Draft resolution presented at the U.N.

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The international force planned for Lebanon
13 Aug 2006 14:51:15 GMT

Aug 13 (Reuters) - A robust international force including troops from several European Union countries could be deployed in southern Lebanon "very, very quickly", the EU's foreign policy chief said on Sunday.

A U.N. resolution envisages up to 15,000 U.N. troops moving into Lebanon to enforce a ceasefire in the conflict between Hizbollah guerrillas and Israel, expanding the existing U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Here are some countries who have indicated they are considering contributing to the force in Lebanon:

* AUSTRALIA - Australia says it will consider contributing only a small niche group of troops to the proposed U.N. peacekeeping force.

* FRANCE - Military experts have talked about France providing up to 5,000 troops and being in command of the overall force. But President Jacques Chirac and Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy have made it clear that increased French involvement depends on other nations taking a fair share of the burden and the U.N. resolution being respected by all parties.

* INDONESIA - Indonesia says it is ready to send peacekeeping troops as a contribution.

* ITALY - Italy says it is ready to send between 2,000 and 3,000 troops to Lebanon as part of the planned U.N. force. Defence Ministry Undersecretary Lorenzo Forcieri has said the men would be from all the armed services, including special forces. He also said it was "quite realistic" that Italy would have vice-command of the force.

-- Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema says on Sunday the force will have "heavy weapons, armed vehicles, tanks, helicopters, it will have troops that can respond to any attack".

* PORTUGAL - Portugal says it is evaluating how it could contribute to a U.N. force in Lebanon.

The international force planned for Lebanon

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Analysis: U.N. Resolution 1701
 August, 2006

Many of you have written wishing an explanation of the recent U.N. cease-fire resolution 1701 to the Israel-Hezbollah war. The following are points from various sources in Israel, including The Jerusalem Post, commentator Naomi Ragen, and the Israeli conservative periodical, IsraelInsider. My thoughts are added to the points below:

* The resolution represents a near-total victory for Hezbollah and its sponsors, Syria and Iran, and a defeat for both Israel and America, though America pushed the cease-fire through late last week.

* It makes it impossible for Israel to defend itself against aggression without being exposed to international condemnation on a scale never seen before.

* The responsibility for determining compliance is placed in the hands of Kofi Annan who has distinguished himself as a man capable only of condemning Israel for its acts of self-defense. By empowering Annan to evaluate compliance, the resolution all but ensures that Hezbollah will not be forced to disarm and that Israel will be forced to give up the right to defend itself.

* A catastrophic precedent has been set for the future. Because Lebanon is receiving international support for legally unsupportable territorial demands on Israel (Shaba Farms on the Golan Heights), in the future, the Palestinians, Syrians, Egyptians, and even Jordanians will feel empowered to employ aggression to gain territorial concessions.

* It places the power to oversee an arms embargo against Hezbollah in the hands of the Lebanese government, of which Hezbollah is a member.

* Israel is expected to withdraw before a full deployment of Lebanese and UNIFIL forces is carried out. Thus, Hezbollah will reinforce its positions in south Lebanon.

* The resolution treats the Lebanese government and military as credible, though it is under the de facto control of Hezbollah and Syria.

* The situation empowers Iran--the main victor. It was not condemned in the U.N. action although it is clear that Iran was the engine behind this war.

* No Israeli leader before Ehud Olmert has caused so much damage to Israel. He destroyed more than 24 thriving Jewish communities and plans to destroy dozens more unless his government collapses. He has displaced more Jews than any Arab enemy in Israel's history. And he squandered much of Israel's military image and deterrence. He surrounded himself with second rate politicians for political reasons.

* The morale among soldiers is at an all-time low and the nation is torn apart.

* At this point, the return of captured Israeli soldiers is undetermined.

* Israeli soldiers will be replaced by notoriously anti-Israel U.N. forces and European forces who will allow Hezbollah to rearm.

* Those promoting this resolution and those accepting it including Olmert and Peretz, have squandered the lives of Israeli soldiers and civilians and the opportunity to free Israel from a deadly enemy. They have set the stage for the next war which will be sooner rather than later.

* The resolution treats as equivalent Hezbollah's illegal aggression against Israel's legitimate military actions taken in defense of its sovereign territory.

