LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
MAY 31/2006
Below News From miscellaneous
sources for 31/05/06
Peretz: Hizbullah seeking legitimacy in Lebanon-Ynetnews
UN Condemns Israel-Lebanon Clashes-Prensa Latina
Israel Strikes Gaza A Day After Attack On Lebanon-All Headline News
Tel Aviv within range of new Hezbollah rocket-Ha'aretz
Israel-Lebanon clashes concerning: Annan-Ninemsn
Israel destroys Hezbollah's frontline positions
in heaviest-CJP
Peres: Yesterday's Hezbollah Attack Coincidental-Arutz Sheva
Blame the aggressor-Jerusalem Post
Nasrallah Says Hezbollah Acts As Deterrent to Israel-Arutz Sheva
Lebanese Hezbollah militants threaten Israel
with long range-BNN
Lahoud: South Lebanon clashes affirm Israel's aggressive policy-KNA
Truce Holds As Lebanese Hold Mass Funeral-Houston Chronicle
Who will save Lebanon's electricity sector?Al-Bawaba
Parliament Rejects Syrian Summons for Walid Jumblat-Naharnet
Judicial Team Heads to U.N. to Discuss International Tribunal-Naharnet
Border Hostilities and International Resolutions-Dar Al-Hayat
Annan Expresses Concern at Border Clashes, Calls for Respect of Blue Line-Naharnet
Below News From the Daily Star for 31/05/06
Families of missing put pressure on MPs to act
Abrasive manner toward first lady and bodyguard lands dentist in
Siniora likely to reject judicial appointments
Lebanese Parliament comes out swinging with statement rejecting Syrian warrants
Karamis plan challenge to amnesty that freed Geagea
Local groups assess progress in electoral-law reform
Abrasive manner toward first lady and bodyguard lands
dentist in jail
Qassem rules out implementation of 1559
Beirut plans law to help owners preserve special old
homes
BBC back in Beirut after 15-year hiatus
New England Americans for Lebanon (NEAL)
For Immediate Release
PO Box 2638 Edgartown, MA 02539
Tel/Fax 508-627-9350
neal@neal-us.org
www.neal-us.org
Boston, Massachusetts - May 29, 2006
The weekend cross-border clashes between Hezbollah and Palestinian groups allied
with Syria on one hand, and Israel on the other, across the Lebanese-Israeli
border are an extension of the 35-year old cycle of violence that was forced on
Lebanon and against the will of its own people.
Hezbollah is to be blamed first and foremost for maintaining the state of
hostilities between Israel and Lebanon on the ideological ground of a permanent
and eternal hostility to Israel. Try as they may to say the opposite, the full
spectrum of Lebanese active forces today is no longer interested in perpetuating
the cycle of violence in the south, particularly if only Lebanon, of all Arab
countries, is made to be the only open war front with Israel.
Israel captured the Shebaa Farms from Syria, and not from Lebanon. Therefore,
the Lebanese claims to sovereignty to Shebaa should be restituted first by Syria
to Lebanon, by providing the legal and documentary framework for the United
Nations to legitimately cede sovereignty back to Lebanon. Only then can Israel
be expected to restitute Shebaa physically to Lebanon. Syria has so far refused
to do anything in this regard, and the Saniora government has been derelict in
taking Syria to task on this issue. The claims by the Saniora government that
Israel’s occupation of Shebaa is the problem are upside down. Saniora should
first be pressuring Syria to concede sovereignty. Second, his government should
make Hezbollah give up its weapons and dismantle. Then Israel can be made to
withdraw of its own will once Lebanese sovereignty over Shebaa is certified by
the UN, and if Israel chooses not to, to have an international mandate to force
it to.
The Lebanese government and all those in Lebanon who continue to hail Hezbollah
as a national Resistance force are fooling themselves and the world, and instead
of making the right choices, they are plunging Lebanon back on the brink of
violence that the Lebanese have tired of in the course of 35 years. Hezbollah is
before anything else a radical fundamentalist movement whose ultimate objective
is to erect an Islamic State in Lebanon. It is secondarily an Iranian and Syrian
proxy whose allegiance to Lebanon – unless we hear otherwise – is fourth after
its Islamic, Shiite, and Arab identities.
Ever since it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with MP Michel Aoun’s Change
and Reform Parliamentary Bloc last January, suggesting a positive move to
reintegrate a strictly national Lebanese platform, Hezbollah has moved farther
and farther away from that hopeful moment by increasing the tenor of its
anti-Western and anti-Lebanese sovereignty rhetoric, retreating back to its
violent radical ideology, and still continues to refuse to implement the Taef
Agreement to which it signed in 1989 which requires it to disband and allow the
Lebanese army to take full, exclusive and unchallenged control of the south
and the Lebanese-Israeli border. Hezbollah has not shown any tangible sign of
abiding by the spirit of the Memorandum.
