Liveblogging the War: Tuesday August 1st
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The Israeli political-security cabinet voted early this morning to expand Israel’s ground operations in south Lebanon. The plan entails IDF forces mounting raids on villages that have served as Hizbullah bases, similar to last week’s operation carried out in Bint Jbail. These areas are known to be loaded with Katusha rocket launchers, weapons warehouses and Hizbullah headquarters. With expectations that the UN Security Council will call for a cease-fire beginning Saturday, the aim of the widened offensive is to weaken Hizbullah, and push them back as far north as the Litani River in central Lebanon, before the window of opportunity closes.Although Israel suspended most air strikes on south Lebanon for 48 hours, the IAF struck targets this morning, including Hermel in eastern Lebanon (a Hizbullah stronghold), 2 rocket launchers, 2 terror cells, Hizbullah command posts and buildings, routes in the Lebanon valley (to prevent arms from being smuggled from Syria), and rocket launch sites. For their part, Hizbullah fired a number of mortar shells from south lebanon, hitting open areas in the Upper Galilee.
On the southern front, the IDF began operating in and around Dahiniye in the Gaza Strip overnight in an attempt to locate and destroy tunnels in the area, and 5 Kassam rockets fired from Gaza struck the western Negev.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called a special meeting to discuss the composition and mandate of a (French-led) international force to be stationed in southern Lebanon. Syria has expressed opposition to such a force, preferring to enlarge the size of the UNIFIL force already stationed in the area. If that’s not an indictment on UNIFIL, I don’t know what is.
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
Wednesday updates here.
11:07PM: 5 IDF soldiers have been lightly hurt by a mortar shell near the Lebanon border.
11:00PM: It has been released for publication that 3 IDF soldiers were killed, and 25 were wounded, in the village of Aita al-Shaab. At least 10 Hizbullah terrorists were killed in the clashes.
10:58PM: G-d bless Australia: The Australian government has donated $300,000 to Magen David Adom.
10:02PM: 28 corpses; what about the other 29? Perhaps they fell off the stretchers and walked away.
9:18PM: FU EU: This from the Ha’aretz news ticker:
EU will not brand Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
But we know from recent history that Europe has morality troubles.
9:15PM: Some Katushas have landed near Nahariya, bringing today’s tally to 9.
9:10PM: The Israeli media are reporting that the IDF have suffered an unspecified number of casualties during battles in Aita al-Shaab in south Lebanon. Hizbullah television has claimed that 35 Israeli soldiers have been killed or wounded in the battles.
9:05PM: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has rejected a UN resolution calling Iran to halt uranium enrichment. He also found time to wax lyrical about the Joooos:
“Are they humans? They are worse than the beasts. They are bloodthirsty savages.”
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy Douche-Bag was unavailable for comment.
Sphere: Related Content9:00PM: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that we are winning the battle, but the diplomatic process to create conditions for a cease-fire “under entirely different conditions than before”are underway.
6:50PM: Sandmonkey has this important post.
I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a co-worker, on the concept of the disporportinate Israeli attacks on Lebanon compared to Hezbollah attacks. He pointed to me his dismay at Hezbollah’s rockets ineffeciency at hitting targets. He said “If you noticed, they bomb each other almost equally in amounts of missiles shot, but 90% of Hezbollah’s rockets miss or hit nothing, while all of Israel’s rockets hit something. If Hezbollah had better rockets, the civillian death toll on the Israeli side would be huge, and they would be really hurting by now.”Impressed by this point of view that I haven’t considerd before, I asked him what he would’ve thought, if a Hezbollah rocket had attacked a building in Israel, killing 55 civillians, of which 30 were children. He responded immeidtely “I would’ve thought it was great! A7san!”.So I repeated the same question to 8 other co-workers, and the responses so far have been as follows: 7 said they would celebrate, and 2 said that such an attack would’ve been bad, but justified! Yeah! Not a single person said that the death of any civllian, on either side, is an equal tragedy. Civillians dead on our side is tragic, civillian deaths on their side cause for celebration. And if you think I am being unfair or demonizing arabs or whatever, do me a favor and try it at your work place and/or with members of your family. Conduct this little social experiment and see for yourself. The results are very interesting.This begs another question: If we were the ones who had the superior military machine, would we have shown them any mercy, or any regard to their civillian casualties? Would we have hesitated to wipe them all out? Armed forces, civillians, whatever? Would any of us have felt bad about it at all? Or would we be filled with the feelings of Pride, honor and dignity that we keep talking about day and night?I am just wondering!What do you think?