Will this cease-fire last a day, week, month, or year? That is the unknown question as this is written.

Christian commentator and author in Jerusalem, David Dolan, says, "The atmosphere in Israel is surreal." He says the heavy death toll after this "agreement" was accepted has left the country reeling.

On a more positive note, the door has opened for the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu and General Ya'alon who was kicked out because he refused to go along with the disengagement.

God has an end-time role for Israel that cannot be altered by resolutions and corrupt leaders. How the details above play out only time will tell; however, God's plan for His land will be fulfilled exactly as the Bible outlines. No, she will not be destroyed again and then be re-gathered once again as many have asked.

"The Lord your God . . . will gather you again from all the peoples where your God has scattered you. If the outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord will gather you and bring you back. The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers" (Deut. 30:1-5). "I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them. . ." (Amos 9:14).

While it is true some of the greatest promises will be fulfilled in the Millennium, still God's promise to Israel is as certain as the existence and fixed order of the universe (Jer. 31:35-37).

God is not just a covenant maker, He is a covenant keeper!  (AMEN!!!....DW)
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I can't post the link because of advertisment.  If you know of Jan Markell you know where this came from.

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Peretz to Solana: Secure abductees' release

 

Defense minister tells EU envoy Israel insists on implementation of all ceasefire clauses, including disarming of Hizbullah, return of kidnapped IDF troops
Neta Sela

 
Defense Minister Amir Peretz made it clear Sunday morning during his meeting with European envoy Javier Solana that the ceasefire resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council be implemented in full, including the disarmament of Hizbullah .

 
Before the meeting, Peretz said he also intends to ask the EU's foreign policy coordinator to intervene in order to secure the release of the abducted IDF soldiers.

 
The two figures met at Jerusalem's King David Hotel. At the opening of the meeting, Perez stressed that the Israeli government is about
to embark on a session that would see the approval of the ceasefire.

 
Solana, meanwhile, stressed the importance of the day and promised to look into ways to advance the process and solution proposed by the UN. On Saturday, Solana praised the truce resolution but criticized the Security Council for taking too long to reach the decision. He also expressed his hope that both sides act as quickly as possible to implement the resolution.

 
The government is expected to approve Resolution 1701 during its session Sunday, but the withdrawal of IDF troops from Lebanon will only start in one or two weeks, as the first international and Lebanese army forces arrive in the area, according to a senior source at the Prime Minister's Office who spoke to Ynet.

 
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan officially confirmed that the ceasefire will go into effect Monday morning.

 
During Sunday's government meeting, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will present the truce agreement. The ministers already received copies of the resolution in both Hebrew and English. Olmert's office is not expecting to encounter any substantial objection to the ceasefire agreement.

 
On Saturday, the Lebanese government unanimously approved the UN resolution.

Peretz to Solana: Secure abductees' release

Here is an audio to listen to regarding the resolution issue. It is long but good...
It also mentions Aug 22 in there for those who are interested in that date.  After you download it go to 21:50 and start there to listen if you want to skip ahead and hear about August 22. 

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The UN ceasefire resolution unravels as Lebanese government backtracks ahead of the Monday, Aug. 14 0800 deadline

August 13, 2006, 7:10 PM (GMT+02:00)

The Lebanese government postponed a meeting Sunday afternoon on disarming Hizballah. Nasrallah reversed his conditional consent to the UN ceasefire which included a veto on an arms embargo and Hizballah’s withdrawal from Lebanon.

Then, after the Israeli cabinet approved the UN ceasefire, he told the Siniora government the deal was off. Iran and Syria warned the Lebanese government not to let its troops and the 15,000-strong international force try and disarm Hizballah.

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Rice calls Lebanese PM to warn him that if the UN Lebanon resolution is not implemented, “We will not be responsible for the consequences”

August 13, 2006, 10:18 PM (GMT+02:00)

Earlier, Israeli FM Tzipi Livni put in urgent calls to the US secretary and the French foreign minister in an effort to salvage the ceasefire from Iranian-backed Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s 12th-hour retraction of his consent.

