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2006 Lebanon War

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2006 Lebanon War
File:Attack on Haifa.jpg
Haifa, Israel 17-07-2006.
Date12 July 2006 – present
Location
Lebanon and northern Israel
Result Ongoing
Belligerents
File:Flag of Hezbollah.svg Hezbollah Israel Lebanon
note: AA only[1]
Commanders and leaders
Hassan Nasrallah (Secretary General) Dan Halutz (CoS)
Udi Adam (Regional)		 Michel Sulaiman (CoS)
Casualties and losses
Militants:
Unclear.
8 confirmed by Hezbollah.
The IDF claims that 100 militants have been killed[2]

Civilians:
15 killed[3]
500+ injured [4]

Tens of thousands displaced[5]

Soldiers:
19 killed[6][7][8][9]
33 wounded[9]
2 captured[10] (Israeli military accounts)
1 warship damaged
At least 355 killed[11][8][12]
1100 injured
700,000 displaced [13]
Soldiers:
22 killed
63 wounded[3]
(Lebanese government accounts.)

Template:Campaignbox Arab-Israeli conflict The 2006 Israel-Lebanese conflict is a series of ongoing military actions and clashes in northern Israel and Lebanon involving Hezbollah's armed wing and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). On 12 July 2006 Hezbollah initiated Operation Truthful Promise,[14] named for a “promise” by its leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, to capture Israeli soldiers and swap them for the remaining three Lebanese held by Israel.[15][16] The early morning raid into Israeli territory resulted in eight Israeli soldiers killed and two captured. Israel then responded with Operation Just Reward,[17] later renamed Operation Change of Direction.[18] Israel's retaliatory strike has thus far encompassed bombing raids by the Israeli Air Force (IAF), an air and Israeli Sea Corps naval blockade of Lebanon (especially southern Lebanon and Beirut), "a force of tanks and armored personnel carriers",[19] and some small raids into southern Lebanon by IDF ground troops.[20] Hezbollah has concurrently engaged in extensive rocket attacks on Israel's northern cities, including Haifa. However, the Lebanese government has constantly disavowed Hezbollah's actions and refused to condone them,[21][22][23] while urgently calling for international peacemakers to end the conflict.[24]

Timeline

Main article: Timeline of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
See also: Military operations of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
File:Hassan Nasrallah Hezbollah.jpeg
Hassan Nasrallah on billboard in Southern Lebanon.

Beginning of conflict

At 9:05 AM local time (0605 GMT) on 12 July 2006[10] the Islamic extremist group Hezbollah initiated an unprovoked rocket and mortar attack on Israeli troops in the northern Israeli village of Shelomi, resulting in five civilian casualties.[25] A large ground contingent of Hezbollah militants then attacked two Israeli armored IDF Humvees on a routine patrol of the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border road near the Israeli village of Zar’it with anti-tank rockets. The militants succeeded in killing three soldiers and kidnapping two others.[19] The IDF confirmed that two Israeli soldiers were captured by Hezbollah, and identified them as Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, both reservists who were on their last day of operational duty.[citation needed]

Within 2 hours Israel responded. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz:

"[A] force of tanks and armored personnel carriers was immediately sent into Lebanon in hot pursuit. It was during this pursuit, at about 11:00 A.M. . . . [a] Merkava tank drove over a powerful bomb, containing an estimated 200 to 300 kilograms of explosives, about 70 meters north of the border fence. The tank was almost completely destroyed, and all four crew members were killed instantly. Over the next several hours, IDF soldiers waged a fierce fight against Hezbollah gunmen . . . During the course of this battle, at about 3:00 P.M., another soldier was killed and two were lightly wounded."[19]

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah also known by comrades as "slymat" then declared that “No military operation will return them… The prisoners will not be returned except through one way: indirect negotiations and a trade [of prisoners].”[26]

Israeli response

Amir Peretz
Israeli Minister of Defence.

