Squiggler

Crisis in the Middle East - Daily Update

Hezbollah fires more than 220 rockets at towns in Israel

Israel Renews Beirut Bombing

AP Israeli soldiers march toward southern Lebanon.

Sends 8,000 troops into Lebanon Israeli warplanes hit Beirut suburbs as country presses ground attack; Hezbollah launches record number of rockets Related Stories • Hezbollah's Record Rocket Fire • Baalbek Wakes Up to Death Video  • Rice Addresses Mideast Fighting   • Rocket Hits West Bank   • Searching for Shelter   • Pre-Kidnapping Rocket Attacks

THE GAZA BORDER, FRONT LINE IN THE GLOBAL JIHAD (by Pamela of Atlas Shrugs, a first hand account with pictures)

LATEST FLASHPOINTS: 1-2 AUGUST

 

The Israeli army has stepped up activity in Lebanon

WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST

Hezbollah fires more than 220 rockets at towns in Israel, mainly in the north and including Nahariya, where one person is killed, Karmiel, Kiryat Shemona, Maalot and Safed

After air strikes and the landing of Israeli commandos by helicopter, there is heavy overnight fighting in Baalbek, after which the Israeli army says it seized five Hezbollah fighters, although the militant group says they are "ordinary citizens"

A Hezbollah rocket lands near the town of Beit Shean, the deepest point yet hit inside Israeli territory, and another in the West Bank, near the village of Faqua

Israeli planes attack a Lebanese army base south-east of Sidon, killing three Lebanese soldiers

TUESDAY 1 AUGUST

Israeli officials say war planes have launched several attacks across Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah rocket launchers and hideouts, as well as a road to Syria in the Bekaa Valley, which the army says was hit to prevent weapons smuggling

According to the Israeli army, 20 Hezbollah militants are killed in fighting around the Lebanese villages of Taibe, Adayseh and Rob Thalantheen

There are fierce clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters around Ait al-Shaab

Israeli forces stage a fresh incursion at Houla, according to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil)

Son of Osama heading to Lebanon from Iran ...

I do not think this Crisis in the Middle East can end until that maniac in Iran is out of the picture. Israel can not have peace with Iran waiting in the wings to annihilate them. And now this:

Son of Osama!... Iran Releases Saad bin Laden to Recruit in Lebanon

By Gateway Pundit

VIDEO HERE of Saad Bin Laden, the son of Osama.

The son of Osama has been released from house arrest (or protection, whichever) in Iran.

An earlier photo of Saad bin Laden (left) with his father Osama.

According to German news, Saad bin Laden is heading to Lebanon to recruit for jihad:

Crisis in the Middle East - late night update

Israeli Troops Pour Into Lebanon

 

AP An Israeli soldier watches smoke rise from a Lebanese village.

Up to 10,000 armored soldiers deployed in southern part of country as helicopter-borne commandos raid Hezbollah hideout in Bekaa Valley hospital Related Stories • Blair Wants 'Alliance of Moderation' • Israeli Strike on Gaza Kills Two • Bush Presses for U.N. Resolution Video  • Hezbollah Sleeper Cells in U.S.?   • Wes Clark on What's Next in Mideast   • Lebanon's President Talks to FNC

IDF commandos capture Hizbullah members after battle

By YAAKOV KATZ, JPOST STAFF, AND AP

After several hours of intense fighting in and around the hospital in the eastern Lebanon town of Baalbek, which was built by Iran for the express purpose of treating Hizbullah operatives, IDF commando forces on Wednesday morning took a number of Hizbullah operatives captive.

An IAF helicopter dropped commando forces a short distance from the hospital late Tuesday night. The force was discovered as it moved towards the structure, where Hizbullah operatives were suspected of hiding. Several hours of gunfights ensued, and at least 10 Hizbullah guerrillas were reported killed.

Another force was helicoptered in to extricate the commandos and provide backup for the mission.

After inspecting the identification of everyone in the hospital, the IDF soldiers proceeded to arrest several Hizbullah officials, who were later transported back into Israel. The officials' names and positions in the organization were not revealed. The main target of the operation was Muhammad Yazbek, a senior figure in the organization. Yazbek was not in the hospital at the time of the raid.