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Lebanese minister Marwan Hamadi accused Hassan Nasrallah Sunday night of reneging on his pledge to abide by the UN ceasefire

August 13, 2006, 10:03 PM (GMT+02:00)

Hamadi information minister, a Druze, said Sunday night that Nasrallah had broken his word to order Hizballah fighters south of the Litani to hand in their weapons to allow Lebanese army troops to be deployed there. Amid heavy fighting across the entire Lebanese front, Israeli field commanders await directives for Monday 0800 hours when the ceasefire deadline goes into force.

Lebanon front commander Maj-Gen Benny Gantz said Sunday night the IDF will honor the ceasefire but also defend its troops and Israeli civilians. Have they been told to hold their fire in line with Israel’s acceptance of the UN resolution 1701 now that the Lebanese government and Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah have backtracked?

Tehran has meanwhile ordered Nasrallah to keep Israel engaged in combat for another 3 to 4. As a result of which he suddenly backed away from his pledges to France and the Siniora government Saturday to accept a ceasefire and a UNIFIL force in south Lebanon.

Nasrallah said he would wait a month to see how Israel’s retreat from the disputed Shabaa Farms was progressing.

At five minutes notice, the thunderstruck Lebanese ministers called off their meeting to discuss the deployment of their forces in the south and the disarming of Hizballah

Prime minister Olmert and foreign minister Tzipi Livni spent the day explaining that the resolution is good for Israel and praising its unanimous endorsement by the Israeli cabinet Sunday. The PM plans a speech to Knesset Monday lauding the resolution as an Israeli achievement.

This is the situation the night before the ceasefire: Israel says its troops will not be recalled from Lebanon until a beefed up UNIFIL force is in place. However no international peacekeepers will deploy without a Lebanese military presence. That has now been checked by Nasrallah because the Lebanese army chiefs refuse to deploy south of the Litani if Hizballah fighters are armed.

Sunday, Hizballah deployed dozens of its combatants in furious anti-tank missile assaults on IDF tanks and field units along the S. Lebanese front. Fierce clashes raged just north of the Israeli town of Metula and other parts of the former “security strip” on the border. At least 16 Israeli soldiers were injured before noon Sunday.

Sunday, an unprecedented number of rockets – 250 - were also fired into northern Israel by midday. Hizballah is demonstrating that its ability to subject northern Israel to rocket barrages from S. Lebanon is unimpaired after a month of combat.

Sunday, Israel lost two officers and 3 soldiers in action in South Lebanon. Saturday, 24 men died in battle, including 5 crew aboard a Yasur helicopter that Hizballah shot down.

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IDF to uphold 'fragile' cease-fire
Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST    Aug. 13, 2006

While the ceasefire agreement with the Hizbullah was "fragile," the IDF planned to uphold its side to the agreement and to suspend all offensives against the guerrilla group Monday morning, a high-ranking officer in the Northern Command told The Jerusalem Post Sunday night.

On Sunday, the IDF completed taking up positions along the Litani River in preparation for a UN-brokered ceasefire scheduled to go into effect Monday morning at 7 a.m. IDF troops operating in Lebanon, the officer said, would halt their attacks on Hizbullah strongholds in nearby villages but would maintain their positions and would be ready to "jump into any village or city, including Tyre, if necessary."

If Hizbullah fired Katyusha rockets into Israel after the ceasefire went into effect, the IDF, the high-ranking officer said, would see itself allowed to bomb targets throughout Lebanon, including in Beirut. "If Hizbullah breaks the ceasefire, we will see ourselves allowed to respond," the officer said.

Meanwhile late Sunday night, IAF fighter jets shot down an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) packed with explosives and flown into Israel by the Hizbullah, not far from Nahariya. Senior officers said that the UAV was most probably on its way to an attack on a strategic location and was meant to demonstrate Hizbullah's remaining abilities hours before the ceasefire went into effect. Hizbullah fired over 250 Katyusha rockets at northern Israel on Sunday.

But assuming that the ceasefire held, the IDF will hold fire Monday morning and allow the Lebanese government - for the first time since Operation Change of Direction was launched last month - to take control of southern Lebanon.
Late Sunday night, officials indicated that the navy and air force would not lift the siege on Lebanon until its government took action to control access into the country, as required by the UN's cease-fire resolution.

But the question of will Israel do if Syria sends weapon convoys into Lebanon to help rehabilitate Hizbullah remains unanswered. "This is a serious question that requires a decision by the diplomatic echelon," the officer said. "We need to prevent the Hizbullah from rebuilding itself. The question is how far are we willing to go to do that."