According to CNN:

The Israeli Cabinet authorized "severe and harsh" retaliation on Lebanon . . . Israel's chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, told Israel's Channel 10, "If the soldiers are not returned, we will turn Lebanon's clock back 20 years."'[27]

Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert declared the attack by Hezbollah’s military wing an “act of war”, and promised Lebanon a “very painful and far-reaching response.”[28] Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz also said that “the State of Israel sees itself free to use all measures that it finds it needs, and the Israeli Forces have been given orders in that direction.”[29]

Israel said it held the Beirut government responsible for the attack, but Prime Minister Fuad Siniora denied any knowledge of the raid and stated that he did not condone it.[21] An emergency meeting of the Lebanese government reaffirmed this position.[22]

Following several days of Israeli bombing raids and Hezbollah rocket attacks, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah stated in a radio interview on 14 July that Hezbollah was prepared for “open war” with Israel.[citation needed]

According to an unnamed senior IDF officer the strike was targeted against rocket launch sites and rocket storerooms, although many of them were intentionally located by Hezbollah in civilian population centers.[30][31][32] An unnamed Lebanese official responded that “Hezbollah did not store arms in civilian areas.”[33]

Early on 13 July 2006 Israel sent IDF jets to bomb Lebanon's international airport near Beirut, forcing its closure and diverting its arriving flights to Cyprus. Hezbollah continued its attack by bombarding the Israeli towns of Nahariya and Safed, as well as villages nearby with rocket fire. The attacks killed two civilians and wounded 29 more.[34] Nahariya residents began leaving the city en masse in fear of further Katyusha attacks.[35] Israel is now imposing an air and sea blockade on Lebanon,[36][37] and has bombed the main Beirut–Damascus highway.[38]

Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev claims the Hezbollah unit that captured the two soldiers is trying to transfer them to Iran.[39] Maj.-Gen. Udi Adam of the Northern Command, says Israel has not ruled out sending ground forces into Lebanon.[40]

On Sunday evening Hezbollah militants attempted to infiltrate an Israel Defense Forces post on the Lebanese Border.[41]

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz says that the ground operations would be limited though.[42]

Hezbollah rocket campaign

Map showing Israeli localities attacked by rockets fired from Lebanese soil as of Sunday, July 16th.

After widespread attacks on Lebanon by Israeli forces, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said "In the beginning, we started to act calmly, we focused on Israel[i] military bases and we didn't attack any settlement, However, since the first day, the enemy attacked Lebanese towns and murdered civilians … Hizbullah militants had destroyed military bases, while the Israelis killed civilians and targeted Lebanon's infrastructure."[43] Artillery rockets by Hezbollah were fired at civilian targets throughout the conflict, landing in all major cities of northern Israel including Haifa, Nazareth, Tiberias, Nahariya and Safed.[44]

Concurrent to the Israeli response, and claimed to be in retaliation to it, Hezbollah declared an all-out military alert, and said it had 13,000 rockets capable of hitting towns and installations far into northern Israel. As a result, Defense Minister Peretz told commanders to prepare civil defense plans, and some 220,000 Israeli civilians were sent to bomb shelters.[45][46][47] Hezbollah continued to fire hundreds of Katyusha rockets into northern Israel's towns and cities, including Nahariya, Safed, Hatzor HaGlilit, Rosh Pina, Kiryat Shmona, and Karmiel, and numerous small agricultural villages.[48][49][50][48][51]

For the first time, Hezbollah attacks have penetrated as far south as Haifa, Israel's third largest city, as well as the Jezreel Valley and the cities of Nazareth and Afula. Al-Manar has reported that the Hezbollah attack included a Fajr-3 and a Ra'ad 1 liquid-fuel missiles, developed by Iran.[52][53] One of the attacks hit a railroad repair depots, killing eight workers; Hezbollah claimed that this attack was aimed at a large Israeli fuel storage plant adjacent to the railway facility. Haifa is home to many strategically valuable facilities such as shipyards and oil refineries, and their targeting by Hezbollah is seen as an escalation.[54] [55]

Defence Minister Amir Peretz has declared martial law throughout north Israel.[56]

Targeting of civilian areas

File:Tyre Mass Graves (PBS NewsHour).png
A mass grave of Lebanese killed in the Israeli attack on Tyre, 21 July 2006. The small coffins are for children.