Like all other Arab countries, from those at peace with Israel such as Egypt and
Jordan, to those who are holdouts of the anti-peace camp, like Syria, Lebanon
deserves a chance for stability. If Syria and Iran want to destroy Israel, let
them do that from the Golan Heights or from the hot air of their distant and
divinely-inspired illusions, and not from Lebanese territory.
NEAL calls on the Saniora government to immediately dispatch the Lebanese Army
to every inch of the border with Israel, even at the risk of a confrontation
with Hezbollah, and with an increase of the assistance already provided by the
United Nations by deploying a much larger contingent of UN Forces to secure the
border and prevent any further instability in that region. This scenario seems a
better short-term risk to take than another 35 years of death, mayhem and
destruction for the people of south Lebanon and for the entire country.
Long Live Free Lebanon
Dr. Joseph Hitti/President of New England Americans for Lebanon
Families of missing
put pressure on MPs to act
Group demands international inquiry
By Rym Ghazal -Daily
Star staff
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
BEIRUT: Relatives of those detained and missing in Syria took a break from their
year-long protest at UN House Tuesday and headed toward Parliament, where they
demanded that their case be taken up by the MPs. But the protesters were
prevented by Speaker Nabih Berri from demonstrating in front of the Parliament,
and were instructed to send a delegation instead with a detailed memo of their
demands.
"We refused to send a delegation, and instead demonstrated near enough so that
members of Parliament arriving for the session for the first time came to us to
get a copy of the memo," Ghazi Aad, director of SOLIDE (Support of Lebanese in
Detention and Exile), told The Daily Star.
It was not the first time a memo was distributed to the MPs, in which SOLIDE
demanded an international inquiry into the case, a "national" committee to
search for mass graves and create a database for the missing with DNA analysis,
and called for it to remain "a humanitarian case" instead of a political one.
"I believe Syria may be using this issue as a bargaining chip for better
relations with Lebanon, and so the Lebanese government needs to seek assistance
from outside to deal with this case and not allow it to become a political deal
at the expense of the families," said Aad.
Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamade, MP Ibrahim Kenaan, MP Walid Eido, MP
Wael Bou Faour and a representative from Berri were some of the politicians seen
taking copies of the memo before the scheduled Parliament session.
"It is not enough to make statements, it is the responsibility of the government
to take this issue seriously and actively search for the missing," Kenaan said
during the demonstration held a few meters away from the Parliament building. He
also promised to follow up on this case in the Parliament.
Families of missing put pressure on MPs to act
Group demands international inquiry
By Rym Ghazal -Daily Star staff-Wednesday, May 31, 2006
BEIRUT: Relatives of those detained and missing in Syria took a break from their
year-long protest at UN House Tuesday and headed toward Parliament, where they
demanded that their case be taken up by the MPs. But the protesters were
prevented by Speaker Nabih Berri from demonstrating in front of the Parliament,
and were instructed to send a delegation instead with a detailed memo of their
demands. "We refused to send a delegation, and instead demonstrated near enough
so that members of Parliament arriving for the session for the first time came
to us to get a copy of the memo," Ghazi Aad, director of SOLIDE (Support of
Lebanese in Detention and Exile), told The Daily Star.
It was not the first time a memo was distributed to the MPs, in which SOLIDE
demanded an international inquiry into the case, a "national" committee to
search for mass graves and create a database for the missing with DNA analysis,
and called for it to remain "a humanitarian case" instead of a political one.
"I believe Syria may be using this issue as a bargaining chip for better
relations with Lebanon, and so the Lebanese government needs to seek assistance
from outside to deal with this case and not allow it to become a political deal
at the expense of the families," said Aad. Telecommunications Minister Marwan
Hamade, MP Ibrahim Kenaan, MP Walid Eido, MP Wael Bou Faour and a representative
from Berri were some of the politicians seen taking copies of the memo before
the scheduled Parliament session. "It is not enough to make statements, it is
the responsibility of the government to take this issue seriously and actively
search for the missing," Kenaan said during the demonstration held a few meters
away from the Parliament building. He also promised to follow up on this case in
the Parliament.
Karamis plan challenge
to amnesty that freed Geagea
Daily Star staff-Wednesday, May 31, 2006
BEIRUT: Former Premier Omar Karami says his family will challenge the amnesty
law that granted freedom to Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, describing the
formerly jailed politician as "a personal and political foe." In an interview
with As-Safir newspaper on Monday, Karami asked: "How come the Karami family is
asked to forgive, forget and overcome the assassination of Rashid Karami when it
is not allowed to forgive and forget about former Premier Rafik Hariri's
assassination?"