So with soldiers holding a line along the Litani River, the IDF is now waiting for the 15,000 UN observers to deploy in southern Lebanon, together with the Lebanese army, as stipulated under the ceasefire agreement. Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky told The Post Sunday that the multinational force was expected to begin deploying in the coming days and that there was a chance that the IDF would begin withdrawing from Lebanon by the end of the week.

"It could take just a few days for the multinational force to arrive," Kaplinsky said from a bunker in Northern Command headquarters in Safed. "Until then, we will continue to defend ourselves and we will engage anyone who we believe is endangering our soldiers."

Not all of the details of how the cease-fire will be enforced have been worked out and late Sunday night, senior IDF officers, led by head of the IDF Planning Directorate Maj.-Gen. Haki Harel, met with top UN officials to iron out the issues left open.

Despite the public uproar over the late launching of the massive ground offensive up to the Litani River on Friday, the high-ranking officer said that the operation created the right conditions for the cease-fire agreement. Defense Minister Amir Peretz backed up the officer. "We would not have succeeded in creating an Israel-favorable agreement without the operation launched on Friday," Peretz said during a tour of the Northern Command.

Also Sunday, a day after the bloodiest day of battle claimed the lives of 24 IDF soldiers, fighting continued on Sunday with clashes in Randumia, Abu-Turin, Tel-Nahes and Ayta al-Shab that left five soldiers dead. Over 15 Hizbullah gunmen were killed in the clashes.

In the central Lebanese village of Abu-Tawil, one officer and three reservists were killed when Hizbullah guerillas fired anti-tank missiles into their infantry force. Another three soldiers were seriously wounded. Further south, in the village of Tel-Nahes, an officer was killed and another seriously wounded when an anti-tank missile scored a direct hit on their tank. Later in the day, a number of soldiers were wounded when a Katyusha landed in an Israeli village near Kiryat Shmona. Another 21 soldiers were lightly wounded throughout the day.

IDF to uphold 'fragile' cease-fire

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Israel leaflets Lebanon before truce

14 minutes ago

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The Israeli military dropped leaflets on central Beirut on Monday, warning it will retaliate against any attack launched on it from Lebanon.

Israel leaflets Lebanon before truce

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Lebanon will not force Hizbullah to withdraw
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST    Aug. 14, 2006

Lebanon's ambassador to the UN said that his government would not use force to ensure the dismantling of Hizbullah, sources said early Sunday morning. He claimed that Hizbullah would independently be responsible for leaving south Lebanon.

"We could have completed a cease-fire by Sunday morning, but Israel insisted on destroying the essence of Lebanon," the ambassador commented while being interviewed by CNN.

Lebanon will not force Hizbullah to withdraw
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Somehow, this isn't a suprise.........

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So far, all's quite on the border, 2 minutes after the ceasefire.

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For anyone looking, Fox isn't live. But CNN is live, at the moment.

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Well I was wrong, I figured thew ceasefire would last all of 2 hours. After that, the fighting would restart.

I still believe that the fighting will restart soon enough.  But that is in God's hands, not mine.

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Fragile Ceasefire Holding, Despite Two Incidents
16:48 Aug 14, '06 / 20 Av 5766
by Hillel Fendel

Two Hizbullah terrorists were killed in two separate clashes with IDF troops in southern Lebanon, but the ceasefire is largely holding. 161 Israelis hospitalized with wartime wounds.


At noon, the first ceasefire-threatening incident was reported: A Hizbullah terrorist cell detected "moving in a threatening manner," according to the IDF announcement, was fired upon by an IDF force near Hadta, in the western sector of southern Lebanon. One terrorist was killed.

Shortly afterwards, another terrorist was killed in a separate clash in the eastern sector. No Israelis were hurt in the battles.

The two incidents have been the only clashes since 8 AM this morning, when the UN-approved ceasefire took effect.

Nine IDF soldiers were killed on Sunday, in the last 24 hours before the onset of the ceasefire. Four of them were killed late yesterday morning by an anti-tank rocket at an infantry force, an officer was killed by a mortar shell, and two reservists were killed yesterday evening by an anti-tank shell. Late this afternoon (Monday), it was learned that two other soldiers had been killed Sunday night in an anti-tank rocket strike.

