Beirut under siege, tension high........

[N.O.R.F]

This as well as Gaza has been an opportunity that has presented its self to the Isrealis. The kidnapped soldiers have been used as an exuse to weaken both Philastiin and Lubnaan. By bombing roads, bridges and electricity stations, this will have a lingering effect on the those areas and it is seen by the Isrealis as weakening the enemy.

 

We have seen people like Bush and the US prostitute Koffi Annan condemning the kidnappings but we have not heard anything with regard to the killing of innocents (14 died in Gaza the other day) nor for the total disregard for the infrastrutures of two countries damaged by Isreali bombs from any Muslim leaders! With the exception of Iran no one has uttered a word! Very sad indeed.

[General Duke]

Lebanon suffers as Israel braces

 

Bombardment of Lebanon continues as Israelis told to stock up on supplies

 

Conal Urquhart in Tel Aviv and agencies

Friday July 14, 2006

The Guardian

 

 

Israeli jets continued to bomb Lebanon today, hitting Beirut airport and 18 other targets as Jerusalem threatened to escalate its attack on the besieged country even further. Three people were killed. Hizbullah fired 13 more rockets at northern Israel, but caused little damage.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis were advised this morning to stock up on essential supplies before returning to their bomb shelters by noon. The residents of northern Israel had emerged from their shelters after a relatively quiet night. Yesterday more than 150 Hizbullah rockets had been fired, killing two people.

 

Israeli officials and politicians said there would be no end to the campaign to destroy Hizbullah and free two Israeli soldiers. They expected Hizbullah to continue to fire some of its estimated 12,000 missiles over the weekend.

 

The soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, were captured by Hizbullah guerrillas in a cross-border raid on Wednesday to be used to barter for the release of Lebanese prisoners. Eight Israeli soldiers and a Hizbullah fighter were killed in the raid.

 

The calm in the north of Israel was bought at the expense of the residents of southern Lebanon and Beirut, who were bombarded by the Israeli air force throughout last night.

 

Israeli aircraft hit offices, fuel depots, roads, bridges and junctions, killing three people and injuring 50, according to news agencies. About 50 people, including four Brazilians, have been killed since Israel started attacking Lebanon.

 

A spokeswoman for the Israeli army said aircraft had targeted 18 sites, including the airport, the offices of Hizbullah in Beirut and bridges and sections of road on the Beirut-Damascus highway. The conflict has affected both the Lebanese and Israeli economies. Tourists in both countries have fled and stocks and currency values have plummeted.

 

Yet Israeli officials vowed to escalate the conflict and assassinate Hassan Nasrallah, the Hizbullah leader.

 

Diplomatic pressure around the conflict was stepped up when Israel's UN ambassador named Syria and Iran as the backers of Hizbullah and Hamas.

 

It is widely known that Damascus and Tehran support the militant groups, but the remarks - in the midst of a security council debate about censuring Israel's actions in Gaza and Lebanon - ratcheted up fears that the countries may be dragged directly into the conflict.

 

"What we are seeing are the actions of Hamas and Hizbullah, but they are merely the fingers of the bloodstained hands and the executioners of the twisted minds of the leaders of the world's most ominous axis of terror, Syria and Iran," said Israel's ambassador, Dan Gillerman.

 

Earlier today, the Finnish foreign minister, Erkki Tuomioja, warned that the violence risked dragging in Syria, which ruled Lebanon as a puppet state until it withdrew troops last year and still has the support of the Lebanese president, Emile Lahoud.

 

Israeli commentators wrote that Israel would profit from the crisis by pushing Hizbullah away from the Israeli border.

 

Amnon Dankner, the editor of the newspaper Ma'ariv, said it was ironic that Amir Peretz, the defence minister, and Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, who had never been senior military men, had the task of repairing the damage done by Israel's previous prime ministers, Ariel Sharon and Ehud Barak, who were both decorated generals. This damage included allowing Hizbullah to deploy thousands of missiles close to the border and exchanging hundreds of prisoners for the bodies of Israelis and a single hostage, he said.