In 1994, Geagea was sentenced to death for having masterminded the 1987
assassination of Rashid, Omar Karami's elder brother. That case had been made
possible by an earlier conviction for the bombing of a church which was
subsequently overturned on appeal, prompting allegations that Geagea was treated
unfairly under the terms of an amnesty proclaimed after the Civil War. The
sentence was commuted to life with hard labor, but Geagea was granted pardon in
2005 under a new general amnesty law. "The danger lies in the fact that Geagea
was released under foreign pressure," Karami said, "in a bid to consolidate the
US project in Lebanon and the region."Karami called for a new trial in which
Geagea would have an opportunity to prove his innocence now that Syrian forces
have left the country. Karami also said the purpose of the Opposition Front
being formed by him and his allies will be to topple the government. "If the
government is not overthrown in Parliament, it will be in the street because of
the deteriorating social situation of the country," Karami said.
According to As-Safir, a meeting was held at Karami's residence in Beirut Monday
and participants decided to officially establish the Opposition Front during the
second week of June, after the commemoration of Rashid Karami's assassination on
June 2. - The Daily Star
Qassem rules out
implementation of 1559
Cabinet prepares response to Un ruling on responsibility for border clashes
By Therese Sfeir -Daily
Star staff
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
BEIRUT: Cabinet is expected to send a letter to the UN Security Council
Wednesday regarding Israel's raids on towns along the Lebanese border on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Hizbullah's number two said Resolution 1559 "will not be
implemented."
The government held talks on Tuesday to decide how to respond to a UN ruling
holding Lebanon responsible for last week's clashes between Israel, Hizbullah
and several Palestinian factions.
Israeli forces Sunday bombarded Lebanese towns along the border after several
Katyusha rockets were fired from Lebanon by an unidentified group into Israel's
northern settlements, wounding one Israeli soldier.
Two guerrillas were killed in the resulting clashes, one from Hizbullah and the
other from a Palestinian faction.
Spokesmen from the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General
Command and Hizbullah said the rockets came in retaliation for the assassination
of an Islamic Jihad official and his brother the day before in a car bombing in
Sidon.
The Cabinet held Israel responsible for Saturday's killings.
In remarks made Tuesday, Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem
said "Israel's assassination of two Islamic Jihad members is a dangerous attack
against Lebanon and not just a bomb placed in a car."
"Following the assassination, rockets were fired by unidentified people and we
don't consider this an important issue," he added. Once more dismissing calls on
the resistance to disarm, Qassem said: "UN Resolution 1559 will not be
implemented because it is a US-Israeli resolution that does not serve the
country's interests."
UN chief Kofi Annan has expressed concern over the latest border clashes, and
called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and respect the
UN-demarcated Blue Line.UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday that Annan
"particularly urges Lebanon to make every effort to exercise its control over
the use of force from its territory."
The former spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Forces In Lebanon, Timur
Goksel, said Lebanon would have a difficult time filing a complaint with the
Security Council "because the attack started from here (Lebanon) and there is no
proof that the Islamic Jihad official was killed by Israelis." Concerning
local consequences, he added: "I don't think the clashes will increase pressure
on Palestinian groups and Hizbullah to disarm.
"However, Palestinians inside Lebanon will use them as a pretext to keep their
weapons," said Goksel.
In an interview with Voice of Lebanon radio Tuesday, Russian Ambassador Sergei
Boukin said Russia was "very concerned about Sunday's clashes along the Blue
Line."
The ambassador added Russia's support for the imple-mentation of Resolutions
1559 and 1680.
Resolution 1680 calls on Syria to establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon,
demarcate their joint borders, and put an end to the smuggling of weapons into
Lebanon. Russia, a traditional ally of Syria, abstained from voting on the
resolution.
Boukin said he hoped participants in the national dialogue would agree on the
remaining issues, including Hizbullah's arms.
In other developments, PFLP-GC central committee member Abu Wael Issam said
Israel had brought about the escalation "after assassina-ting an Islamic Jihad
militant in Sidon."
Amal MP Ali Bazzi said Lebanon's strength "resides in the peoples' unity and
resistance."
"What is important is to face Israeli aggressions instead of disarming the
resistance," Bazzi added.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Future bloc MP Antoine Andraous said: "We were
not surprised by the latest security escalation because there are attempts to
hit the country's stability."
"What happened lately reminded us of the beginning of the Civil War," he added,
describing the clashes as a "comedy to undermine the dialogue session" on June
8.
Concerning a reported joint coordination between Hizbullah and Palestinian
faction, Andraous said: "(PFLP-GC leader) Ahmad Jibril stressed his full
cooperation with Hizbullah in military operations; this makes us ask about the
relation between the Palestinian weapons and Hizbullah's defense strategy."
Separately, UNIFIL Commander Alain Pellegrini met with Prime Minister Fouad
Siniora at the Grand Serail.
Pellegrini said the meeting focused on the security situation in the South and
cooperation between the government and UNIFIL.
In an interview with the Central News Agency, Ambassador Khalil Makkawi, the
head of the committee holding talks with a delegation of Palestinian refugees in
Lebanon, said Siniora would send letters to the heads of Arab states urging
support for Lebanon's disarming of militant Palestinian military bases.Also
Tuesday, a National News Agency correspondent reported the situation in
Marjayoun was "relatively calm," with schools reopened and residents back at
work amid Lebanese and UNIFIL security patrols.