No IDF soldiers were wounded in the operation, an army spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post.

Lebanon damage report

Summary of the main Lebanese infrastructure damaged by Israeli bombing in the two weeks since the conflict began on 12 July, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs.

KEY INFRASTRUCTURE DAMAGED IN ISRAELI BOMBING

 

                                                                                

Airports Beirut International Qaleiat domestic Rayak military Ports Beirut Tripoli Jounieh Other transport Lighthouse, Beirut Bridges: 62 Fuel stations: 22 Overpasses: 72 Dams: 3 Roads: 600km Military Radar installations: 4 Army barracks: 1

Civilian Private homes: 5,000 Commercial Tissue paper factory, Bekaa Bottle factory, Bekaa Other businesses: 150 Communications Hezbollah's al-Manar TV station, Haret Hreik, Beirut MTC mobile phone antenna, Dahr al-Baidar Utilities Jiyeh power plant Sibline power station Sewage plant, Dair al-Zahrani

Crisis in the Middle East

Israeli Forces Swarm Hezbollah Stronghold

 

AP Smoke rises from Aita al-Shaab, Lebanon, after Israeli shelling.

Major operation is under way against terrorist hideout near Baalbek in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley Related Stories • Blair Wants 'Alliance of Moderation' Video  • Bush Won't Call for Cease-Fire   • Lebanon's President Talks to FNC Photo Essays  • Crisis in the Mideast

Crisis Map

LATEST FLASHPOINTS: 31 JULY - 1 AUGUST

Israeli troops are pushing deeper into southern Lebanon

TUESDAY 1 AUGUST

Israeli officials say war planes have launched several attacks across Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah rocket launchers and hideouts, as well as a road to Syria in the Bekaa Valley, which the army says was hit to prevent weapons smuggling

According to the Israeli army, 20 Hezbollah militants are killed in fighting around the Lebanese villages of Taibe, Adayseh and Rob Thalantheen

There are fierce clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters around Ait al-Shaab

Israeli forces stage a fresh incursion at Houla, according to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil)

MONDAY 31 JULY

Israeli ground forces exchange fire with Hezbollah fighters near Kfar Kila

There is a brief lull in fighting following an Israeli attack on Qana, which killed at least 54 people, but Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rules out an immediate ceasefire

Israeli aircraft carry out strikes on roads near the village of Yanta near the border with Syria

Hezbollah's rocket force

The mainstay of Hezbollah's rocket force are small 122mm artillery rockets known by the generic term "Katyusha". The name - which means "little Katy" in Russian - was coined more than 60 years ago by Soviet Red Army troops who fired them at the invading German army.

During World War II the Katyushas' distinctive screech cast a powerful psychological spell over the enemy. In northern Israel today, later versions of the rocket remain crude, yet often effective, weapons.

 

SHORT RANGE

Hezbollah's Katyushas are thought to derive mainly from former Soviet and Chinese stockpiles. A typical example is the Soviet BM-21 Grad missile, which was first deployed in 1963 and has a maximum range of about 25km.

Because of their lack of a guidance system, Katyushas have the greatest effect when launched in concentrated numbers.

Since 2001, Hezbollah is believed to have acquired a number of truck-mounted Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers [MRBL], enabling them to fire such multiple barrages.

Images broadcast recently by Hezbollah's TV station appeared to show what the group described as a Ra-ad 1 missile being fired. Military analysts believe this missile was an Iranian-built Shahin I missile, which has a range of about 13km.

LONGER RANGE

Recent missile strikes on Israel's northern port city of Haifa indicate that Hezbollah may also have acquired longer-range missiles.

Most of these are believed to be Iranian-manufactured systems like the Fajr-3, with a 45-km range; the Fajr-5, with a range of some 75km.

Some analysts believe that Hezbollah also has the more potent Zelzal-2 which has a claimed range of 200-400km and can be fitted with a 600kg high-explosive warhead. Its solid fuel system means that it can be more easily transported and prepared for firing.