Attacks on civilian targets in Lebanon and Israel have been a major component in the conflict. Strikes on Lebanon's civilian infrastructure include Beirut airport, ports, a lighthouse, grain silos,[57] bridges, roads, factories, medical and relief trucks,[58] mobile telephone and television stations,[59] and the country's largest dairy farm Liban Lait.[60] CNN's Dr. Sanjoy Gupta reported "confirmed attacks on ambulances [marked with a red crosses and red crescents] and hospitals" in Beirut.[61] Widespread damage to fuel containers and service stations also raised the likelihood of fuel shortages.[62] Families evacuating the village of Marwahin in South Lebanon were struck on an open road by an Israeli missile attack;[63] The BBC reported that families evacuating the village of Marwahin in South Lebanon were struck on an open road by an Israeli missile attack; killing 17, many of them women and children.[64][65] Human Rights Watch called for an investigation into this incident.[66] In response to American support and Israel's military tactics, Kim Howells, British Foreign Secretary, said in an interview with CNN, "I hope that the Americans understand what's happening to Lebanon: the destruction of the infrastructure, the death of so many children, and so many people. These have not been surgical strikes, and it's very, very difficult I think to understand the kind of military tactics that have been used. You know if they're chasing Hezbollah, well go for Hezbollah. You don't go for the entire Lebanese nation, and that's the difference."[67]

Israel has stated that "Hezbollah has a huge arsenal and has fired 1,000 missiles at us. We are acting in self-defence. We are targeting only military objectives, including transport facilities that Hezbollah can use, but you have to remember that Hezbollah often hides in civilian areas. We sent flyers and gave other warnings to civilians to leave before our attacks."[68]

Louise Arbour, United Nations high commissioner for human rights, expressed "grave concern over the continued killing and maiming of civilians in Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory." She suggested that the actions of Israel and Hezbollah may constitute war crimes. [69][70][71] Arbour called for Israel to obey a "principle of proportionality" and said, "indiscriminate shelling of cities constitutes a foreseeable and unacceptable targeting of civilians … Similarly, the bombardment of sites with alleged military significance, but resulting invariably in the killing of innocent civilians, is unjustifiable." The UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland has said that one third of the dead are children.[72]

One day after the call for a ceasefire by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on 20 July 2006, a U.N.-run observation post located near Zarit, Israel near the Lebanese border was hit by direct fire during fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militia. The Israeli army claimed Hezbollah rockets hit the U.N. post; however, a U.N. officer claimed that the post "was hit by an Israeli artillery shell" [73]

Artillery rockets by Hezbollah were fired at civilian targets throughout the conflict, landing in all major cities of northern Israel including Haifa, Nazareth, Tiberias, Nahariya and Safed.[74]

Human Rights Watch stated on 18 July that "Hezbollah's attacks [on Haifa] were at best indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas, at worst the deliberate targeting of civilians. Either way, they were serious violations of international humanitarian law and probable war crimes." [75] Amnesty International condemned both parties and called for UN intervention, stating: "The past few days has seen a horrendous escalation in attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure. Yet the G8 leaders have failed conspicuously to uphold their moral and legal obligation to address such blatant breaches of international humanitarian law, which in some cases have amounted to war crimes."[76]

On July 20, 2006, Democracy Now! reported:

At least 72 civilians died in Lebanon on Wednesday making it the deadliest day of the Israeli assault. In the village of Srifa, Israeli warplanes flattened an entire neighborhood. 15 homes were destroyed. At least 17 civilians died including several children. The local mayor described the attack as a massacre.[77]

The southern city of Tyre has so far buried 86 Lebanese civilians that died in Israeli airstrikes into a mass grave . More than half of the victims were children, according to local hospital staff.[5] The Los Angeles Times reported: “Civil structure appears to have broken down almost completely. Ambulances haven't been able to operate. The dead are rotting in the rubble of smashed homes. Food and clean drinking water are running out.”[78] In addition to the 500,000 already displaced Lebanese civilians, Israel warned some 300,000 Lebanese to abandon their homes. The Israel Defense Forces was preparing to call up thousands of reserve troops. Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr told the Arabic television network Al Jazeera Thursday, July 20, Lebanon would resist an Israeli attack.[79]