Parliament Rejects
Syrian Summons for Walid Jumblat
Naharnet: Parliament on
Tuesday voted in favor of a motion that denounces Syrian arrest warrants against
MPs Walid Jumblat and Marwan Hamadeh saying that the summonses "harm the
Lebanese people's dignity."
Speaker Nabih Berri submitted two versions of the proposal for voting during a
question and answer session in parliament.
Berri, who was reportedly concerned about keeping any language considered
offensive to Damascus out of the motion, prepared the first proposal which was a
watered down version of the one drafted by the anti-Syrian parliamentary
majority known as the March 14 alliance.However, parliament adopted the more
strongly worded proposal.
"Parliament denounces the Syrian warrants that are a violation of the
constitution and harm the dignity of parliament and the Lebanese people that it
represents," said the motion. The text asked the government to return the
summonses to Syrian authorities. A discussion in parliament of the Syrian move
against the two Druze MPs last week ended in a heated debate between Berri and
anti-Syrian legislators who asked to propose the motion for voting. The
pro-Syrian speaker abruptly suspended the session after a verbal quarrel with an
MP.Since the confrontation in parliament, Berri has been reportedly trying to
find a compromise version that would be adopted by consensus.
However, Jumblat said in an interview with al-Balad newspaper that he was
"grateful to speaker Berri for his efforts in this issue but we should let
parliamentarians decide on what they want and on the stance that will get their
approval."
On May 3, Jumblat was summoned by a Syrian military court to appear within seven
days on charges of "inciting against Syria."Later, Berri said that Hamadeh, who
is Jumblat's closest aid and Telecommunications minister, had also been called
to appear before a Syrian military court. When the government failed to respond
to the Syrian request, Damascus sent the summons for Jumblat to the Interpol.
Jumblat, Lebanon's Druze leader, is a key member of Beirut's anti-Syrian
parliament majority which has accused Syria of involvement in a series of
bombings, including the 2005 murder of ex-premier Rafik Hariri and a failed
attempt on Hamadeh's life.In December 2005, Jumblat called for regime change in
Syria.
He has also accused Syria of being responsible for the 1977 assassination of his
father, Kamal Jumblat, of Lebanon's former president Rene Moawad in 1989, and of
several other Lebanese leaders. Beirut, 30 May 06, 13:49
South Lebanon clashes affirm Israel''s
aggressive policy - Lahoud
POL-LEBANON-LAHOUD-RESISTANCE
South Lebanon clashes affirm Israel's aggressive policy - Lahoud
BEIRUT, May 29 (KUNA) -- Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said Monday the ongoing
clashes in the last two days confirm again that Israel is overusing its
aggressive policy. In a presidential statement, he said "this should be an
additional motive for the Lebanese to unite and remain tenacious in order to
encounter the repeated Israeli" aggression and called for "commitment to the
strategic option that protected Lebanon for years and allowed it to regain its
role in the surrounding and around the world." He reiterated his rejection of
the idea of merging the resistance with the Lebanese army noting that the target
is to end "role of both army and resistance". The National reconciliation
dialogue plans holding its final session next June to discuss the country's
defence strategy. UN resolution 1559 issued in September 2004 infers stripping
the arms of Hizbollah and militias in Lebanon. (end) an.
Truce Holds As Lebanese Hold Mass Funeral
By ZEINA KARAM
Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Shouting "Death to Israel" and waving yellow Hezbollah flags,
thousands of people marched Monday behind the coffin of a guerrilla killed in
the heaviest combat in six years along Lebanon's border with Israel.
A U.N.-brokered truce held a day after Sunday's fighting, but tensions remained
high. Ten Israeli warplanes flew over Lebanon's south, east and north, the
Lebanese army said.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed concern at the weekend fighting and
called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and respect the border drawn
by the United Nations after the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern
Lebanon in 2000. While commending leaders of both nations for heading off
further escalation, Annan "particularly urges the government of Lebanon to make
every effort to exercise its control over the use of force from its territory,"
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York. The United States and the
United Nations have unsuccessfully pressed Lebanon's government to implement a
2004 Security Council resolution that calls for the disarmament of all armed
groups in Lebanon, including Hezbollah and radical Palestinian groups. Sunday's
fighting erupted when Hezbollah guerrillas fired rockets into northern Israel.
The Israeli military retaliated with airstrikes on guerrilla positions, and both
sides then traded artillery and rocket fire.
Two militants died and six were wounded in the clashes, while two Israeli
soldiers were wounded. An Israeli general claimed Monday that his forces
destroyed most of Hezbollah's military positions in southern Lebanon.
Israeli fire also wounded two Lebanese civilians, including a 14-year-old girl.
In Lebanese towns a few miles north of the border, people swept up broken glass
and reopened shops and schools Monday. Squares filled with market stalls and
customers, and police surveyed the extent of damage.
