Israel in Lebanon again--- uh oh.

[mcsluggo]

Great, it just gets better and better. Both sides in this issue are just such buttheads. BOTH sides are so busy acting macho so they can play to their base that the instant reaction to ANYTHING is to just ratchet-up the conflict. Both sides deserve to lose their "driving licenses" for a few years, since they refuse to do anything but ram into each other. Buttholes.


Question, what is Syria's and Iran's reaction to this? We (if we include Israel in the greater "us" category) just ensured a surge in popularity for both of those renegade regimes amongst the average labanese. Do you think they won't JUMP on this diversion from their other troubles? As the smoke settles, Iran can RUSH into the rubble and greatly change the balance of negotiation chits in their nuclear disputes, and Syria--- Harari bombing or not, does anyone remember how Syria ended up in Lebanon in the first place? (hint, it followed an Israeli invasion into southern Lebanon to pursue Hezollah guerilla-fighters.)

I hope Condi and company are in top-form the next couple of days/weeks. They(we)'ll need it.

Hezbollah Demands Prisoner Swap With Israel --Israeli Forces Enter Lebanon to Conduct Search for Abducted Soldiers

By Anthony Shadid, Scott Wilson and Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, July 12, 2006; 12:12 PM

SIDON, Lebanon, July 12 -- The militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah killed three Israeli soldiers and captured two others in an attack along the Israel-Lebanon border Wednesday morning. Four more Israeli soldiers were killed when troops and tanks crossed the border in pursuit of the captives.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the ambush an "act of war" and said Hezbollah would pay a "heavy price," the Associated Press reported. The assault followed the June 25 capture by Palestinian gunmen of an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip, which has triggered a major Israeli military offensive in that region.


Israel will hold the government of Lebanon "fully responsible" for Hezbollah's actions, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said in a statement. He said the government "must act immediately and seriously to locate" the missing soldiers, "to prevent any harm done to them and to return them to Israel."

Hezbollah Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah said the ambush was aimed at forcing the release of prisoners in Israel.

"What we did today . . . is the only feasible path to free detainees from Israeli jails," Nasrallah told a news conference in Beirut. Military action by Israel, he added, "will not lead to returning the Israeli captives. The only means is indirect negotiation and thus a swap" -- an option flatly ruled out by the Israeli government in the Gaza case.

In Rome, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the Hezbollah attack "without reservation" and demanded that the captive soldiers be released.

Israeli troops entered southern Lebanon soon after the 9 a.m. abduction, striking 30 military and infrastructure targets in an effort to slow the movements of the kidnappers, officials said. Four soldiers were killed when their tank rolled over a land mine.

Israeli fighter jets bombed five bridges in quick succession, effectively cutting off southern Lebanon from the rest of the country. At least two Lebanese civilians were killed in one of the bridge strikes, civil defense officials said, and a power plant was badly damaged. Airstrikes hit the cities of Marjuyun and Kfar Shouba, and gunboats shelled roads between cities.

Scores of suddenly stranded Lebanese wandered back roads looking for a way home -- their faces grim and worried, their belongings stuffed into plastic bags. Sirens wailed in the background.

"We're scared, we're scared, from the moment of the attack until now, we're just scared," said Um Fatimah, whose cousin, Mohammed Saghir, was one of the people killed in the air strike on the bridge. "It only gets more difficult for us."

After warplanes passed over Beirut, anti-aircraft fire thundered through the capital for about a half hour. Witnesses said Katyusha rockets were being fired from the Lebanese side of the border into Israel. The Israeli government urged residents of northern border towns to seek cover in underground bomb shelters.

The attacks and counterattacks are sure to escalate tensions in an area that often serves as a battlefield between Hezbollah militias and the Israeli army. But the sense of unease and fear was mixed with resignation from people who have known peace only rarely. Many also said they were elated at the capture of the soldiers by Hezbollah, which for years has effectively controlled this region.

"Look, we're used to it -- 25 years, 26 years it's been like this," Hassan Qaryani, a 21-year-old butcher from Burj Rahal, said of the airstrikes. The kidnapping, he said, was "like a crown on my head . . . as soon as I heard the news I was overjoyed. It was like Italy winning the World Cup."

In the southern suburbs of Beirut, people handed out candy in the streets and set off fireworks. Fireworks also were set off on the airport road, snarling traffic.

Tensions in Israel were already extremely high, because of ongoing efforts to free Gilad Shalit, a soldier captured 17 days ago by Palestinian militants in Gaza who sneaked through a cross-border tunnel and attacked an Army post.

Early this morning, before the situation exploded in Lebanon, Israel expanded its military offensive in Gaza, dropping a quarter-ton bomb on a house in Gaza City. Israeli officials said they targeted the house based on information that senior Palestinian gunmen were meeting there to plan a terrorist attack.

The huge explosion destroyed the home of Hamas activist Nabil Abu Salmiyeh, a lecturer at Gaza City's Islamic University, killing him, his wife and seven of their nine children, the Associated Press reported. Rescue workers said four people were still missing, and 37 were wounded, according to the wire service. The dead children ranged in age from 4 to 18.

Israeli officials said leaders of the Hamas military wing were meeting in Abu Salmiyeh's home and accused the militants of using civilians as a shield. Officials initially said they believed Mohammed Deif, leader of the armed wing of Hamas, had been wounded in the attack. But Hamas officials said in a mobile phone text message that Deif was unharmed, wire services reported.

Israel blames Deif, a master bomb maker, for many suicide attacks against Israeli targets. The bombing raid was the army's fourth attempt to kill him; he lost an eye in a 2002 missile strike.

Few details were available about the ambush along the Israel-Lebanon border this morning. But Israeli officials said gunmen attacked the military vehicle from a blind spot on the isolated road near Shtula, killing three soldiers and capturing two.

Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, chief of staff for the Israel Defense Forces, spent much of Wednesday meeting with his top staff and coordinating the military activity on the northern border. Olmert called an emergency cabinet meeting for tonight, to consider additional action.

"The government of Lebanon, which allows Hezbollah to freely operate against Israel from within its jurisdiction, must bear the responsibility for the ramifications of this action," Peretz's statement said. "The State of Israel will take any measure it sees fit and the IDF will be instructed accordingly."



Wilson reported from Shtula, Israel; Wilgoren reported from Washington. Staff writer Fred Barbash also contributed to this report.