Most analysts believe a more realistic range to be about 100km, but this would still bring much of Tel Aviv - Israel's largest population centre - within its range.

None of these are guided or accurate systems, but often accuracy is not important if the target is an urban area.

 

 

Crisis in the Middle East - Early early morning update

Israeli Forces to Occupy Parts of Lebanon

 

AP A Lebanese army officer wears a mask in Bint Jbail, Lebanon.

Troops go deeper into south Israeli officials say military will hold Lebanese territory until international force can be deployed to region Related Stories • Israeli Offensive to Widen in Lebanon • Bush: 'Sustainable' Cease-Fire • U.N. Extends Peacekeeping Mission Video  • Is Book of Revelation a Blueprint?   • Bint Jbail: A Ghost Town Photo Essays  • Israel, Hezbollah Trade Attacks

ANALYSIS: Giving the war an image of victory, not a draw

By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent

Borrowing from the world of soccer beloved to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the Israel Defense Forces operation in Lebanon went into overtime on Monday.

Olmert wants to take another stab at a decisive conclusion before the UN Security Council blows the final whistle. That's why he convened the cabinet on Monday to approve a wide-scale ground operation targeting villages used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

IT'S ANOTHER HEZBOLLAH ATROCITY

John Podhoretz

Given the amount of coverage these past months of the Geneva Convention and its applicability to the War on Terror and the war in Iraq, you'd have expected the U.S. and European elites who profess their great love for the convention to rush to Israel's defense: The Geneva Convention makes clear that the moral responsibility for the deaths at Qana belongs entirely to Hezbollah, and that Hezbollah has violated the most basic laws of war in its behavior.

Here's the relevant language. It comes from Article 37 of Protocol 1, ratified in 1979: "It is prohibited to kill, injure or capture an adversary by resort to perfidy." It lists three types of perfidy; the third is "the feigning of civilian, non-combatant status." And, by hiding in and launching missiles from Qana, Hezbollah was feigning civilian status and therefore resorting to perfidy.

Many questions surrounding Qana

Qana: A Hezbollywood Production? distills the discrepancies surrounding the Qana death and destruction media reports into some easy to understand questions.

• Why were dozens of women and children packed into a building that terrorists had been using to store weapons?
• Why was the roof intact?
• Why did the civilians supposedly sheltering in the basement not leave between the attack at 12:00–1:00 AM and the collapse at 8:00 AM?
• Why were the dead civilians found in the building not residents of the building?
• Why did civilians not heed ample Israeli warnings to leave the area?
• Why did Lebanese rescue teams not start evacuating the building until the morning?
• Why was there hardly any blood?
• Why did the bodies appear to have been dead for days?
• Could bodies from the temporary morgue at nearby Tyre have been brought in as props?

If the last one should prove to be true, then we will know in no uncertain terms that the terrorists are sick beyond comprehension. More here and here and here and Uncle Jimbo at Black Five, Michelle Malkin, Ace of Spades, The Wide Awakes, Confederate Yankee, Jay Currie, Gateway Pundit, In the Bullpen, Israellycool, Macsmind, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Blue Crab Boulevard, Riehl World View, and Israel Matzav are also blogging this mystery.

A sad state of affairs ...

As noted yesterday, Pamela of Atlas Shrugs is now blogging from Israel and one of her first posts tells a story we don't hear from the mainstream propogandists. Basically ..

FACT.  You can immediately tell what part of Jerusalem you are in, in a nanosecond, with a mere glimpse of your surroundings.

For the story behind the story, read it here. She lays out the case for how the Muslims are terrorizing Muslims and notes:

The level of security at every level of everyday life is staggering. Americans have no clue.

And then notes the real drain on the Israeli population with this rather depressing conclusion:

The thought of "peace," no longer is in the the Israeli delusional wishlist. They know now that after giving back Gaza and withdrawing from Lebanon they  gave the enemy unprecedented access. This is why while the consensus in Israel is unified to fight Hezb'Allah, there is a mood of complete sadness.

