LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
MAY 30/2008

Below news bulletins fromThe Daily Star for 29/05/06
Beirut moves to end saga over judicial appointments
UN faults Lebanon for rocket attack that set off border clash
Hizbullah, PFLP-GC bury fighters slain in Israeli raids
Salloukh condemns Jewish state's 'violent strategy'
Sfeir takes Israel to task for attacks
Border skirmishes put spotlight on disarmament
Lebanon's medieval frescoes at risk
Here's why they call it the 'Jewish state-By Jonathan Cook
Below news bulletins from miscellaneous sources for 29/05/06
Peretz to Lebanon: Keep Calm or We Will Hit Hard-Arutz Sheva
Lebanese Judges Observe a One-Day Strike-Naharnet
IDF: Hizbullah fell into our trap-Ynetnews
Jumblatt: Syria, Iran behind rocket attacks-Ynetnews
Lebanon piracy battle-AME Info
Tense but Quiet on Israel-Lebanon Border-The Media Line
LEBANON: Merchants, farmers report losses after Syria pullout-Reuters
Hezbollah urged to hand over arms-BBC News
Israeli army on high alert after clashes on Lebanon border-Monsters and Critics.com
UN Arranged Truce Holds in South Lebanon-Voice of America
 

Tense but Quiet on Israel-Lebanon Border
Written by The Media Line Staff
Published Monday, May 29, 2006
The Israeli-Lebanese border has calmed down after skirmishes aggravated the area on Sunday, but tension remains high.
Several Katyusha missiles were fired from southern Lebanon onto northern Israel on Sunday morning. Some missiles hit an army base on Mount Meron. This was the furthest missiles have reached into Israel, and the first time they hit such a strategic target, army officials said.
In the ensuing clashes between the army and the armed Hizbullah organization, two members of Lebanese groups were killed and an Israeli soldier was seriously wounded. These were the worst clashes on the border since Israel withdrew its army from southern Lebanon exactly six years ago.
The United Nations brokered a cease fire on Sunday evening and civilians in Israel’s north were informed they could leave their shelters.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday Israel will use all aerial and ground responses to strike back at terrorists.
“We also do not want any innocent Lebanese civilians to be caught up in these exchanges of fire,” Olmert said, but added that Israel will strike a “painful blow” at those who try to disrupt life in the north of the country.
Israel is holding the Lebanese government responsible for attacks on the northern border.
Lebanon is currently under international pressure to disarm groups operating in its territory such as Hizbullah and several Palestinian organizations.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora condemned the Israel strikes on Lebanese territory and blamed Israel’s presence in Shib’a Farms for the deterioration of the situation. He said Beirut is investigating the conditions under which rockets were launched from Lebanon onto Israel “in order to put an end to them.”
Copyright © 2006 The Media Line. All Rights Reserved.

Jumblat: Syria, Iran behind rocket attacks
WorldNetDaily (Lebanese leader Jumblatt says 'Damascus agents' responsible for Katyusha attacks on Israel Sunday, working to destabilize his country
Aaron Klein
The rocket attacks that targeted the Jewish state Sunday, prompting cross border clashes and Israeli Air Force retaliation, were carried out by "agents" working on behalf of Syria and Iran, Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said in an interview.
Border Clashes
"Agents working for the axis of Tehran and Damascus arranged the rocket volley (against Israel) to create instability in Lebanon and bring conflict to our borders," Jumblatt told WorldNetDaily.
Jumblatt is the head of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party and is largely considered the most prominent anti-Syrian Lebanese politician. He accused Syria and Iran of attempting to draw Israel into military clashes with Lebanon to justify the continued arming of Hizbullah, which a United Nations resolution obliges Lebanon to disarm.
"They are trying to prevent the Lebanese army from implementing authority in (areas controlled by Hizbullah). Also Syria has an economic goal in that it wants to stop investments into Lebanon by making our country unstable," said Jumblatt.
'Armed groups out of control'  Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said on Sunday Israel could not ignore Katyusha fire on its territory, and stated he holds the Lebanese government responsible for attacks that originate from its country. Peretz called on Lebanon to deploy its army in areas controlled by Hizbullah.
But Jumblatt said the pressure needs to be applied to Syria and Iran. "These armed groups are out of control. They are taking orders from Syria and the Tehran government," said Jumblatt. The Lebanese government has recently proposed incorporating Hizbullah into its army. Some Lebanese politicians have demanded Hizbullah disarm entirely. But little progress has been made on enforcing an arms ban on the terror group. Reprinted with permission of WorldNetDaily (05.29.06, 12:40)