Meanwhile, the bombardment of Lebanon continued. At least thirty Lebanese were killed Thursday, July 20. The Lebanese death toll stood at around 320 -- almost all civilians. Earlier that day, Israeli warplanes attacked Lebanon’s main highway to Syria. Several passenger buses were set on fire but no casualties were reported. The World Food Program said damage to roads and bridges has almost completely disrupted the food supply chain, hurting large numbers of the estimated 500,000 people displaced by the attack. The situation in the southern Lebanese village of Tyre is getting worse by the day.[78]

Opinions on civilian attacks

Israel strives to minimize civilian casualties as much as possible[citation needed]. Israel claims that this is a difficult task in Lebanon because Hezbollah uses civilian homes, Lebanese municipal infrastructure, and even medical facilities as live shields[citation needed]. Israeli military spokesman Capt. Eric Snider claimed that Israel's targets had direct military significance, because "A lot of the rockets are stored in people's homes in urban areas, fired from within villages and brought in from the Damascus-Beirut highway."[80]

Other analysts have questioned Israeli tactics and their overall strategic framework. James Dobbins, head military analyst of the Rand Corporation, claimed that "The military rationale seems rather thin, since many of the targets have no conceivable relationship to Hezbollah."[81] Juan Cole, Professor of Middle East and East Asian Studies at the University of Michigan, wrote "The current Israeli plan for Lebanon appears to seek to repeat Israel's success in Jordan in 1970–71. … By bombarding and menacing Jordan, Israel forced King Hussein and his Bedouin tank corps to attempt to curb the PLO. … [T]he struggle turned into a civil war with Palestinian Jordanians, in which the PLO was crushed … Ethically, [Israel's 'maximal plan'] is monstrous, involving war crimes on a vast scale insofar as it targets a civilian population for forcible relocation."[82]

Claims of white phosphorus use by Israeli forces

On 16 July Lebanese President Emile Lahoud claimed Israeli forces have used "phosphorus incendiary bombs, which are a violation of international laws, … against Lebanese civilians."[83][84][85] Information Minister Ghazi Aridi also said, "Israel is using internationally prohibited weapons against civilians."[83][84][86] President Lahoud and Minister Aridi's claims remain unverified.

The deliberate use of incendiary weapons against civilians is prohibited by the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, Protocol III[87], which has not been signed by Israel or any other party in the conflict. The use of incendiary weapons against military targets is not regulated by that treaty.

Historical background

See also: 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict § More_background

US Aid to Israel

Particularly relevant to the historical background is the massive political, economic, and military aid to Israel from the United States. This aid empowers Israel and largely influences its policy.

According to the US Congressional Research Service:

Since 1976, Israel has been the largest annual recipient of U.S. aid and is the largest recipient of cumulative U.S. assistance since World War II. From 1949 through 1965, U.S. aid to Israel averaged about $63 million per year, over 95% of which was economic development assistance and food aid. A modest military loan program began in 1959. From 1966 through 1970, average aid per year increased to about $102 million, but military loans increased to about 47% of the total. From 1971 to the present, U.S. aid to Israel has averaged over $2 billion per year, two-thirds of which has been military assistance.95 [88]

More recently, according to the CATO Institute, "a non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C."[89]:

For fiscal year 2003, the United States provided $2.1 billion in military grants, $600 million in economic grants, and $60 million in refugee assistance to Israel. And as part of the Iraq war budget supplement, another $1 billion in military grants and $9 billion in loan guarantees to Israel were approved.96 [90]

The trend continues. Although it has not been publicly announced, "[t]he Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week after beginning its air campaign against Hizbollah targets in Lebanon, The New York Times reported on Saturday [July 22, 2006]. [91]

Politically, the US has vetoed literally dozens of UN resolutions calling for Israel to exercise restraint. [92] As of July 14th, 2006:

The US has already vetoed a council resolution demanding Israel end its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Eight of the last nine vetoes have been cast by the United States. Seven of those were to do with the Israel-Palestinian conflict. [93]

The very next day, July 15, 2006, the Israeli magazine Haaretz reported that the US unilaterally opposed "any council action at all at this time." [94]