As I told Sandmonkey before our interview together (part 1; part 2), I may not always agree with him, but I always respect his honesty and forthrightness. And he’s showing those qualities in this post.
6:35PM: We all knew the mainstream media was biased, but Israellycool reader Yuval has sent me the following, which illustrates the extent of this bias.
Dear Jack,
You will never guess who called me today. A CNN reporter who left the following message on my voicemail: “I am doing a story on the debate within the Jewish community re: the conflict in the Middle East. We are looking for a different perspective. The majority of people (Jewish) we spoke to in the area are supportive of the role of Israel defending herself. We are looking for those who may want to take a more peaceful stance and still support Israel.”Do you believe the chutzpah? She is supposed to be a journalist and she “frames” the story before she goes out and works on it?
Yup, CNN does have their agenda alright.
I did not call her back.
Suzanne
6:27PM: The IDF have killed 6 Hizbullah terrorists today in in the Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab.
The tally of dead Hizbullah terrorists for the 20 days of fighting stands at around 400.
6:23PM: More than 2000 palestinians have marched through Ramallah in support of Hizbullah (kind of rhymes, doesn’t it? - ed.). They called for Nasrallah to bomb Tel Aviv, and denounced the more “moderate” Arab leaders, calling Jordan’s King Abdullah a “collaborator of the Zionists and the Americans,” and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak a “pig.” (Which makes us relatives).
And speaking of “moderate” Arab leaders…
“These days are days of Arab resurrection and days of humiliation for the Israeli military, the military that couldn’t proceed (move ahead) into Lebanese land,” said Hani Hassan, a leading member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party.
6:13PM: Despite the lull in rocket attacks on Israel, Defense Minister Amir Peretz tells Israelis wanting to head north ”Not so fast….”
2:53PM: Understatement of the day:
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Tuesday criticized France’s policy stance on Israel, calling it “problematic.”
To borrow the words of someone else, I would prefer to think of French policy as “sh*tty.”
2:50PM: Ynetnews has taken notice of the great work done by those blogs that analyzed the pictures in the aftermath of the Qana attack, and exposed the fact that they were staged.
11:58AM: “To puke or walk out”: Here’s Gillerman, again showing why he is our number one spokesperson.
11:50AM: US President George Bush has told reporters that the US will not be part of any future international peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
11:36AM: Former PA Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath has claimed that Israel would free 700 palestinian prisoners as part of a framework being developed to free Gilad Shalit. He also claimed that officials are in the advanced stages of negotiation.
11:34AM: Heavy fighting between the IDF and Hizbullah is reportedly taking place in the village of Aita in southern Lebanon.
11:02PM: The IDF have stated that 20 Hizbullah terrorists were killed so far today.
11:00AM: Hizbullah have fired a number of Katushas at Nahraiya this morning.
10:53AM: An IDF Paratrooper has been lightly wounded in his neck in south Lebanon.
9:52AM: Israeli government and defense officials have said that Israel will release 2 Lebanese prisoners (Abu Amra Mamad, convicted of weapons possession, plus one illegal alien) in return for the 2 soldiers abducted by Hizbullah, as part of a cease-fire agreement.
8:56AM: I received this email, which although is almost certainly a hoax, still contains a classic quote:
In a recent interview, General Norman Schwartzkopf was asked if he thought there was room for forgiveness toward Hizbollah.The General said, “I believe that forgiving Hizbollah is God’s function. The Israeli’s job is to arrange the meeting.”
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.
August 1st, 2006 at 2:54 am
I have heard that there are no Security Council meetings scheduled to discuss Lebanon. All previous scheduled meetings are canceled.