And if you have been getting your news from CNN, you may want to consider this:

At least then we knew it was Naza state propaganda but CNN is "independent" They are anything but. They are jihad TV. Their portrayal of events in Lebanon are such lies, such Jew hatred -- it is nothing short of frightening. Nothing is as they say it is.It is as if they are getting their talking points straight from Hezb'Allah.

A fascinating inside look. I encourage everyone to go now and read the whole article. The photos alone are worth the click.

Related:

Just Another Word For Nothing More to Lose "It's manifestly clear that the current conflict is not a war on Lebanon. It is a war in Lebanon by outside powers over the central political issue in the Middle East: Israel's right to exist."

Hezbollah loves children- dead ones "OK let me get this straight Hezbollah, who does so much charitable work, builds a piece of terrorism infrastructure and then puts a school on top of it."

Media Blog details a current Pew Poll that may reflect the fall out for CNN's biased reporting: 

Changing public views of CNN perhaps best exemplify these trends. In 1998, 42% of those familiar enough with CNN to rate the network said they believed all or most of what CNN reported, significantly more than for any broadcast or cable news outlet tested. Today, just 28% give CNN the highest believability rating, a share which is statistically indistinguishable from most other television news sources.

Middle East Crisis - Morning Update

Israeli Air Force Back in Action

 

AP An Israeli soldier runs to reload an artillery piece.

Israel strikes southern Lebanon despite agreement to halt raids for 48 hours after outrage over civilians' deaths Related Stories • Olmert: Israel in No Hurry to Agree to Cease-Fire in Lebanon • Southern Lebanese Head North Video  • Protesters Swarm U.N. Post in Beirut Photo Essays  • Qana Attacks

Over at the Counterterrorism blog, they think it is time to stop the tap dance and the first order of business should be:

The Israelis need to accept responsibility for the bombings that have killed innocent Lebanese citizens. Likewise, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran need to be accountable for causing the crisis which resulted in the deaths of so many innocent people.

BMEWS wants a discussion about assymetrical warfare and asks how self defense can not be popular.

Gary Varvel - The Indianapolis Star-News

Haaretz is reporting Palestinians in Gaza fired a barrage of five Qassam rockets

Israel Defense Forces artillery killed a Palestinian teenager in the Gaza Strip on Monday, Palestinian doctors said.

The IDF said artillery was fired against militants launching rockets
toward Israel. The artillery fire in the northern town of Beit Hanun killed the boy, 17, by hitting his home, and it lightly wounded a 2-year-old boy in a nearby house, the doctors said.

Earlier on Monday, Palestinians in Gaza fired a barrage of five Qassam rockets at Israeli communities in the western Negev.

One of the rockets slammed into the roof of the kibbutz dining hall, causing damage but no casualties.

Have journalists dumbed down? Or are they just plain dumb?

What is it with our supposedly "learned" journalists? Is their dumbing down a recent phenomenon? It is scary to think that we've been spoon fed their ignorance for years and years.

A Newsbusters story on Chris Matthews of Hardball fame details the embarrassing (Newsbusters calls it disgraceful) ignorance of a man who at one time was considered the cream of the crop. Matthews is on MSNBC on weeknights and has his own Sunday show as well. One has to wonder how he could be so uninformed ... ignorant ... about stories he has been reporting about for years.

Chris Matthews Exhibits Shocking Ignorance of Middle East History

In War on Terrorism

Without a doubt, Americans who have even a rudimentary understanding of the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and Islamic terrorism must be amazed by the continued ignorance being exhibited by the mainstream media as hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel exploded in the past three weeks. One of the finest examples of this occurred on “The Chris Matthews Show” Sunday when the host concluded the program by actually blaming this flare up on – drum roll please – George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.

So, I finish reading about Chris Matthews and the next story I click on is this eye roller from Patterico. Go read it all.