Israeli-Lebanon conflict

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, 110,000 Palestinians fled or emigrated from Israel to take refuge in Lebanon[citation needed], and make up 695,000 refugees in Lebanon as of today [citation needed] [95]. From 1970 to 1973, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was engaged in the Black September in Jordan, which routed a large number of Palestinian fighters and refugees into neighboring Lebanon. By 1975, they numbered more than 300,000, creating an informal state-within-a-state in South Lebanon. The PLO became a powerful force and played an important role in the Lebanese Civil War. Continual fighting occurred between Israel and the PLO from 1968 onward. In 1978, Israel invaded Lebanon in an attempt to rout out Palestinian militants who had been using southern Lebanon as a base for raids on northern Israel since 1968.[citation needed] As a result the United Nations passed UN Resolutions 425 and 426, which called for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to military action in Lebanon[96] At the end of the operation, Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon, leaving behind a UNIFIL force, and their allies, the South Lebanon Army.[citation needed]

Israel invaded again four years later in 1982 in response to an assassination attempt against Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov by Fatah - Revolutionary Council and to artillery attacks launched by the PLO against populated areas in northern Israel. Israel’s attack forced PLO forces out of Lebanon (mostly to Tunisia), and Israel occupied the southern part of the country. In 1985, Israel withdrew its forces from parts of Lebanon and remained in a 4–6 km deep[6] strip of southern Lebanon named by Israel “The Security Zone”, which Israel cited as a protective measure to defend its Northern towns against Katyusha rockets. This occupation lasted until 2000. During the 18-year period from 1982, Israel was involved to varying degrees in a guerrilla conflict and a number of incidents including the Qana shelling[97] and the Sabra and Shatila Massacre.[7][8]

On 24 May 2000, Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon, more than six weeks before its stated deadline of 7 July.[98] This was considered by some Lebanese a victory for Hezbollah and boosted its popularity hugely in Lebanon.[99]

The pullout was certified by the UN as complete as of 18 June 2001, in compliance with the mandate of United Nations Security Council Resolution 425 for Israel to “withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory”.[100] However, Lebanon claims the Shebaa Farms, a 35 square kilometre (13.5 sq mi) area, controlled by Israel, to be Lebanese territory.[101] This is territory which the United Nations Security Council has ruled is an occupied territory of Syria, and not part of Lebanon.[102][103] Hezbollah has fired mortar rockets into Israel, whilst Israel has carried out numerous attacks aimed at striking Hezbollah bases (see: Hezbollah activities).[104][105][106][107][108]

In June 2006, the Lebanese military arrested an alleged assassination squad led by former South Lebanese Army corporal Mahmoud Abu Rafeh. According to army statements, the cell was trained and supported by the Israeli Mossad and "used … to carry out assigned assassinations in Lebanon." Among the killings attributed to the squad are those of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Holy War) Mahmoud Mjzoub and his brother (May 26, 2006), and Hezbollah (Party of God) officials Ali Saleh (2003) and Ali Hassan Dib (1999).[109]

Hezbollah

Main article: Hezbollah

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shi’a Muslim Islamist organization formed in 1982 “primarily to offer resistance to the Israeli occupation.”[110] Hezbollah's political doctrine has consistently called for the destruction of Israel.[110]

It has a military and civilian wing, the latter participating in the Lebanese parliament, taking 18% of the chairs (14 out of 128) and the bloc it forms with others, the "Resistance and Development Bloc", a little less than thirty percent for a total of 35 seats, (see Lebanese general election, 2005). It is a minority partner in the current Cabinet. [citation needed]

Hezbollah's armed wing is called Al-Muqawama Al-Islamiyya ("The Islamic Resistance"). One of its broadcasting outlets is the satellite TV station Al-Manar ("The Beacon").[citation needed]

Over the years, Hizbollah was responsible for the death of some 800 civilians and soldiers, some of them U.S Marines in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing.[citation needed]

Previous prisoner exchanges

During an attack in October 2000 on Shebaa Farms Hezbollah captured three IDF soldiers who were killed either during the operation or in its immediate aftermath. Hezbollah sought to obtain the release of 14 Lebanese prisoners in exchange, together with Palestinian prisoners.[111] A prisoner swap was carried out on 29 January 2004: 30 Lebanese and Arab prisoners, the remains of 60 Lebanese militants and civilians, 420 Palestinian prisoners, and maps showing Israeli mines in South Lebanon were exchanged for an Israeli businessman and army reserve colonel Elchanan Tenenbaum captured in 2000 in a business trip, and the remains of the three IDF soldiers mentioned above.[citation needed]Three Lebanese nationals are still held in Israel's prisons (including Samir Kuntar, held in jail since his conviction in 1979 on charges of murder and terrorism, for killing two Israeli civilians, one of them a 4-year old girl, and two Israeli policemen).[citation needed]

Casualties

The ongoing nature of the conflict makes assessing the precise number of casualties difficult.