 

Other commentators compared Israel's situation to Britain's during the time of the blitz and said "everything is permissible" in the campaign against Lebanon.

 

The crisis in the north has completely overshadowed the situation in Gaza, where the Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit remains a captive of Hamas and the already desperate living conditions of Gazans continue to deteriorate.

 

Piles of rubbish are mounting in the streets as there is no fuel for garbage trucks. The shortage of electricity, caused by airstrikes on a power station, means there is not enough power to pump sewage or water. Untreated sewage is running directly into the sea and crowds gather round water tanks to fill jerry cans and plastic bottles.

 

Virtually no wages have been paid to employees of the Palestinian Authority and the rest of the economy is at a standstill. Israel allows enough fuel and food to enter but Gazans cannot leave or enter the strip. Thousands have been stuck on the Egyptian border waiting to return home. The Red Cross reported that four people had died because of the lack of shelter and services.

 

Israel pulled its forces out of central Gaza overnight, although they remain in the south near Rafah. The air force continued to bomb parts of Gaza, hitting buildings, roads and bridges, and the army shelled northern Gaza, where a man was killed when a tank fired at his car.

 

Since the offensive began, Israeli forces have killed 86 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier in a friendly fire incident. Many of the dead were gunmen, but about a fifth were civilians. The latest victim was a 10-year-old boy who died in a hospital on Friday, four days after being wounded in Beit Lahiya in the north.

 

Today, the Israeli army said that three Qassam rockets had landed in the city of Sderot in northern Israel without causing any damage.

[Xoogsade]

Rayaana, it is my fault sis, Duke has no hand in this, I was the instigator of the argument in this thread, my apologies to you and to other muslims as well.

[General Duke]

^^^ It takes two to tango, my apologies to you as well brother. We do not have that much difference..

 

The news from the Middle East is getting worse, the US opposed the notion of prisoner swap, as not to send a precedent for Iraq..

[General Duke]

Arabs scramble to contain crisisPublished: Friday, 14 July, 2006, 01:21 PM Doha Time

 

CAIRO: Arab leaders condemned Israel’s deadly offensives against Lebanon and the Gaza Strip yesterday as they scrambled to contain the worst crisis in the Middle East for years.

 

Arab foreign ministers are to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis tomorrow. Qatar’s First Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister, HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani, will lead his country’s delegation to the meeting.

 

Meanwhile, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa blamed Israel for the escalation and warned of “chaos†sweeping the region.

 

“Israel is behind all that is happening,†Moussa told reporters. “Leaving matters as they are will lead to big chaos in the region.â€

 

Moussa said Arab states would take “unified steps†over one of the most serious regional crises since the second Palestinian Intifada erupted in September 2000.

 

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, who was rushed to Damascus on Wednesday to deliver a message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, also warned that the situation risked spiralling out of control.

 

“The rhetorical escalation by all parties threatens to provoke an explosion of the situation and to herald a dangerous phase for the region,†he told reporters.

 

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said he called a number of world leaders for help, insisting that Beirut was not responsible for the acts of the Damascus and Hezbollah.

 

Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian majority in Lebanon, made an unscheduled stopover in Egypt on his way back from China and went straight into crisis talks with President Hosni Mubarak.

 

Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II also called each other to discuss “the dangerous escalation caused by Israel’s continued military operations in Gaza and the exchange of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli army.â€

 

The two leaders stressed “the need to act,†the official Petra news agency reported. Their two countries are the only ones in the Arab world to have peace treaties with Israel.

 

The Jordanian government issued a statement condemning “any act harming the Palestinian people and its cause or Lebanon and its sovereignty.â€

 

Kuwait has stronger words, with Parliament Speaker Jassem al-Khorafi slamming the “excessive use of force†threatening the entire region.

 

He held the UN Security Council “responsible for stopping the savage military operations conducted by the Israeli forces against the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples.â€- AFP