L.A. Times Editors: “We Just Can’t Solve the Mystery of Why that Muslim Guy Shot All Those Jews”

By Patterico on Dog Trainer

Yes, if you ask the editors of the Los Angeles Times, it’s an utter mystery why the shootings occurred. At least, if you look at Page One. Here is a graphic from the paper’s front page today, teasing stories appearing inside the paper:

The teaser leads to a story on Page A22, which contains the following clue to the “mystery” of the shooter’s motive:

All I can say is thank goodness for blogs. Even with all the cat fights, the potty mouth kiddie korps, and the trolls, excellent research, fact checking, and information and idea exchanges can be found all over the blogosphere.

What is it with our supposedly "learned" journalists? Is their dumbing down a recent phenomenon? It is scary to think that we've been spoon fed their ignorance for years and years.

A Newsbusters story on Chris Matthews of Hardball fame details the embarrassing (Newsbusters calls it disgraceful) ignorance of a man who at one time was considered the cream of the crop. Matthews is on MSNBC on weeknights and has his own Sunday show as well. One has to wonder how he could be so uninformed ... ignorant ... about stories he has been reporting about for years.

Chris Matthews Exhibits Shocking Ignorance of Middle East History

In War on Terrorism

Without a doubt, Americans who have even a rudimentary understanding of the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and Islamic terrorism must be amazed by the continued ignorance being exhibited by the mainstream media as hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel exploded in the past three weeks. One of the finest examples of this occurred on “The Chris Matthews Show” Sunday when the host concluded the program by actually blaming this flare up on – drum roll please – George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.

So, I finish reading about Chris Matthews and the next story I click on is this eye roller from Patterico. Go read it all.

L.A. Times Editors: “We Just Can’t Solve the Mystery of Why that Muslim Guy Shot All Those Jews”

By Patterico on Dog Trainer

Yes, if you ask the editors of the Los Angeles Times, it’s an utter mystery why the shootings occurred. At least, if you look at Page One. Here is a graphic from the paper’s front page today, teasing stories appearing inside the paper:

The teaser leads to a story on Page A22, which contains the following clue to the “mystery” of the shooter’s motive:

All I can say is thank goodness for blogs. Even with all the cat fights, the potty mouth kiddie korps, and the trolls, excellent research, fact checking, and information and idea exchanges can be found all over the blogosphere.

What is it with our supposedly "learned" journalists? Is their dumbing down a recent phenomenon? It is scary to think that we've been spoon fed their ignorance for years and years.

A Newsbusters story on Chris Matthews of Hardball fame details the embarrassing (Newsbusters calls it disgraceful) ignorance of a man who at one time was considered the cream of the crop. Matthews is on MSNBC on weeknights and has his own Sunday show as well. One has to wonder how he could be so uninformed ... ignorant ... about stories he has been reporting about for years.

Chris Matthews Exhibits Shocking Ignorance of Middle East History

In War on Terrorism

Without a doubt, Americans who have even a rudimentary understanding of the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and Islamic terrorism must be amazed by the continued ignorance being exhibited by the mainstream media as hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel exploded in the past three weeks. One of the finest examples of this occurred on “The Chris Matthews Show” Sunday when the host concluded the program by actually blaming this flare up on – drum roll please – George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.

So, I finish reading about Chris Matthews and the next story I click on is this eye roller from Patterico. Go read it all.

L.A. Times Editors: “We Just Can’t Solve the Mystery of Why that Muslim Guy Shot All Those Jews”

By Patterico on Dog Trainer

Yes, if you ask the editors of the Los Angeles Times, it’s an utter mystery why the shootings occurred. At least, if you look at Page One. Here is a graphic from the paper’s front page today, teasing stories appearing inside the paper:

The teaser leads to a story on Page A22, which contains the following clue to the “mystery” of the shooter’s motive:

All I can say is thank goodness for blogs. Even with all the cat fights, the potty mouth kiddie korps, and the trolls, excellent research, fact checking, and information and idea exchanges can be found all over the blogosphere.

Crisis in the Middle East

I realize that no one really cares what I think about what is going on in the Middle East, Israel, Lebanon or anywhere else, but damn it, at least I'm not trying to tell Israel to sit back and "take it" like a man, or some such nonsense. The last thing Israel should do is cease fire. At least they have announced that if Hizb'Allah even blinks all bets cease fires are off.