Lebanese

According to various media, between 300 and 330 people are reported dead, almost all civilians - additionally there have been between 480 and 600 people wounded, and over 700,000 have been made refugees, with an unknown number of missing civilians in the south.[112][113][114][115]

Dan Halutz has claimed that close to 100 Hezbollah fighters have been killed.[9] Hezbollah acknowledges 6 killed.[116]

Israeli

  • 19 Israeli soldiers were killed (including one pilot, killed in an collision between two helicopters), 2 captured, and 33 more wounded.[7][9]
  • 15 civilians have been killed, while another 500 civilians were treated in hospitals, 11 of whom were seriously injured.[4]
  • The INS Hanit was struck by an Iranian C-802 anti-ship cruise missile on July 14. For Israeli Sailors were reportedly killed in the explosion and the ship suffered extensive damage to the helicopter landing pad at the rear of the ship and a fire that broke out on deck raged for several hours, threatening to ignite the ships fuel reserves. The fire was eventually extinguished.

Foreign nationals

  • Seven Lebanese-Canadians from Montreal, including four children and all from the same family, were killed and six severely injured by an Israeli attack on Aitaroun in South Lebanon on 16 July. An eighth member of the family died later from injuries sustained in the blast.[117]
  • A family of four Brazilians, including two children, was killed in the Israeli bombings in Srifa,[118] drawing condemnation from foreign relations minister Celso Amorim.[119] Another Brazilian child was killed in an Israeli strike in Tallousa.[120]
  • Four members of a German-Lebanese family, including two minors, from Mönchengladbach, Germany were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Chehour in southern Lebanon while on vacation.[121][122]
  • The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry has reported that two Kuwaiti nationals have been killed by Israeli bombing.[123]
  • A Sri Lankan was killed in an Israeli bombing.[7]
  • One Iraqi was killed by Israeli bombing.[7]
  • One Jordanian was killed when Israeli missiles hit trucks near Zahleh in the mountains above the eastern Bekaa Valley.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Position of Lebanon

Even though Israel holds the Lebanese government responsible for the Hezbollah attacks, Lebanon disavowed the Hezbollah raids and did not condone them.[21] An emergency meeting of the Lebanese government reaffirmed this position.[22] Almost immediately after hostilities began, Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called for a ceasefire. On 14 July, following a phone call between Siniora and President Bush, the Prime Minister’s office issued the statement that “Prime Minister Siniora called on President Bush to exert all his efforts on Israel to stop its aggression on Lebanon, reach a comprehensive ceasefire and lift its blockade.”[124]

The next day, in a televised message to the Lebanese people, and afterwards in an interview with CNN, Siniora said “We call for an immediate ceasefire backed by the United Nations.”[125]

On 16 July, the Lebanese special envoy to the UN, Nouhad Mahmoud, claimed that the United States was obstructing the Security Council's attempt to broker a ceasefire.[126] In fact, "[t]he Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported the U.S. was the sole member of the 15-nation UN body to oppose any council action at all at this time."[127] Condoleezza Rice, speaking from St. Petersburg on 16 July, seemed to oppose an immediate cessation of violence, claiming that the ceasefire demanded by Siniora would be unworkable unless it addressed Hezbollah violence and the support it gets from Syria and Iran. She said the only way to deal with the problem is “to deal with the extremists, isolate the extremists, and put in place moderate democratic states”.[128]

Many Lebanese feel the international community is not doing enough to end the conflict and consider Israel's attack to be unjustly punishing a country that has hardly any control over Hezbollah. There is also anger at Hezbollah for provoking Israel into attacking Lebanon[129]. Due to a pro-American government coalition being in power in Lebanon since the assassination of Rafik harari, and the partial purging of Syrian influences over Lebanese society, many now feel betrayed by the reality of the American pro-Israeli response. [citation needed]