At the village of Sohmor, some 8,000 people turned out for the funeral of
Youssef Mohammed Alaeddine, a 36-year-old Hezbollah fighter killed in the
fighting.
Hezbollah supporters carried the coffin, wrapped in a Hezbollah flag, as women
showered it with rice and rose petals, a traditional sign of greeting because
the Shiite Muslim militant group considers those killed fighting Israel to be
martyrs.
Addressing the crowd, a senior Hezbollah official, Sheik Mohammed Yazbeck,
pledged that the movement would continue to attack Israel and would never
disarm.
"We will keep our weapons as long as there is blood in our bodies. The
resistance will continue," he said.
It was not clear where the other guerrilla killed Sunday, a member of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, would be buried.
Who will save Lebanon’s electricity sector?
Posted: 30-05-2006
Lebanon's state-run electric company, Electricite Du Liban (EDL), has been a
cause of concern for many Lebanese citizens due to its poor service and
financial losses. EDL constitutes a major state problem as well, and one which
has made a significant contribution to Lebanon's national deficit. The IMF
estimates that in 2005, government support for EDL amounted to 4% of its GDP.
The mismanagement of the power company further illustrates the administrative
failure of the government and especially that of current Energy and Water
Minister, Mohammed Fneish, who oversees EDL.
At present, frequent power cuts remain the norm in Lebanon. The country's
generating capacity has fallen behind demand levels; EDL's current output is
around 1250 MW, while peak demand often hits 1800 MW. Even worse, EDL lost $500
million last year amid allegations of corruption. For a growing number of
Lebanese, Fneish's claim that the causes behind these problems are skyrocketing
oil prices and distribution problems--are deemed unacceptable.
Privatizing EDL has been on the state agenda for years, but has been held up for
political reasons. Fneish, a Hizbullah man, has admitted recently that state
bureaucracy could delay the plan for an additional two years.
Fneish's assertion came after he himself proposed changes in the management of
EDL, such as increased revenue collection from users and privatization of
electric generation and distribution, with transmission remaining in state
hands, the Daily Star reported.
Privatization seems to be the only way to bring salvation to the country's
struggling energy sector at present, even though many remain skeptical regarding
Fneish's true intentions. The fact that for years, pro-Syrian president Emile
Lahoud insisted that EDL remain a state asset only confirms this belief.
While Fneish has stressed that his plan also includes a solution for revenue
collection from customers, many observers argue that such a proposal is merely
lip service. Industry experts have been claiming for years that EDL had been
used by political elites to distribute free electricity to their constituents.
If Fneish ultimately attempts to expedite bill collection, he is expected to
face stiff resistance from Hizbullah supporters.
According to official sources, almost 60% of EDL bills are not collected. In
addition, close to 50% of electricity generated by EDL is not even billed; it is
estimated that tens of thousands of people receive free electricity by illegally
tapping into power lines. Back in 2003, then Beirut MP Muhammad Qabbani, who
headed the parliamentary Energy and Water Committee, stated that many of those
who get free electricity enjoy "political protection." In the southern suburbs
of Beirut--a stronghold of Hizbullah--over 80% of electricity consumers do not
pay. Those who do not enjoy such political protection, on the other hand, are
forced to pay heavily for electricity. Taking these facts into account, many in
Lebanon believe Fneish will not dare harm Hizbullah's support base. Even more,
some circles in Lebanon insist that Hizbullah selected the energy portfolio in
order to make sure its supporters will not have to pay for the electricity.
In addition to the abovementioned, some circles in Lebanon insist that EDL was a
conduit for the distribution of billions of dollars in kickbacks to pro-Syrian
political figures in Lebanon during Syria’s occupation of the country. EDL's
losses have consistently been connected to allegations of corruption.
It seems that rehabilitating Lebanon's electricity sector may be more of a
political matter than an economic one. This being said, it is doubtful that a
minister from Hizbullah is the right person to lead such reform, as it appears
that most supporters of the Shiite movement will remain unwilling to pay the
price. © 2006 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
Israel-Lebanon clashes concerning: Annan
Tuesday May 30 07:37 AEST
UN chief Kofi Annan called for restraint Monday after rockets fired into Israel
from south Lebanon triggered tit-for-tat clashes.
Annan also urged Beirut to assert control over the use of force from its side of
the border, known as the Blue Line, one day after the rocket attacks were
followed by Israeli air raids on guerrilla bases deep inside Lebanon.
"The Secretary-General is concerned at the serious clashes across the Blue Line
that took place yesterday, which the United Nations is continuing to
investigate," Annan's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement.
"The Secretary-General is pleased that the United Nations Interim Force in
Lebanon (UNIFIL) and his senior representatives in the area were able to broker
a cessation of hostilities, and he commends the Government of Israel and the
Government of Lebanon for avoiding further escalation," Dujarric said. "The
Secretary-General continues to follow the situation closely, and calls on all
parties to exercise maximum restraint and respect fully the Blue Line," he said.