There are no troops are available for “peace keeping”
I would not bet on a cease fire resolution this Saturday. As I see it there will be no resolution until the strategic defeat of the hizzies. That means taking down Syria.
Two, three more weeks. At least.
August 1st, 2006 at 3:28 am
I haven’t seen any definitive proof that any of the 3 kidnapped soldiers are still alive. The reports don’t mention whether Israel will exchange dependent on the two soldiers still being alive. Any news on this?
August 1st, 2006 at 4:57 am
Whats Kofi Annan doing, interfering in internal British politics?
he gave Jack Straw, the former Foreign secretary with a large Muslim voter base, a call.
August 1st, 2006 at 5:32 am
You are right. Gillerman is the best spokesperson. I don’t watch the American news much, but I saw very young Israeli military spokesperson answer some questions. He was terrible. He looked like he was just reciting a script. He spoke English fluently with an american accent, and that was probably why he was used. It is very important to have people like Gillerman who can be spontaneous, funny, and relaxed represent Israel.
Stan
August 1st, 2006 at 7:27 am
Sobering op-ed piece here
August 1st, 2006 at 7:41 am
I am mad about gillerman, he has the ability to say everything, with an added sarcastic punchline… you can find all he says here: the media stakeouts and the security councils.
After listening to Olmert’s adress to the nation yesterday, I had the distinct feeling that he has taken a few lessons in public speaking from Gillerman. His speech can be listened to on the mabat website . I really hope someone will make an english transcript of what he said… Anyone know where I can direct my search for this?
August 1st, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Regarding disproportionate force, look at is this way. If Israel wans to be proportionate, they would launch unguided missiles at civilian areas.
Another way to look at it, if US was proportionate after 9/11 they would have flown planes into 2 tall building in Afghanistan
Disproportionate is rediculous
August 1st, 2006 at 2:36 pm
i got some questions:
Why the MSM keeps counting the number and type of missiles Hezbollah launches into Israel, but no one seems to count the number and type of bombs and missiles Israel launches into Lebanon, what’s the difference?
why we still have not seen any picture or video of hezbollah rocket batteries destroyed amongst the rubble of the buildings Israel destroyed?
Did anyone seen a Hezbollah rocket launcher at the Beirut Airport? or the Power plant?
it’s the prhase “the right to defend itself” copyrighted by Israel?
why everyone has to comply (or else) with IAEA and UN resolutions and inspections, but Israel?
with what type of moral authority the US can ask countries (like Syria nad Iran) to stop sending armament to Hezbollah (allegedly) when the US is sending armament to Israel (allegedly)?
why nobody wants to address the root of the problem: the inhumane conditios in the Ghettos in Gaza and West Bank, and the right to Palestine to exist, and be respected as human beings?
How the people trying to leave the South of Lebanon, or the country can do so if almost every bridge and road is bombed and destroyed? i think the flying magic carpet is just a stereotype…
CNN will surely remind us today that it is Day 19 of the Israel-Hezbollah war - now branded as Crisis in the Middle East - but you won’t catch anyone saying it’s Day 1,229 of the war in Iraq.
I hope i am not labeled as antisemite, because i am asking this questions…
August 1st, 2006 at 3:37 pm
Sad - “It will take JNF another 40 years to return the Galil to the green forest situation that Israel enjoyed only a few weeks ago.”
Good - “perhaps G-d is B”H taking out the charon af of din mainly on aytzim vih’avonim”
August 1st, 2006 at 3:58 pm
Aussie Dave, have you heard about the August 22 decision of I’m-mad-in-the-head/Gorilla Boy to accept/reject the EU’s offer? I heard through the grapevine that it corresponds to the 27th day of the Islamic month of Rajab, which is a holiday commemorating the Night Journey, and that said Night Journey had a lit-up sky. Does that mean what I think it means? If it does, then G-d help us all.
August 1st, 2006 at 5:13 pm
I think the “disproportionate” argument refers to the response to the killing/kidnap of the IDF soldiers. The rockets came after the disproportionate Israeli response.
