Tekun
19th August 2006, 12:58
Israeli forces operate deep inside Lebanon
Raid marks broadest violation of 5-day-old cease-fire with Hezbollah
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah fighters battled Israeli commandos who landed near the militants’ stronghold deep inside Lebanon early Saturday, killing one soldier, in the first large-scale violation of the U.N.-brokered cease-fire between the sides.
Hezbollah said its guerrillas foiled the raid after a gunbattle, and the Israeli army said one soldier was killed and two were wounded but that the commando team completed its mission.
Three Hezbollah guerillas were also killed, Lebanese security sources said.
Witnesses said Israeli missiles destroyed a bridge during the raid — the first major violation of the U.N.-imposed cease-fire that took effect Monday following 34 days of fighting.
The Israeli army said the special forces operation aimed “to prevent and interfere with terror activity against Israel, especially the smuggling of arms from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah.”
The army said that such operations would be carried out until “an effective monitoring unit” of Lebanese or multinational troops was in place to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its arsenal.
Hezbollah TV and Lebanese security officials said Israeli helicopters dropped off a commando team outside the village of Boudai west of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release information to the media, said the Israelis apparently were seeking a guerrilla target in a nearby school but had no other details.
The officials also reported heavy overflights of Israeli jets.
Such a bold operation risked the cease-fire, and suggested Israel was going after a major target near Baalbek -- perhaps to rescue two Israeli soldiers snatched by Hezbollah on July 12, or to try to capture a senior guerrilla official to trade for the soldiers.
French engineers arrive; U.N. seeks more troops
Meantime, fifty French military engineers arrived at UNIFIL’s main base in Naqoura on the south Lebanese coast, the first contingent of reinforcements to come since the war.
The engineers were among 200 pledged by France, which had earlier been expected to form the backbone of the expanded U.N. force to supervise the truce, support the Lebanese army and monitor the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
The United States urged France on Friday to increase its contingent and the United Nations appealed for Europeans to contribute to the force to create a balance between Western and Muslim troops acceptable to Israel and Lebanon.
U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown welcomed troop promises from Italy and Finland and firm commitments from Nepal and Muslim nations Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.
Israeli officials have said that countries that do not have relations with the Jewish state should not be in the force. Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh are among them.
Indonesia’s defense minister was quoted as saying Hezbollah should be integrated into the Lebanese army, not disarmed.
“We want Lebanon to make Hezbollah part of the Lebanese troops so that they can carry out their task as Hezbollah is part of a party in Lebanon,” the official Antara news agency quoted Juwono Sudarsono as saying.
The United Nations wants to field an advance force of 3,500 troops by September 2 and the entire complement by November 4.
The Security Council on August 11 authorized up to 13,000 troops to join the 2,000 now serving with UNIFIL.
But France’s reticence to send a large troop contingent has cast doubt on whether other European nations will step forward.
Lebanese army deploys in the south
The Lebanese army began deploying in the south on Thursday. Hezbollah fighters have lain low, without relinquishing their weapons, including the rockets they rained on Israel in the war.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Israel and Lebanon to make “painful compromises” to win the release of captured Israeli soldiers and settle the issue of Lebanese prisoners.
The war began after Hezbollah snatched two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12, saying it wanted to trade them for Lebanese and Arab prisoners held in Israel.
Last week’s U.N. resolution called for the unconditional release of the two Israelis and urgently encouraged efforts at settling the issue of Lebanese prisoners in Israel.
In the occupied West Bank, Israel seized Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Naser al-Shaer of the ruling Hamas militant group at his home on Saturday, his wife and two legislators said.
Israel has taken more than two dozen Hamas lawmakers and several other cabinet ministers into custody since late June, after it launched an offensive in response to the capture of a soldier in a cross-border raid from the Gaza Strip.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14420157/
This was expected of, from one side or the other
Who knows if this will develop into another phase of the ongoing conflict
Raid marks broadest violation of 5-day-old cease-fire with Hezbollah
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah fighters battled Israeli commandos who landed near the militants’ stronghold deep inside Lebanon early Saturday, killing one soldier, in the first large-scale violation of the U.N.-brokered cease-fire between the sides.
Hezbollah said its guerrillas foiled the raid after a gunbattle, and the Israeli army said one soldier was killed and two were wounded but that the commando team completed its mission.
Three Hezbollah guerillas were also killed, Lebanese security sources said.
Witnesses said Israeli missiles destroyed a bridge during the raid — the first major violation of the U.N.-imposed cease-fire that took effect Monday following 34 days of fighting.
The Israeli army said the special forces operation aimed “to prevent and interfere with terror activity against Israel, especially the smuggling of arms from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah.”
The army said that such operations would be carried out until “an effective monitoring unit” of Lebanese or multinational troops was in place to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its arsenal.
Hezbollah TV and Lebanese security officials said Israeli helicopters dropped off a commando team outside the village of Boudai west of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release information to the media, said the Israelis apparently were seeking a guerrilla target in a nearby school but had no other details.
The officials also reported heavy overflights of Israeli jets.
Such a bold operation risked the cease-fire, and suggested Israel was going after a major target near Baalbek -- perhaps to rescue two Israeli soldiers snatched by Hezbollah on July 12, or to try to capture a senior guerrilla official to trade for the soldiers.
French engineers arrive; U.N. seeks more troops
Meantime, fifty French military engineers arrived at UNIFIL’s main base in Naqoura on the south Lebanese coast, the first contingent of reinforcements to come since the war.
The engineers were among 200 pledged by France, which had earlier been expected to form the backbone of the expanded U.N. force to supervise the truce, support the Lebanese army and monitor the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
The United States urged France on Friday to increase its contingent and the United Nations appealed for Europeans to contribute to the force to create a balance between Western and Muslim troops acceptable to Israel and Lebanon.
U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown welcomed troop promises from Italy and Finland and firm commitments from Nepal and Muslim nations Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.
Israeli officials have said that countries that do not have relations with the Jewish state should not be in the force. Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh are among them.
Indonesia’s defense minister was quoted as saying Hezbollah should be integrated into the Lebanese army, not disarmed.
“We want Lebanon to make Hezbollah part of the Lebanese troops so that they can carry out their task as Hezbollah is part of a party in Lebanon,” the official Antara news agency quoted Juwono Sudarsono as saying.
The United Nations wants to field an advance force of 3,500 troops by September 2 and the entire complement by November 4.
The Security Council on August 11 authorized up to 13,000 troops to join the 2,000 now serving with UNIFIL.
But France’s reticence to send a large troop contingent has cast doubt on whether other European nations will step forward.
Lebanese army deploys in the south
The Lebanese army began deploying in the south on Thursday. Hezbollah fighters have lain low, without relinquishing their weapons, including the rockets they rained on Israel in the war.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Israel and Lebanon to make “painful compromises” to win the release of captured Israeli soldiers and settle the issue of Lebanese prisoners.
The war began after Hezbollah snatched two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12, saying it wanted to trade them for Lebanese and Arab prisoners held in Israel.
Last week’s U.N. resolution called for the unconditional release of the two Israelis and urgently encouraged efforts at settling the issue of Lebanese prisoners in Israel.
In the occupied West Bank, Israel seized Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Naser al-Shaer of the ruling Hamas militant group at his home on Saturday, his wife and two legislators said.
Israel has taken more than two dozen Hamas lawmakers and several other cabinet ministers into custody since late June, after it launched an offensive in response to the capture of a soldier in a cross-border raid from the Gaza Strip.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14420157/
This was expected of, from one side or the other
Who knows if this will develop into another phase of the ongoing conflict