"He particularly urges the Government of Lebanon to make every effort to
exercise its control over the use of force from its territory."Tensions were
still running high after the series of attacks across the border on Sunday that
left a pro-Syrian Palestinian militant and a Lebanese Hezbollah fighter dead and
two Israeli soldiers injured.
Tel Aviv within range of new Iran-supplied Hezbollah
rocket
By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent
Iran has equipped the Lebanese-based radical Islamic group Hezbollah with
long-range rockets capable of hitting targets up to 200 kilometers away, putting
all of Israel's major urban centers - including the southern city of Be'er Sheva
- within striking distance. The solid-fuel rockets lack an independent guidance
system and their accuracy is questionable but they can still cause considerable
damage. According to intelligence estimates, the rockets are meant to strike
non-specific areas, such as towns and cities, and carry a warhead estimated to
weigh 600 kilograms. This latest development doubles the range of weapons
previously in Hezbollah's arsenal.
In this latest transfer of military technology, Iran is seeking to improve its
strategic options against Israel rather than better Hezbollah's capabilities.
Equipping a Lebanese group considered by the west to be a terrorist organization
with such rockets also poses a danger to Lebanon.
The government of Lebanon has been pressured in the past by Hezbollah to
disregard the United Nations Security Council resolution 1559, which demands
that all armed militias in the country disarm. Hezbollah maintains that it is
not a militia and is therefore not obliged to disarm, but the Security Council
has not accepted this argument.
The rockets delivered to the Hezbollah have appeared under different names. One
is Zelzal-2, and its earlier model is the Zelzal-1. Another Iranian name for the
rocket is Nazeat.
The rocket was first seen in a military parade in Tehran in September 2005, the
first such event following the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president. Six
Shehab-3 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles were also on display.
In response to slogans written on the Shehab-3 rockets, calling for "Death to
Israel" and "Death to the U.S.," the military attaches of France, Italy, Greece
and Poland, invited to the event, left the VIP platform.
Earlier supplies of rockets to the Hezbollah from Iran via Syria, involved
Katyusha rockets with a range of 12-22 kilometers.
These rockets were used on occasion in attacks against Israel.
At later dates the Iranians supplied the Fajr-3 rockets, capable of reaching
targets 45 kilometers away. The Hezbollah has never used these weapons. The
Syrians also provided the Hezbollah with rockets of their own make, believed to
be of 220mm caliber, whose range is several dozen kilometers. Iran later
provided Hezbollah with Fajr-5 rockets with a range of 75 kilometers; it is
capable of striking the Haifa bay and its strategic industrial installations.
The latest Iranian delivery is of rockets whose estimated capability is 200
kilometers (the Zelzal-1 rocket had a range of 150 kilometers). The rocket is
8.3 meters long and is 61mm in diameter. At launch, it weighs about 3.5 tons.
Because the rocket is propelled by solid-fuel, it can be easily moved.
International defense journals have reported that the Iranian rockets have been
stored by the Hezbollah in special bunkers in a number of locations in the Bekaa
near Lebanon's border with Syria.
UN Condemns Israel-Lebanon Clashes
United Nations, May 29 (Prensa Latina) UN Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned
on Monday the serious clashes that took place on Sunday along the Blue Line, the
UN-monitored border between Lebanon and Israel.
The Secretary General expressed concerned at the incidents across the so-called
Blue Line and is continuing to investigate the matter, UN Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric said here. According to Dujarric, Annan "is pleased that the United
Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and his seniors representatives in the
area were able to broker a cessation of hostilities".
The official commended the governments of Israel and Lebanon for "avoiding
further escalation".
The spokesman said that the Secretary General is following the situation closely
and urges all parties involved to fully respect the Blue Line.
Israel Strikes Gaza A Day After Attack On Lebanon
May 29, 2006 9:05 p.m. EST
Matthew Borghese - All Headline News Staff Writer
Tel Aviv, Israel (AHN) - Israel launched a strike on militants, using a
helicopter gunship to kill three men in Gaza.
The move comes only a day after Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes on
positions in Lebanon, following rocket attacks on Israeli soil. Early Sunday,
several Katyusha rockets struck an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) base, wounding
one soldier. Israel sent an airstrike in response, hitting two command posts,
one of which was used as a storage facility for weaponry and ammunition. Later
that same day, the IDF says terrorists from Hezbollah responded by launching, "a
large scale attack on communities and military posts... with sniper and machine
gun fire and launched Katyusha rockets and mortar shells at Israeli targets."
According to the IDF, "Israeli citizens along the border were rushed into
shelters in order to protect themselves from the rocket barrage. An IDF soldier
was severely wounded in Kibbutz Manara during the attack. He was evacuated to an
Israeli hospital to receive medical treatment." Israel then used airstrikes and
artillery fire to strike further Hezbollah targets.
The calm on Monday was shattered when an Israeli army helicopter killed three
militants in Gaza.
