at the prompting of Arab and Muslim nations and their allies.
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Rather than debate the conflict in its entirety, the session will "consider and take action on the gross human rights violations by Israel in Lebanon, including the Qana massacre, country-wide targeting of innocent civilians, and destruction of vital civilian infrastructure."

It's the second time in five weeks that the HRC has called an irregular session to discuss Israel, which was condemned last time for the situation in Gaza. Critics say the Geneva-based body is already following its discredited predecessor's habit of focusing disproportionately on Israel.

The American Jewish Committee Tuesday sent letters to the ambassadors of countries serving on the 47-member HRC, expressing concern that the session would ignore Hizballah's role in starting the conflict and continuing to harm and threaten Israel.

"If the council adopts yet another one-sided resolution condemning the attacked while rewarding the aggressor, it may irrevocably stain its reputation for years to come," said the AJC's Aaron Jacob, urging governments to vote against any such resolution.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center said it was time the U.N.'s HRC turned its attention on Lebanon, which it said had failed to implement Security Council resolution 1559. the resolution's requirements include Hizballah's disarmament and the extension of Lebanese government control over all its territory.

"Lebanon is guilty of complicity with Hizballah in the commission of war crimes against the people of Israel because of their failure to disarm Hizballah or to even alert the U.N. of such violations," said the organization's dean, Marvin Hier.

The HRC session was called after a required one-third of its members backed a request, submitted by Arab and Muslim states. The threshold of 16 members was passed when Islamic members were supported by China, Cuba, Russia and South Africa.

Anne Bayefsky, editor of the Hudson Institute's "Eye on the U.N." project, charged this week that Annan had "effectively turned the United Nations into the political wing of Hizballah."

Rather than "come to the aid of a U.N. member under fire from one of the world's leading terrorist organizations," she said, the U.N. "came to the aid of the terrorist by attempting to prevent the member state from exercising its right to hit back."

Annan, UN Under Fire for Stance on Israel

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Moroccan Author Khanatha Banouna: We Need Millions of Hasan Nasrallahs and Osama bin Ladens

Following are excerpts from an interview with Moroccan author, Khanatha Banouna, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on August 8, 2006:

Khanatha Banouna: Anyone with responsibility - in the home, in official institutions, in the pulpits, in the media, in the ideological sphere, and in politics - must build up active range - rage will shake the worm-eaten roots, which have brought us to this sick reality.

[...]

We need Hasan Nasrallah, millions of Hasan Nasrallahs. We need millions of Osama bin Ladens. We need millions of people armed with real active rage.

[...]

We are not Indians. I said this to an American journalist who came to me before the [9/11] New York incidents. I told them I believe in "blood for blood." I still say this. I still believe in "blood for blood," and if I had the power, I would do it myself.

[...]

We are not terrorists. What terrorist in the world is more terrible than Bush and all the Zionists? We are not terrorists, but if self-defense, and defending our values, our identity, our culture, and our religion is terrorism, then we welcome every type of terrorism on the face of the earth. In that case, I'm a terrorist, heading the list of terrorists.

Moroccan Author Khanatha Banouna: We Need Millions of Hasan Nasrallahs and Osama bin Ladens

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Syrian Analyst: Israel will heighten war

Damascus, Aug 11, IRNA

Lebanon-Syria-UN
An international relations analyst in Syria said here Friday that Israel will intensify the war against Lebanon if the draft resolution is ratified.

Head of Al-Sharq Strategic Studies Center, Samir Al-Taghi, told IRNA that the draft resolution's defying demands of Lebanon shows failure of the United Nations in settling disputes.

He added the US is seeking to end military operations in Lebanon because Israel is unable to defeat Hezbollah.

"The Zionist Regime of Israel is trapped in a politico-military vortex and the US and its allies are trying to save it," he said.

It is likely the United Nations Security Council will issue a resolution, calling on Israel to gradually withdraw from Lebanon in several stages and on Lebanon to station its army in southern areas.

Reports about the draft resolution indicate that UN-affiliated troops will cooperate with the Lebanese army to establish security and stability in southern Lebanon.

The United States and France have reportedly agreed on this draft resolution. However, they have clearly announced that they have ignored the demands of Lebanese premier.