Northern Command O.C. Gen. Udi Adam says he is concerned about the "fragility" of the ceasefire, saying that the arrangement has many "holes."

The three hospitals in the north - Rambam in Haifa, Sieff in Tzfat, and Nahariya - are currently treating 114 soldiers and 47 civilians wounded in the nearly five weeks of warfare. Among them are 34 in serious condition and 47 in moderate condition; the others are listed as lightly wounded.

The proportion of Israelis killed in the warfare are very similar: 41 civilians, among them 17 Arabs and Druze, and 117 soldiers.

Since the war started, Sieff Hospital admitted 1,479 patients with war injuries, among them 796 soldiers.

Though the ceasefire has taken effect, Defense Minister Amir Peretz made it clear that the naval and land blockade of Lebanon would not be lifted until other elements of the UN ceasefire resolution have been implemented. Travel in and out of Lebanon will be restricted until a system to supervise border crossings and prevent terrorists from acquiring arms from outside the country is put into effect.

The army went to great pains to make sure that each of the 30,000 troops in Lebanon understands that no offensive action is to be taken, unless life-threatening Hizbullah action is detected. The noted presence of an armed Hizbullah terrorist or a vehicle carrying arms or weapons will result in IDF fire.

This, in contrast with a document sent by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Israel, saying that Israel will be permitted to open fire only after a request for such is submitted to the UN and the UN approves it in writing.

Hizbullah's Last Surprises
In the last night of fighting before the ceasefire went into effect, Hizbullah planned at least two major attacks against Israel. An IDF reserves force operating in Lebanon just north of the Israeli border city Metulah discovered a truck-bomb on its way to an attack - either in Israel or against IDF forces in the area. The forces attacked and destroyed the truck.

In addition, two Hizbullah drones headed south towards Israel were detected and downed. One of the two may have fallen because of a malfunction. At least one of them was found to be carrying explosives.

The IDF also continued to attack terrorist targets and infrastructures, as well as the terrorists themselves, in southern Lebanon, last night. Among the 178 targets attacked aerially last night were 11 Katyusha launchers, 122 buildings that served as Hizbullah weapons storehouses and the like, four tunnels, and more. In addition, two terrorists were killed and two others were hit in two separate incidents over the night.

The names of 23 of the 24 IDF soldiers killed on Saturday were known by Sunday morning, and the last one - Sgt. Uri Grossman, 20, of Mevaseret Zion - was cleared for publication yesterday. He was the son of the well-known left-wing writer David Grossman, who held a joint press conference with two other authors just this past Thursday, calling on the government to agree to a ceasefire and not to expand the ground offensive.

The IDF estimates that over 530 Hizbullah terrorists were killed in the course of the warfare. The army publicized the names of 180 of them, who were positively identified, by dropping leaflets and temporarily taking over the Hizbullah television and radio station. The IDF has another several dozen names of terrorists it knows are dead.

Fragile Ceasefire Holding, Despite Two Incidents

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Annan: Ignore Hizb'allah violations
Demands Israeli restraint even if provoked

By Ryan Jones
Aug 14, 2006

Anticipating Hizb'allah's failure to comply with a UN-brokered ceasefire, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent a letter to Jerusalem at the weekend, insisting Israel not respond militarily to any violations of Security Council Resolution 1701, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Annan said Israel should only respond in immediate self-defense, and not by relaunching a wider military offensive against the terror group.

In effect, the UN chief was saying that Israel should totally ignore Hizb'allah efforts to reestablish itself in southern Lebanon and Syrian efforts to resupply the group, and should only respond in a very pinpoint manner to any further firing of missiles at northern Israel.

Both the Lebanese military and French forces expected to bolster peacekeepers already on the ground in southern Lebanon have said they will not confront Hizb'allah with force if the terror group fails to go along with the ceasefire terms.

Israeli government sources said Annan's letter was unacceptable, and that a firm response was being drafted.

Annan: Ignore Hizb'allah violations

[Soldier4Christ]

Annan: Ignore Hizb'allah violations
Demands Israeli restraint even if provoked

Yep  .....  Stand still and do nothing while we kill you all off.