Peretz: Hizbullah seeking legitimacy in Lebanon
During weekly security briefing, defense minister says Sunday's attacks on
northern border aimed at 'maintaining Hizbullah's deterrence balance against
Israel' The heavy exchanges of fire between Hizbullah and the IDF at the
beginning of the week were at the center of the cabinet meeting's security
review Tuesday.
"Hizbullah's attack reflected their desire to maintain a deterrence balance
against Israel and strengthen their legitimacy in the Lebanese arena as a
resistance organization," said Defense Minister Amir Peretz.
IDF kills 7 Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank / Ali Waked
(VIDEO) For first time since disengagement, special IDF unit enters heart of
Palestinian territory in northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, hits group of
terrorists planning to fire Qassam rockets at Israel; Palestinians say four
killed, eight wounded by IAF missile; three other Palestinian gunmen killed by
soldiers operating in West Bank
On Sunday afternoon, the IDF halted fire at the northern border following a
request by the Lebanese government.
Hizbullah members sought to prevent escalation following the heavy blows
incurred on them by the IDF, and requested a ceasefire," Perez said during the
cabinet meeting. "The way events ended illustrates the intense damage and
Hizbullah's intention to prevent an escalation of events in the circumstances
created."
Peretz said that he instructed the IDF to stay on high alert on the northern
border, also after the successful operation against Hizbullah. He stressed that
Israel has no intention bring about an escalation of events in the north, but is
ready and prepared for the possibility that it will be forced to respond to
additional attacks.
10 concrete terror warnings
Peretz also referred to operations in the Gaza Strip, saying that they will
continue in all areas for the sake of preventing continual firing of Qassam
rockets or preventing terrorists from carrying out terror attacks inside the
Green Line.
In addition, the minister praised the IDF's operation Monday night, some
hundreds of meters north of the borderline in the depth of the Palestinian
territory.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also praised the special unit's operation which
killed five terrorists were killed, who according to the army Israeli planned to
launch Qassam rockets at Israel. The Defense minister noted that the defense
establishment currently holds 10 concrete warnings terror attacks inside Israel.
He added that the Shin Bet hold 80 general warnings. He praised the foiled
terrorist attack in Nablus Monday and elaborated on the wide-scale detention
operations in the northern West Bank.
Peres: Yesterday’s Hezbollah Attack “Coincidental”
11:23 May 29, '06 / 2 Sivan 5766
(IsraelNN.com) Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Developing the Negev and
Galilee, Shimon Peres, said yesterday’s Hezbollah attack in the north was
“coincidental.”He said the attack was initiated by the Islamic Jihad. “As
always, Israel exhibited restraint because we know the game and won’t play into
the hands of the Hezbollah, and won’t be drawn in by others,” Peres said.
Blame the aggressor
Haaretz 31/05/06: Six years ago this month, Israel left the
security zone it had established in southern Lebanon to protect against
terrorist attacks. Israel withdrew behind a border, the "blue line,"
painstakingly demarcated by the UN. And Hizbullah - which was created in order
to evict Israel from Lebanon - declared its job done and dismantled itself as
the Lebanese army deployed along its sovereign border.
At least that was what was supposed to happen.
Instead, the area that Israel evacuated is now bristling with missiles pointed
at Israeli cities, and snipers aiming at Israeli soldiers. At 4:30 a.m. on
Sunday morning, Islamic Jihad decided to blame Israel for the assassination of
one of its leaders in Sidon two days earlier, and launched a volley of nine
Katyusha rockets against Israel, some of which hit a key air force installation,
lightly wounding a soldier.
Israel responded by attacking two terror command posts in Lebanon. Then, around
3 p.m., Hizbullah launched a massive mortar attack against an IDF base near the
border, and a Hizbullah sniper seriously wounded an Israeli soldier in Kibbutz
Manara. The IDF ordered Israelis in towns all along the border, including the
city of Kiryat Shmona, into bomb shelters, lifting the order only three hours
later.
As Israeli civilians hunkered down, Israel's air force and artillery
simultaneously bombarded more than 20 Hizbullah positions. According to the IDF,
it was the heaviest response to a Hizbullah attack since Israel left Lebanon.
Soon after, Hizbullah asked the Lebanese government to convey its request for a
cease fire, to which Israel acceded.
While some observers have concluded that Israel has "won" this round - and they
may be right in the sense that Hizbullah was hit harder than it bargained for -
such a calculus misses the point. The whole objective of entering Lebanon in
1982 and leaving it in 2000 was to end the "process" of tit-for-tat rounds with
terrorists on our borders.
With this goal in mind, Israel has formally asked the United Nations to enforce
the international community's own demands that Hizbullah be disarmed and that
Lebanon take control of its own territory and border. The most straight-forward
way to begin such enforcement would not involve force or even sanctions but
simple words: a UN Security Council resolution strongly condemning the attacks
against Israel from Lebanese territory, condemning Iran's and Syria's support of
such international aggression, reasserting the demands to dismantle militias and
for Lebanon to take control of its territory, and recognizing Israel's right of
self-defense against unprovoked aggression from beyond the existing
UN-recognized border.
