In the aftermath of the bloodiest day of the war for Israel, the IAF struck 150 targets overnight, including Hizbullah strongholds in Beirut, as well as in the Baalbek region in the northeast, bridges, roads, bunkers, and rocket launch sites.
The IDF continued to battle Hizbullah terrorists as they attempted to advance deeper into Southern Lebanon. Fighting has been especially fierce in Houla, where terrorists ambushed an IDF unit, as well as in Bint Jbail. The IDF has so far managed to kill 14 terrorists. Elsewhere in Lebanon, the IDF forces discovered an arsenal of 60 mortars – in a village of course.
In other news, the IAF struck a weapons storehouse in Gaza, UN Security Council deliberations ended with changes likely to be made to the draft text of the resolution, and the Reuters photographer accused of doctoring the photograph claimed he was”trying to remove dust marks and that he made mistakes due to the bad lighting conditions he was working under.” U-huh.
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
9:16PM: 2 IDF soldiers have been killed by an anti-tank missile in southern Lebanon.
9:09PM: Now the IAF are saying that the Hizbullah drone shot down apparently did not contain explosives.
9:07PM: Israel’s Northern Front Commander has stated that the IDF has killed 450 terrorists since the start of fighting (the identity of 250 of whom are known).
8:13PM: Just on Israeli television: One of the Hizbullah terrorists we captured, who was involved in the abduction of our soldiers, was interviewed. He did not shed any light on the whereabouts of our abducted soldiers, but did confirm that Hizbullah fighters are trained in Iran.
Also reported on Israeli television: The unmanned Hizbullah drone shot down in Israel by the IDF contained explosives, and was to be used in a terror attack.
7:30PM: Today’s rocket tally currently stands at 160.
6:53PM: Oops: The Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has now retracted his claim that 40 people were killed in Houla today (hat tip: Andy).
“The massacre in Houla, it turned out that there was one person killed,” Siniora told reporters. “They thought that the whole building smashed on the heads of about 40 people… thank God they have been saved.”
(Notice how he still referred to it as the “massacre.”)
It turns out that 50 people were in a bomb shelter all along.
Meanwhile, according to unconfirmed reports, Green Helmet Guy was seen cursing as he had to turn around and drive back to Tyre.
6:33PM: Here we go again: For the second time in as many days, a photograph doctored by (ex) Reuters photographer Adnan Hajj has been discovered, and subsequently “killed.” (sounds like ‘disproportionate force’ being used against the photo by Reuters -ed.)
Props to Rusty Shackleford for exposing the fraud this time around.
Photographer Adnan Hajj denied deliberately attempting to manipulate the first image exposed by LGF, offering up this laughable excuse:
“The photographer has denied deliberately attempting to manipulate the image, saying that he was trying to remove dust marks and that he made mistakes due to the bad lighting conditions he was working under,” said Moira Whittle, the head of public relations for Reuters.
I am eagerly awaiting his excuse for this latest fraud. Possible excuses:
“I was still trying to remove dust marks..hey, it is very dusty over here in Lebanon, with all the deserts and rubble, and stuff. And the lighting is still very bad, after all the Zionist planes bombed the electricity plants.”
“It was the Jooooooooooos.”
“My dog at the photo, so I had to try and reproduce it.”
6:17PM: Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has referred to today’s IDF strike on the village of Houla – in which 40 people are thought to have died – as a “massacre.”
The IDF have responded in a statement, saying that “the village is filled with Hizbullah members hiding in the homes…The IDF called on the residents via leaflets to head north for their own safety.”
5:52PM: 90 rockets have landed in the north since this morning, 53 of which landed in Kiryat Shmona.
5:28PM: Here is more on the reservists who were killed yesterday. 2 of them were the brothers of work colleagues of mine, just to give you an idea as to how small this country is, and how connected we all are.
By the way, you can always view the Israeli casualties at the MFA site. Needless to say, I truly hope it is not going to be updated again.
4:50PM: Speaking of doctored photos, what do you make of this one? (thanks to Imshin for drawing my attention to it).
Night strike : An Israeli warplane flies past the moon over the southern port city of Tyre. (AFP/Hassan Ammar)
But if it is photoshopped, what is Hassam Ammar trying to say? That Israel is like the Death Star? That we are using futuristic weapons against the hapless palestinians and Lebanese? Curious minds need to know!
3:28PM: Your’ve got mail: Palestinian Prime Minister/Hamas terrorist Ismail Haniyeh reportedly received an interesting letter:
At least four Palestinian clerks working in the Palestinian Prime Minister’s Office in Ramallah, lost consciousness Monday after opening a package thought to contain a poisonous substance. The package arrived at the Palestinian government building in Ramallah, sent to the office of Nasser al-Din Shaer, Ismail Haniyeh’s deputy prime minister. Sources in the office said that the package was sent from an address in Tel Aviv. They refused to pass on details about the address.
After the clerks lost consciousness, panic gripped the employees working in the office. This is due to the fact that Shaer himself is practically the only Hamas leader in the West Bank that wasn’t arrested in the wave of recent arrests made by the IDF and the Shin Bet. Shaer said that the poisonous package was an Israeli attempt to hurt the Palestinian prime minister and his deputy, noting that the package was addressed to Haniyeh.
I’ll await further information before agreeing to the accusation that this was Zionist Death MailTM. Besides, there is this important piece of information.
However, it must be mentioned that Prime Minister Haniyeh does not usually come to Ramallah, and hasn’t been in the city at all since his appointment to the position out of fear that Israel will hurt, or arrest him.
And given that Fatah and Hamas are at each other’s throats, there is a good chance the sender is closer to home.
3:16PM: Since this morning, over 60 rockets have landed in Israel.
2:50PM: Hizbullah have claimed that some of their rockets hit the IDF northern headquarters.
12:23PM: The IDF have killed 5 Hizbullah terrorists in Bint Jbail.
12:22PM: An IDF soldier has been killed and 4 others were wounded in bitter clashes with Hizbullah terrorists in Bint Jbail.
9:05AM: Heh.