According to MSNBC, "Today, we sat down with Lebanon‘s prime minister. He said that in the last five days, Israel has set his country back 50 years."[130]

Despite the Lebanese government repeatedly saying it is unable to control Hezbollah or move its troops to the south of its own country, the Lebanese defense minister recently announced that any Israeli ground incursion would be met by the Lebanese army. While the Lebanese government claims it is unable to handle Hezbollah, a militia, its defense minister feels confident enough to challenge what is considered to be the strongest military in the region.[citation needed]

Negotiations for ceasefire

Hezbollah has demanded that Israel trade three Lebanese prisoners for the two captured Israeli soldiers but Israel refused.[131]

On 14 July BBC News reported that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would agree to a ceasefire if Hezbollah returned the two captured soldiers, stopped firing rockets at Israel, and if Lebanon implemented UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for the group’s disarmament.[132] Two days later, it was reported that Israel would agree to a ceasefire under two conditions: 1) The return of the two soldiers captured on 12 July and, 2) The Army/Government of Lebanon would have to ensure that Hezbollah would pull back to the Litani River.[133]

On Monday, 17 July Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the fighting in Lebanon would end when Hezbollah guerrillas freed two captured soldiers, rocket attacks on Israel stopped and the Lebanese army deployed along the border.[134]
But a spokesman for Hezbollah says it wants an unconditional ceasefire.[135]

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that a prisoner exchange was the only way to secure the release of the soldiers.[136]

IDF Chief of General Staff Dan Halutz is understood to believe that Israel should have launched the kind of anti-Hezbollah offensive now being carried out in late 2000, after the previous capture, and that the failure to act then was a central inspiration for the second intifada.[137] Yet "[t]he Bush administration has openly rejected calls for a ceasefire. The New York Times reports that U.S. and Israeli officials have agreed the bombings will continue for another week."[138]

blockquote>But John Bolton, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, rejected the call for a ceasefire. [citation needed]

International reaction

Main article: International reactions to the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
Lebanese protest in Sydney

International reactions to the conflict for the most part have condemned both Hezbollah and Israel, with many nations expressing concern over a possible escalation of the conflict.[139] Some nations, including the United States,[140] United Kingdom, Germany and Canada, have asserted Israel's right to self-defense. The nations of the G8 blamed the upsurge in violence in the Middle east on "extremists" and accepted Israel's right to self-defense whilst exercising restraint.[141][142]

George W. Bush supports the Israeli attacks and on 13 July said Israel has a right to defend itself.[143] At the G8 Summit, President Bush said "the root of the problem is Hezbollah" and that the U.S. is "never going to tell a nation how to defend herself."[144] Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed his support for Israel's actions, calling the Israeli response "measured". On the other hand, a number of European countries criticize the Israeli offensive which they fear may lead to war. Jacques Chirac, president of France — a country which maintained close links with Lebanon since the days of the League of Nations mandate — castigated the Israeli offensive into Lebanon on 14 July[145]. Furthermore, Foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy qualified the Israeli offensive as a "disproportionate act of war with negative consequences" which could "plunge Lebanon back into the worst years of the war with the flight of thousands of Lebanese who … were in the process of rebuilding their country.”[146][147]

Russia sharply criticized Israel over its onslaught against Lebanon, now in its ninth day, sparked when Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers. The Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov said Israel's actions have gone "far beyond the boundaries of an anti-terrorist operation" and repeating calls for an immediate cease-fire.[148] He said "this is a disproportionate response to what has happened and if both sides are going to drive each other into a tight corner then I think that all this will develop in a very dramatic and tragic way." He added: "We firmly reaffirm support for Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity." [149] and a Russian newsagency said "Putin believes that Israel pursues other aims in the Middle East, except for the return of hostages."[150]