Syrian Analyst: Israel will heighten war

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Beilin: Widening operation – prize for Hizbullah

Decision to give 'green light' to expand IDF operations in Lebanon met with severe criticism from left
Attila Somfalvi

The decision Friday to expand IDF operations in Lebanon met with severe criticism from the Left wing. Chairman of Meretz-Yahad Yossi Beilin said the move was "a prize for Hizbullah."

"I hope Olmert and Peretz's decision is part of the arm-twisting on the eve of the security council decision (on a ceasefire). If the ground operation is indeed stretched to the Litani, the result will be long weeks of exhaustive warfare," Beilin said.

Chairman of the Meretz faction Zahav Galon defined the decision as "hasty and thoughtless."

"This decision was a surrender to the army's agenda to expand the war process instead of waiting for a diplomatic victory," Galon said.

On the other hand MK Yisrael Hason (Israel Our Home) praised the decision made by the prime minister and defense minister.

"The past few days prove that the Homefront and the army need leadership. The government must stand up to the goals the prime minister presented in his speech at the beginning of the war, and the agreement being reached (in the UN) is a severe hindrance which at best will result in generations of tears," Hason said.

Beilin: Widening operation – prize for Hizbullah

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Israeli Objections to Ceasefire Proposal
13:00 Aug 11, '06 / 17 Av 5766
by Hillel Fendel and Hana Levi Julian

Former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom of the Likud has stinging criticism of the ceasefire plan being formulated in the United Nations. He calls it a "disgrace" and a "historic tragedy."

Shalom, who served as Foreign Minister under former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for nearly three years until early this year, said that the proposal under consideration by the Security Council "mortgages the country's future" and would be a "weeping for generations."

Lebanon, too, has objections, which may cause another delay in the Council vote. Lebanon feels that the Shab'a Farms area, which it still demands from Israel, is not significantly mentioned, nor does it like the fact that the international peacekeeping force would be empowered to open fire. Lebanon also insists that Israel withdraw entirely from south Lebanese territory before any ceasefire is carried out.

Israel initially objected to the ceasefire proposal for its lack of a clause requiring Hizbullah to disarm prior to a ceasefire. Nonetheless, Jerusalem appears willing to accept the proposal.

Israel has rejected a Russian proposal to hold a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, says it would only give Hizbullah ”time to regroup and recover. We think this is a bad idea."

Speaking with Voice of Israel Radio on Friday morning, Minister Shalom said if the UN proposal is accepted, "Israel's position would be worse than it was at the beginning of the war: It does not call for a large multi-national force in southern Lebanon, Hizbullah would not be disarmed, and a parallel is made between our abducted soldiers and murderous Lebanese terrorists held by Israel such as Samir Kuntar."

"It could even be," Shalom said, "that Syria might conclude that it can get the Golan Heights back by sending over some missiles to Israel."

Shalom's party colleague, former Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Yuval Shteinitz, took an even stronger stance. If Israel accepts this "shameful" ceasefire, Shteinitz said Friday morning, "the government must resign and new elections must be held."

Shteinitz took issue with the fact that the new proposal would replace Resolution 1559 of two years ago, which calls for the Lebanese Army to take over southern Lebanon from Hizbullah:
"The fact that Israel is willing to significantly erode 1559, and even give Hizbullah a territorial achievement in the form of half of Israel's Mt. Hermon (Shab'a) will be understood as a clear victory for Hizbullah. This will invite a difficult war of rockets and commandos from Syria in the near future."

"If this is an existential war, as [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert said, then the results of it are dangerous to Israel's existence," Shteinitz concluded.

On the other hand, the left-wing peace forces are pleading with the government to accept the ceasefire proposal. Meretz MK Zahava Gal'on said, "It is in Israel's interest to accept this plan and to thus end the warfare. Israel must take advantage of the agreement being formed to call for the inclusion of Syria in the negotiations, and to thus turn it into an entity with which we can reach a diplomatic agreement."

A diplomatic agreement with Syria, almost by definition, would entail ceding the Golan Heights to that country.

Israeli Objections to Ceasefire Proposal

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Ceasefire Plan Does Not Eliminate Hizbullah Threat
05:36 Aug 11, '06 / 17 Av 5766
by Yechiel Spira


Cool flag, I've
never seen it that way
before.