Such UN action would hurt Hizbullah, Iran and Syria, and help Lebanon assert its
sovereignty even more than the military action Israel has taken. It would show
that Hizbullah's aggression, rather than helping Iran and Syria relieve
international pressure, would increase that pressure. And rather than rushing to
put out fires that have broken out in a tinderbox, the international community
would have taken a concrete step toward deterring further provocations - and
even toward dismantling the tinderbox entirely - in the future. Let their be no
illusions: the modus operandi of Hizbullah, Syria and Iran depends on the
continued hope that some stray Israeli missile will create a situation that has
occurred many times in the past - in which these forces can not only attack
Israel and get away with it, but can heap international opprobrium on Israel in
the bargain. The Security Council, of course, has in the past been pivotal in
this strategy, since it could be relied upon to condemn Israeli responses while
ignoring the aggression that precipitated them.
Lately, the ability of rogues and terrorists to rely on the UN to blame the
victim has been reduced in the sense that now it is more common to criticize
"both sides" and issue a global call for "restraint," thereby merely treating
aggressor and victim as equals. What is yet to happen, however, is for the
international community to blame the aggressor and show unequivocal solidarity
with the victim, such as in the resolutions condemning the 9/11 attack on the
United States.
Blaming the aggressor is a novel strategy, but it's worth a try, and it might
just work.
Israel destroys Hezbollah's frontline positions in
heaviest fighting since Lebanon withdrawal
By KARIN LAUB (Associated Press Writer)
Associated Press
05/29/2006
JERUSALEM - Israel destroyed most of the military positions of Lebanese
Hezbollah guerrillas along its northern border, in the heaviest fighting since
it ended its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, an Israeli commander said
Monday.
Sunday's rocket and artillery exchanges killed two guerrillas in Lebanon and
wounded two Israeli soldiers.
An Israeli newspaper, meanwhile, reported that Iran has equipped Hezbollah with
rockets capable of hitting all of Israel's major cities, including Beersheba in
the south. The Haaretz daily, citing intelligence sources, said the rockets have
a range of about 200 kilometers (125 miles), or double that of weapons
previously in Hezbollah's arsenal.
The Israeli commander, Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsch, declined comment on the Haaretz
report.
However, he said Iranian weapons in the hands of Hezbollah, including mortars
and missiles, pose a real threat to Israel. "It's a growing threat," Hirsch
said. Sunday's cross-border fighting began when Katyusha rockets were fired from
Lebanon at Israel's northern Galilee region, hitting an air force base, followed
by attacks on Israeli outposts along the border.
In response, Israel unleashed its fiercest artillery barrage since withdrawing
from Lebanon in 2000.
"Our main effort was to destroy the frontline that Hezbollah has built in the
last six years," said Hirsch, who commands an Israeli army division along the
border. Hirsch said Hezbollah had established dozens of frontline outposts along
the border with Israel. "We destroyed most of them," the commander said in a
telephone interview. Hirsch said the Israeli military was ready for a Hezbollah
attack, having prepared a contingency plan. "We were waiting for them for
weeks," he said. Witnesses in the border region said several Hezbollah outposts
were heavily damaged or destroyed by the Israeli shelling and air raids. Those
positions are largely observation posts manned by guerrillas carrying light
arms. They are different from the hidden, mobile launch sites where Hezbollah
fires Katyusha rockets.
Tensions along the border rose after a senior official in the violent
Palestinian group Islamic Jihad was killed in a car bomb in the southern
Lebanese town of Sidon last week. Israel has denied involvement.
The Israeli commander said he's seen a strong presence of Iranian Revolutionary
Guards in southern Lebanon. "Hezbollah is a wing of the Iranian effort to create
a frontline against the West," he said, noting that the Iranians train and
supply Hezbollah fighters. However, reporters in southern Lebanon said they have
not seen Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and that the Israelis may have mistaken
local Hezbollah activists for Iranians because of similar looks, beards and
training.
Hirsch said that in the event of renewed Katyusha attacks, Israel would again
retaliate harshly, perhaps step up its response.
Israel has urged the Lebanese government to disarm militiias and send regular
troops to the south, but the government has refused.
Nasrallah Says Hezbollah Acts As Deterrent to Israel
09:02 May 29, '06 / 2 Sivan 5766
(IsraelNN.com) Marking the sixth anniversary of Israel’s unilateral withdrawal
from the security zone in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah,
said his organization was determined to preserve its independent terrorist base
inside southern Lebanon.The Hezbollah, he said, serves as a “strategic national
defense” and preserves Lebanon’s pro-Syrian orientation. Nasrallah said
his group’s 12,000 rockets, which can strike deep inside northern Israeli
territory, provide a deterrent balance to the IDF.