Iran, Syria and Yemen have given support to Lebanon and Hezbollah.[151] The Arab League "condemns the Israeli aggression in Lebanon which contradicts all international law and regulations". However, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia also criticised Hezbollah for harming Arab interests and blame them for starting the conflict (while simultaneously criticizing Israel for what they view as an over-escalated response).[152] On 20 July UN Secretary General Kofi Annan demanded both sides stop all violence immediately, condemning Hezbollah for sparking the conflict but also attacking Israel for its "excessive use of force".[153] According to United Nations Secretary General Koffi Annan: "What is most urgently needed is an immediate cessation of hostilities for three vital reasons: . . ."[78]


Demonstrations against the war have taken place across the globe, from Australia to Canada, Malaysia to Yemen.[citation needed]

See also: International_reactions_to_the_2006_Israel-Lebanon_conflict § Demonstrations

Frontline blogs

Front-line photographs (Warning: Extemely graphic wartime imagery)

Additional commentary, fact files, and miscellaneous

References

  1. ^ "Lebanese Army Seen As Key to Mideast Peace". Associated Press. 2006-07-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Halutz: Hizbullah loses 100 fighters". Jerusalem Post. 2006-07-21.
  3. ^ a b "Dozens die in fresh Lebanon raids". BBC news. 2006-07-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b "500 Israelis injured since fighting began". Ynetnews. 2006-07-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Israel Stages Operations in Southern Lebanon". Washington Post. 2006-07-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "2 IDF troops killed during fighting in Lebanon". The Jerusalem Post. 2006-07-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b c d According to the Associated Press, 2 militants were killed before 18 July. "Mideast Casualties at a Glance". Associated Press. 2006-07-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ a b "Israel hints at full-scale Lebanon attack". Associated Press. 2006-07-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ a b c "Israel says soldiers killed in clash with Hezbollah". KBCI 2. 2006-07-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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  11. ^ "45 killed in new strikes". News24. 2006-07-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Civilian Death Toll in Lebanon Passes 300". Chosun Ilbo. 2006-07-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "[1]" 2006-07-22, Kofi Annan in Washington Post
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  100. ^ Security Council Endorses Secretary-General’s Conclusion on Israeli Withdrawal from Lebanon as of 16 June, accessed 18 July 2006
  101. ^ In focus: Shebaa farms BBC, 25 May 2000
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  114. ^ Dozens die in fresh Lebanon raids, BBC News Wednesday, 19 July 2006
  115. ^ "Crude Oil Rises From One-Week Low as Lebanon Conflict Continues". Bloomberg. 2006-07-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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  117. ^ "Eight Canadians killed in Lebanon: Ottawa". Reuters. 2006-07-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  118. ^ Template:Pt icon "Itamaraty confirma morte de brasileiros no Líbano". Globo. 2006-07-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  119. ^ Template:Es icon "IBrasil consternado por ataque que mató a cuatro brasileños en el Líbano". La Tercera. 2006-07-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  120. ^ Template:Pt icon "Leia íntegra do Itamaraty sobre morte de criança brasileira no Líbano". Folha de S. Paulo. 2006-07-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  121. ^ Template:De icon "Deutsch-libanesische Familie umgekommen". Süddeutsche Zeitung. 2006-07-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  122. ^ Template:De icon "Urlauber getötet". n-tv.de. 2006-07-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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  125. ^ "Lebanese PM demands ceasefire". ABC News. 2006-07-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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  135. ^ "Hezbollah spokesman says they want unconditional ceasfire".
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  141. ^ "G8 says Israel has right to self-defence".
  142. ^ "G8 urges 'extremists' to stop Middle East attacks". ABC. 2006-07-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  143. ^ http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-07-13-voa6.cfm
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  147. ^ "France Condemns Israeli Attacks, Hezbollah Kidnapping". Fox News. 2006-07-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  148. ^ Dakroub, Hussein, Israelis, Hezbollah Clash Again in Lebanon, Forbes.com, 20 July 2006. Accessed 22 July 2006.
  149. ^ "Bush defends Israel actions, Russia condemns attacks". Reuters. 2006-07-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  150. ^ http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10628944&PageNum=0
  151. ^ Arabs divided over Hezbollah's role in Lebanon crisis - Deutsche Presse-Agentur - 15 July 2006
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  153. ^ BBC News (2006-07-20). "Annan demands Lebanon ceasefire". BBC.co.uk. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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