The draft ceasefire plan agreed to by the United States and France may result in an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, but it will not disarm Hizbullah.


It appears that United Nations efforts are concentrating on halting Israeli military operations throughout Lebanon, but no effort is being made to eliminate the Hizbullah threat. The draft agreement only calls for pushing Hizbullah north of the Litani, not far enough from Israel’s northern border to place Hizbullah rockets out of range from northern Israeli civilian population centers.

While the draft agreement supports UN Resolution 1559, demanding Hizbullah be disarmed by the Lebanese government, it does not make this a precondition to the implementation of the ceasefire.

The plan calls or the deployment of the current UNIFIL force in southern Lebanon, to be supported by some 10,000 French forces and 15,000 Lebanese army troops. Other countries may also send troops to take part in the force, which will be responsible to prevent Hizbullah attacks into Israel.

Lebanese authorities and Hizbullah are already signaling the plan is unacceptable since it does not demand an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, but permits a gradual withdrawal of forces over a month. In addition, Lebanese officials are calling the plan discriminatory, since it mentions the need to work towards the release of captive IDF soldiers while not making mention of the release of Lebanese soldiers.

In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz have put the next stage of the IDF anti-Hizbullah offensive in southern Lebanon on hold, realizing a stepped-up offensive at this time would compromise White House efforts to broker a ceasefire. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expressing cautious optimism, but has decided not to permit Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to travel to New York to address the Security Council, fearing such a move would increase pressure on Israel.

In 30 days, the agreement will seek more comprehensive ceasefire terms as well as formulating solutions towards the release of three IDF captive soldiers.

The agreement is being rejected by the IDF, with members of the General Staff expressing strong opposition, stating the plan prevents planned efforts towards reducing the Hizbullah threat. Military officials fear the implementation of the draft ceasefire will do nothing to disarm the terror organization.

Defense Minister Peretz in statements released in Jerusalem on Thursday stated that prior to advancing military operations; all diplomatic channels would be exhausted. The senior minister added that there are several points that must be included in any ceasefire plan, including the deployment of a multinational stabilization force in southern Lebanon, removing the threat of future Katyusha rocket attacks against Israel, disarming Hizbullah and setting in motion a plan towards the release of captive IDF soldiers.

Ceasefire Plan Does Not Eliminate Hizbullah Threat

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Russia Denies Reports of Antitank Exports to Lebanon

Created: 11.08.2006 09:38 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 09:38 MSK, 15 hours 21 minutes ago

MosNews

The Russian Foreign Ministry has denied reports that modern Russian-made antitank weapons have been supplied to Lebanon, the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reports.

“Such insinuations cause at the very least perplexity in Moscow. If there are any questions, there are normal diplomatic channels for their clarification. We have not received such requests yet. Nor has any proof been presented,” the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official representative Mikhail Kamynin has said.

He was commenting at journalists’ request on media reports, including reports quoting statements by high-ranking Israeli officials, who had claimed that Hezbollah fighters have used modern Russian-made antitank weapons in Lebanon.

“We have already said repeatedly that Russia strictly complies with its international obligations when it carries out military-technical cooperation, including with countries in the Middle East,” Kamynin noted.

“The system of control over arms exports that we have is one of the most reliable and one that excludes the possibility of arms falling into the wrong hands. We are also fully aware of the nature of the military and political situation in the Middle East. It is a state of conflict and it requires a balanced and careful approach to such issues,” the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official representative said.

Russia Denies Reports of Antitank Exports to Lebanon

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Israel Rejects Russia’s Call for Truce, Says It Would Give Hezbollah Time to Regroup

Created: 11.08.2006 11:27 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:23 MSK, 9 hours 35 minutes ago

MosNews

Israel’s representative to the United Nations Dan Gillerman has rejected Russia’s proposal at the Security Council demanding a 72-hour humanitarian truce in Lebanon, AFX reports.

Earlier on Thursday, Russia circulated a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for a 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire in Lebanon, saying the crisis was reaching “catastrophic” proportions and was too urgent to wait for passage of a separate U.S.-French measure, The Associated Press reported.