August 1st, 2006 at 5:22 pm
Certainly not anti-semite, Johnny, just inconvenient…
August 1st, 2006 at 6:07 pm
Answers:
MSM & Missle counts. Numbers sell. Big numbers are sexy. The number of Hizbollah rockets far outnumbers the number of Israel air raids. This is also overlooking the fact that the Israel air raids target the launch sites, vs. the Hizbollah rockets targetting only civilian populated areas.
No pictures of launch pads. There is no such thing. Katyusha rockets are launched from a mobile vehicle. Without knowing situations on the ground, either the vehicles escape before the raid, or are buried in the rubble. That’s also ignoring the fact that you get more shock value out of holding up a dead baby vs. a destroyed truck.
The airstrikes against the airport and power plant are typical of any war campaign, and have to do with cutting off critical infrastructure in an effort to weaken the enemy’s fighting strength in the overall conflict. This does not require rocket lanuchers being present at the airport or power plant. Both are legitimate military targets.
The right to defend statement deserves no debate. All countries have this right.
Why doesn’t Israel have to answer to the IAEA? That’s a very easy question to answer. Israel never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It is through this treaty that gives the IAEA the power to impose sanctions against the 180 signing countries. Iran signed that treaty. Look it up.
There’s no point in debating you on moral authority when you can’t tell the difference between deliberately targeting civilians, and targeting legitimate military targets. If you don’t understand that, there’s no point arguing with you about it.
Ahh yes .. the “right” of Palestine to exist … Go to google and search for Camp David. Oh … and while you’re doing research, find me one map with Palestine on it. Just one. Find me any piece of evidence that Palestine has ever been recognized as a sovereign nation. I can show you evidence of Israel being declared sovereign …
Good questions, with easy answers. Do a bit of research, and you may be surprised what this issue looks like from both sides.
August 1st, 2006 at 6:33 pm
Try looking into the history of the creation of the nations at the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of WW1. It’s a good start of understand the real issue of this conflict. In particular the British Mandated territory of Transjordan. There is a two-state solution - Israel/Jordan. Google Al-Husseini, uncle of Arafat, creator of the ‘PLO’ resistence, nazi war collaborator and criminal.
In a nutshell, the arabs were happy for Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia etc to be created as independent nations; they just couldn’t accept a Jewish nation where ANY arabs would be under the rule of the Jews.
Then look at the UN resolutions - who agreed, giving up land in order to live in peace, and who walked away from them. Hint, the Jews have agreed. Then look at the wars/conflicts that started after the resolutions, started by whom.
Then, if you’ve looked into the history with objective eyes, the answers to your questions will become obvious.
August 1st, 2006 at 8:35 pm
“10:02PM: 28 corpses; what about the other 29? Perhaps they fell off the stretchers and walked away.”
This isn’t a laughing matter but I couldn’t help chuckling when I read this…*sigh* so true…
You are doing an incredible job with up to the minute updates! You are amazing Dave!
-yael
August 1st, 2006 at 9:28 pm
Re: G_d Bless Australia, no doubt He will keep His promise to bless those who bless Abraham– it’s no coincidence that Britain is the FORMER empire upon which the sun never set, ever since they betrayed the returning Jews and their original Mandate promises…
August 2nd, 2006 at 12:57 am
And as an Australian I’ve never been prouder of our Prime Minister, John Howard, and his government as in this issue. (Mind you I was already a Howard supporter :))
There are many of us Aussies supporting you, I and others are putting up the good fight at the Herald Sun on Andrew Bolt’s blog against the delusional ‘all wars are wrong and let’s sit down, have a cup of tea, and see why they don’t like us’ crowd.
Just a little bit, not much help to those of you in the thick of it, but I hope to helps to know
August 2nd, 2006 at 2:08 am
It is http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2006/08/lebanon-bekaa-attacks-maps.html“>unfolding just as I http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2006/07/tactics-strategy-grand-strategy.html
“>predicted.
Next step: Syria attacks the Bekaa.
August 2nd, 2006 at 1:44 pm
Swartzkopf didn’t make that great comment. See snopes.
(And if you haven’t been to snopes before, be forewarned: you risk losing hours of worktime searching other urban myths.)
Ted
Cerberus