IDF officer: Next time we’ll hit harder
Ynetnews 29.5.06: Galilee commander says if army didn’t make its message loud in clear with shelling in Lebanon Sunday, it will hit even harder next time; Hizbullah clears ruins of targeted bases. Monday morning calm along border, but tensions running high  On the day after the drama in the north, the IDF is assessing damages on the other side of the border and hoping that their message was delivered. Hundreds of Kiryat Shmona residents were unable to enter bomb shelters during Katyusha barrage due to system malfunction. Resident: ‘To our surprise, the shelter was locked, even though several minutes had passed since the decision was made to send the residents into secured rooms’
“We hope that the operation’s message was understood loud and clear on the other side,” Commander of the Galilee Division Brig.-Gen. Gal Hirsch told reporters in the north. He clarified that “if the message wasn’t communicated and there is an escalation, we will hit them even harder. We are ready for another battle day if it is necessary.”Brig.-Gen. Hirsch expressed hope that the northern border would remain calm. He said the since the IDF finished its assault on Lebanese territory, there has been activity there to clear the ruins of the Hizbullah bases that were hit.
Sunday’s violence started over the weekend, after and Islamic Jihad activists was killed in a mysterious explosion in Lebanon, which the IDF denied involvement in. But Jihad leaders promised a quick retaliation. Early Sunday morning Hezbollah terrorists fired at the border. Israel responded with its own round of shelling, and a long gun battle erupted between the sides.
Hizbullah fell into our net
Hirsch defined Sunday's battles - the most significant day of battles with Hizbullah since Israel pulled out of south Lebanon six years ago - as highly successful. “I can say it is over and is behind us. To summarize, you might say that Hizbullah fell for the ambush we set, fell into our net. We awaited their attack, were ready and the moment they made a move – they absorbed a lot of damages to infrastructure and forces,” he told Ynet. He revealed that during the battles, Hizullah fighters used children and even fired from the inside of a UN building. Meanwhile, the soldier wounded by Hizbullah snipers has taken a turn for the worse and is in serious condition, doctors at the Rambam hospital in Haifa said.
“Whoever tries to hurt us, we'll hurt him more,” Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Sunday following a meeting in his Tel Aviv office with the defense establishment’s top brass to assess the situation on the ground. Peretz lauded the Northern Command, Air Force and other forces that took part in the battles and noted that the military response was forceful and decisive. “The message was understood. We won’t overlook any effort to hurt us,” Peretz said. He even met with regional council heads on the northern border to assure them that the army would do all it could not to disrupt civilian routine.
Early Monday, it was still quiet along the northern border, although tensions were running high. Commander of the Galilee division, Brig.-Gen. Gal Hirsch, was busy planning force deployment to protect two weddings and two Bar Mitzvahs in Kiryat Shmona, and a basketball game in Nahariya. He promised council heads that the IDF would be ready on land, by air and by sea, to ensure the safety of the celebrations. Now starts a period of time which, for the defense establishment, will signify what is to come: Will there be more battles in the north, or are they behind us?
“We will be ready for the possibility that the combat will continue,” the senior officer told Ynet. “Hizbullah was hit, it was dealt a hard blow, but it is in their interests to continue the aggressions. If that is what they choose – they will continue to be hit. We are ready to continue fighting Hizbullah and if they escalate attacks, our responses will escalate too.” With that, the officer clarified that as long as they maintained the calm and the Lebanese government fulfilled its promises, Israel would not attack.
Day of battles
Over the past few months the Northern Command has been carrying out hasty preparations for a quick and decisive retaliation plan on Hizbullah bases south Lebanon, awaiting such an attack. The aim was simple: Employ various means simultaneously, disrupt the fire and deal Hizbullah a significant blow. “Preparations were made by consolidating means: fighters were sitting with their sights aimed waiting for terrorists to come while other forces were primed to attack all bases by various means. We took out a lot of Hizbullah bases, all those along the border including those built in the past few months in the west. We made an effort to hit the terrorists, rather than the structures. Every manned post was in our sights; they tried to put snipers on us but they got hit too; they aimed anti-tank missiles but they missed and our tanks hit their bases,” the senior officer related.
He said that during the battle soldiers saw dozens of children being sent towards the Tziporen base and throwing stones. Brig.-Gen. Hirsch, who led the fighting, instructed a direct hit on the sniper cell, and only after the children had gone were helicopter gunships sent to flatten the base. “They also hid in UN buildings, which forced our attacks to be chirurgic and exact. We recommended the UN take cover when the battle started. We didn’t shoot on any target where UN employees were present.”
He went on to explain the complicated motivations behind Hizbullah’s attack. “We must remember that they’ve been trying to kidnap a soldier for a long time without success. They want to erase the shame of the Rajar incident (when one IDF paratrooper killed four Hizbullah agents when the terror group attacked the north in November of last year). We must also remember that they are in a crisis situation in Lebanon, there is much patience for them there because they don’t let Lebanon develop.”Iran’s involvement could be clearly identified in the preparation and equipping of the fighters, the senior officer told Ynet.