“It would be a very bad solution” to the crisis, because “it would allow Hezbollah to regroup,” Gillerman told Israeli public radio.

Russia’s move came as the United States and France appeared close to breaking a deadlock on their long-awaited resolution and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said there could be a vote on their proposal on Friday. Responding to the Russian draft, Bolton said he did not think it was helpful to distract attention from negotiations over the U.S.-French draft. “We’re not playing games here,” he said. “This is very serious.”

More than 800 people have been killed in the monthlong conflict which has devastated Lebanon.

“This diplomatic activity is not being conducted in a quiet academic environment,” Russia’s UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said. “War is raging in Lebanon and the humanitarian situation is getting catastrophic.” He said that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan supported the Russian proposal for a 72-hour cease-fire.

The Russian ambassador said his proposal would also call for diplomats to speed up their efforts to seek a political solution.

“We hope it will focus minds, it will energize politicians and diplomats,” Churkin said. He said Russia wanted a vote on its resolution on Friday evening, which would allow the required 24 hours for other council members to consult with their governments.

Israel Rejects Russia’s Call for Truce, Says It Would Give Hezbollah Time to Regroup

[Soldier4Christ]

Cool flag, I've
never seen it that way
before.

I haven't either. The UN falg has always had a solid blue background. I wonder why this one is these colors.

[Shammu]

Iran seeks Turkey support on UN's ME decision

Saturday, August 12, 2006

According to AFP, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called on Turkey's leaders to intercede with the Western powers to approve a UN Middle East resolution that is "balanced", diplomatic sources said.

LONDON, August 12 (IranMania) - According to AFP, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called on Turkey's leaders to intercede with the Western powers to approve a UN Middle East resolution that is "balanced", diplomatic sources said.

The Iranians "want us to use our weight... so that the resolution is balanced," a high-ranking Turkish diplomat told journalists after a meeting between Mottaki and Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and foreign affairs chief Abdullah Gul.

The Turkish diplomat referred to the Franco-US resolution on the crisis in Lebanon that was expected to be presented to the United Nations Security Council later Friday.

The Iranians "would like us to take the initiative, especially with the Western countries, so that the decisions taken by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Malaysia are applied," the source said.

The OIC during its summit earlier this month called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and the opening of a UN inquiry into what it called the "criminal acts" committed by Israel.

Turkey supports the resolution drafted by France, the diplomat said.

Turkey is also one of Israel's only allies in the region, even though it has criticized the recent Israeli raids in Lebanon, and has already offered to play a role as mediator between the Israelis and the Hezbollah militia, which the West says is supported by Iran.

Mottaki was expected to leave Turkey late Friday for visits to Yemen and Egypt.

Putin talks with Iran's Pres. about UN resolution

[Shammu]

Putin talks with Iran's Pres. about UN resolution

Saturday, August 12, 2006
 
According to an AFP report, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about Russia's proposal for a UN resolution on the crisis in Lebanon, which was criticized by the United States and Israel.

LONDON, August 12 - According to an AFP report, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about Russia's proposal for a UN resolution on the crisis in Lebanon, which was criticized by the United States and Israel.

During a telephone conversation, "at the request of the Iranian president, Vladimir Putin spoke about the diplomatic efforts undertaken by Russia to bring an end to the bloodshed," the Kremlin said in a statement.

The proposed Russian resolution presented to the United Nations Security Council called for an immediate halt to hostilities for 72 hours for humanitarian reasons, the Kremlin said, according to AFP.

The Russian proposal, competing with the Franco-US draft, was criticized by Washington and Israel who accuse Iran of supporting the Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, AFP added.

The Security Council is expected to consider the Franco-US plan later Friday.

It is built around a formula that would see Israeli troops gradually withdraw from southern Lebanon and be simultaneously replaced by 15,000 Lebanese troops backed up by a strengthened version of the UN force, UNIFIL, which is already deployed in the area, AFP noted.

Putin talks with Iran's Pres. about UN resolution
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While the news doesn't mention it, I will.  UNIFIL has proven worthless over the years.  I can understand why, Israel wouldn't want UNIFIL, into Lebanon. All that does is give Huzzies more time to build their forces back up again.

Bob