Israel Halts Airstrikes Over Southern Lebanon

 

AP Protesters smash a car outside of U.N. compound in Beirut.

Israel announces temporary suspension of aerial activity after international outrage over attack in Qana, which killed at least 56 — including dozens of children Related Stories • Israeli Attack Kills Dozens, Sparks Angry Protests • Palestinians Protest Outside U.N. Building in Gaza • Rice on Mideast Conflict: 'I Think It's Time to Get a Cease-Fire' • Olmert: No Hurry to OK Cease-Fire Video  • Protestors Swarm U.N. Post in Beirut Photo Essays  • Qana Attack

Ed Morrissy thinks the suspension is a good idea.

Powerline asks: When Did the Building Collapse?

Controversy has emerged over the collapse of the large building in Qana where several dozen civilians (most likely human shields) were killed following an Israeli air strike. The controversy relates to the timing of the collapse. The airstrike was not long after midnight, whereas the IAF has said that the building apparently did not collapse until around 8 a.m. (See update to Qana post below.)

What happened at Qana?

Cox and Forkum on the Usual Suspects in the Seattle shooting:

Bill Quick minces no words on his "take" of the Israel/Hizb'Allah situation.

Wretchard has a suggestion in an excellent post at the Belmont Club:

1. All children, elderly men, women and identifiable noncombatants should be     given safe passage out of the area after passing a security checkpoint to be jointly manned by the UNIFIL and the IDF. Any individual who is suspected of being a combatant can be placed in joint custody and removed to a detention facility inspected by the Red Cross or some similar institution. He will remain there until his any doubts over his status can be resolved.
2. The UN should establish a refugee processing camp on the cleared side of  the security checkpoint where food, water, medical attention etc can be provided to whoever needs it. It should be the policy of the UN to temporarily evacuate the combat zone to prevent further loss of life, in accordance with the principle that populations should be removed from the path of natural or manmade disasters whenever possible and returned only when it is safe.

The Eagle Has Landed in Israel [Insert feminine personal note: anyone notice how good looking so many of the female bloggers are? Sorry guys, from one who is shallow enough to pay attention to such things, we gals don't get nearly the eye candy you guys get.]

By Pamela on Israel/Islamic War Live in Israel

and she has promised some interesting reporting up close and personal including:

The building fell 7 hours after the IDF bombed it.  Why were all of those people still in there? Check out the IDF video here. The innocent civilians in all this are the Israelis livving under a rain of  rockets - unguided weapons of terror. Here's more on Hezb'Allah's depraved use of civilians.

and this:

SYRIA'S CHEMICAL MISSILES

Josh Trevino (Tacitus) writes: (H/T Instapundit)

"In a sane world, we would give thanks for Hezbollah's failure to murder, regret what has happened in Qana, and reaffirm the justice of the Israeli war. But this is not a sane world: in place of right and wrong, too many appear to operate in a universe of strong and weak (or, one suspects, Jew and non-Jew) -- and their sympathy goes to the weak, even if the weak is a shell of a polity married to a genocide-minded Muslim murder-front." 

Prepare yourselves for Stoopid on a Kosmic Scale™

Hezbollah has fired 150 rockets at Israeli civilians

While the entire Israeli political echelon expressed regret for the results of the strike, Air Force Chief of Staff Brig.-Gen. Amir Eshel said Sunday night that the three-story building had been struck by the missiles a little after midnight and that it only collapsed seven hours later, at close to 7 a.m.

Eshel refrained from specifying what had caused the structure to collapse seven hours after it was hit, but senior IAF officers said Sunday night that the explosion could have been caused by an unexploded missile or by a Hizbullah-planted explosive device.

"It could be that there was something in the building that caused the explosion," Eshel said.

Eshel said that close to 150 Katyusha rockets had been fired from the Lebanese village over the past 20 days. Hizbullah had hidden rocket launchers, Eshel said, in civilian buildings in the village. Video footage he presented at a press conference in Tel Aviv Sunday night showed rocket launchers being driven into the village following attacks on northern Israel.

Crisis Map

LATEST FLASHPOINTS: 27-30 JULY