Israel has demanded that UNIFIL investigate the explosion at the house of Hizbullah terrorist Abdel Nasser Issa in southern Lebanon, saying it proves Hizbullah stockpiled munitions in violation of the truce.

I’m sure UNIFIL are just itching to investigate the explosion, and if they do find that some Hizbullah terrorists were killed in it, they will take the only action they see fit.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

9:48PM: The IDF has released the following aerial footage, taken shortly after yesterday’s explosion in southern Lebanon, which shows Hizbullah terrorists closing down the area around the warehouse, driving in two trucks and removing weaponry from the site.

They then took the weapons to a known weapons storage facility in the center of the village of Dir a-Nahar about four kilometers away. Only after Hezbollah removed the weaponry did they allow UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army to enter the site of the explosion. The IDF has submitted the footage to UNIFIL to aid in their investigation of the incident.

Unexploded IDF ordinance, my ass.

5:25PM: Looks like the PA are not so happy with Barack Obama.

An internal document circulated among members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s political party says all hopes placed in the Obama administration “have evaporated” because of alleged White House backtracking on key issues to the Palestinians.

The Fatah Party memorandum, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, accuses the United States of backing off from its demands that Israel freeze settlement construction and failing to set a clear agenda for new Mideast peace talks.

Meanwhile, as PMW reports, the editor of the official PA daily has criticized the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Obama:

“After 10 months as president he [US President Barack Obama] has accomplished nothing. He has not brought peace anywhere, but has only escalated the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq… Obama’s acts are not worthy of any prize; but the opposite, he is a president unable to accomplish his goals and deserves a Nobel Prize for Impotence.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 10, 2009]

My advice to Obama, then, would be to stay clear of these guys.

5:10PM: Turkey has urged Israeli officials to use “common sense” in their statements about the current tension between the two countries.

In its statement the Turkish ministry said the “international part” of the “Turkish exercise” had merely been “postponed,” and “it is inappropriate to draw a political meaning and conclusion from the postponement.”

Therefore, it concluded, “it is impossible to accept the assessments and comments attributed to Israeli officials in the press. We invite Israeli officials to [use] common sense in their stance and statements.”

Meanwhile, here is Turkey’s idea of “common sense in their stance and statements”:

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused the international community of shifting responsibility for the war in the Gaza Strip from Israel to Muslims.

—-

“People just watched from the comfort of their seats as phosphorus bombs rained on innocent children in Gaza,” The Turkish agency Sabah quoted Erdogan as saying. “In international platforms, efforts ensued to blame Islam for Islamic terror.”

“… When phosphorus bombs were rained on innocent children in Gaza, the whole world, all of humanity, watched from their comfortable chairs and their safe havens,” the Turkish prime minister said.

“However, as all this was happening, unfortunately from time to time in international discussion platforms, the term ‘Islamic terror’ began to be used, and efforts were made to place blame on the Muslims and Islam,” he said.

12:40PM: Photo of the day:

UNIFIL posters - AP

Italian U.N peacekeeping soldiers, patrol the area following an explosion in Tayr Filsay, Lebanon, near the port city of Tyre, about six miles (10 kilometers) from the border with Israel, late Monday, Oct. 12, 2009. An explosion ripped through the garage of a Hezbollah member’s home in southern Lebanon on Monday, and security officials said the building might have been used to store weapons. One senior security official said the blast killed one person, but the other officials could not confirm that. The Hezbollah militant group that holds sway in the south said no one was killed but one person was wounded.

Patrolling? Looks more like they are auditioning for a Zoolander sequel.

Then again, I guess we should be thankful they are at least awake.

8:25AM: Today’s Abbas-licking award has two nominees.

1. UN Special Rapporteur on palestinian human rights, Richard Falk (text that follows is from an auto-translation)

The Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Richard Falk, today, a written apology to President Mahmoud Abbas on statements made by Al Jazeera, the following is the text of the apology:

After that you review the records to prove ownership of the company’s National Telecommunications and checked, I verify the absence of any proof to confirm any relationship to the family of Palestinian National Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, specifically sons Yasser, Tarek Abbas, in the ownership of Wataniya Telecom, and on this I apologize for any harm I have unintentionally caused to the family of President Mahmoud Abbas a result of repetitive claims that are untrue that you have stated by Al-Jazeera, in particular, I claimed that the existence of a relationship in the company’s ownership of national communications by the family of President Mahmoud Abbas may explain why the Palestinian Authority in Geneva postponed vote on the report of the Goldstone until March 2010, and I reiterate my deep apologies for any injury and / or unintended damage I have caused them ‘.

Although I suspect that the apology may be motivated, at least partly, by this.

2. United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas received a supportive nod from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who on Sunday praised the Palestinian leader’s engagement with UN member states regarding the Goldstone report on Operation Cast Lead, and told him he was a credible partner for peace.

The two men spoke by phone, as Abbas faces growing criticism from Palestinians and the Arab world for his decision earlier this month to defer a UN Human Rights Council resolution on the Goldstone Commission’s report, which denounces Israel’s military action in Gaza.

On the same day that Abbas reversed his decision and called for the council to hold a special session on the report, Ban spoke with him about the report as well as the recent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in east Jerusalem, according to his spokeswoman Michele Montas.

Ban “also expressed his support for President Abbas’s engagement with member states on a proper process for the consideration of the Goldstone Report,” said Montas.

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