Lebanon Accepts UN Ceasefire
Hizbullah Kills 24 Israeli Soldiers
Despite significant reservations, the Lebanese government on Sunday morning accepted the UN security council resolution.
Hizbullah leader Shaikh Hasan Nasrallah also indicated that his party would obey it if the Lebanese government accepted it.
I saw Michael Hudson on CNN saying that he thought the fighting would nevertheless continue for some time. He said that the government of Ehud Olmert would be under pressure to bring some sort of victory home, to burnish what was otherwise from the Israeli side an undistinguished and inconclusive war. Likewise, he said, as long as Israeli troops were occupying Lebanese soil, it is hard to imagine that Hizbullah would just give up its weaponry. Rather, Hezbollah will hit them.
So, the war will likely continue.
On Saturday, heavy fighting continued in the Shiite South, with Hizbullah responsible for the deaths of 24 Israeli soldiers. 5 died when Hizbullah hit a helicopter gunship.
Naharnet/ AFP write:
' The area around Khiam, along the eastern part of the border, came under intense artillery bombardment by Israeli forces to cover the advance of tanks, security officials said.
Israeli warplanes bombed five petrol stations in the southern port city of Tyre on Sunday, sparking a huge fire that threatened to engulf a nearby hospital, the hospital director told AFP.
Vehicles belonging to the civil defense service, the army and the fire brigade tried without success to reach the hospital to bring help but new air raids forced them to flee for cover.
Of the five petrol stations on fire in Tyre, two were in the immediate vicinity of the hospital, threatening the health of its patients, while the others were in the city's commercial centre.
"The flames are lashing the building, our ill and wounded patients are threatened with smoke inhalation," hospital director Jawad Najm told AFP by telephone. '

|
6 Comments:
As long as IDF soldiers are on Lebanese territory, I think Hizbollah attacks on them will continue...
The cease fire issue as addressed by the UN resolution - as I understand it - involves Hizbollah's cessation of rocket attacks on Israel... It does not seem to require Hizbollah to stop fighting Israelis troops in Lebanon.
"Despite significant reservations, the Lebanese government on Sunday morning accepted the UN security council resolution.
Hizbullah leader Shaikh Hasan Nasrallah also indicated that his party would obey it if the Lebanese government accepted it."
He said Resolution 1701 was unfair because it blames Hizbollah for the war.
Look for Israel to try to weasel it's way into an occupation of the disputed territory. Yes! Now it's disputed territory.! Think of it as a pyrrhic for Hizbollah, which would make it a strategic defeat for Israel.
Look for Israel to find a need to establish permanent camps for its soldiers and, eventually, their familes.
Not settlements, of course, Israel would never abuse a peace deal that way. But, Israel must defend herself.
Besides, all those Arabs left willingly. (satire alert)
So, the war will continue.
The BBC this morning presents a fifteen minute guide to the special relationship between the US and Israel.
BBC Instant Guide "Since the beginning of the Lebanese crisis, the United States has given Israel its unconditional support, often attracting criticism from the Arab World and some European countries for doing so. The Instant Guide this week explores the special friendship between the current Bush administration and Israel." (audio)
I can't see Israel stopping until they can at least find something to point to as a "victory" or accomplishment. So far, this has been a military, strategic and public relations disaster for them. It has further worsened their image in the Middle East and the rest of the world and has even opened the door to some debate and criticism of Israel in the U.S.
Yes, I imagine those choking hospital patients could find something "conclusive" about this war, even if the Israelis do not. And I'll bet everyone whose lost homes, or bridges, or food supplies, or electricity, or water, or the infrastructures of thier entire livelihoods, could find something "conclusive" about it, as well.
By the way, how's that Gaza thing coming along? Still a humanitarian crisis? Or did our focus on Lebanon make it all go away?
PEACE OF MIND
"cease-fire" and "disputed territory" are virtually meaningless expressions when, indeed ~ the occupied estate really exists in the minds and memories of Fundamentalist Jews and Muslims.
What is needed is a withdrawal from Fear; a dis-armament of Fear Mongers; and, a disavowal of Fundamentalism, thus.
It is not "the existence of the State of Israel," or the survival of the Jews ~ that is at stake; rather, it is the threat of Theocracy, and the enlightenment of Humanism, which confront us.
War and Peace are States of Mind over Matter. God willing, someday, most will choose to imagine the latter.
One can only admire their gall (chutzpah to some) -- the talking heads dominating the airwaves of the Anglo-Saxon media, needless to say most from telaviv, are focused on the adherence to 1559 and 1701. If only they were as diligent in the observance of the 60 odd resolutions that they ignored
Post a Comment
<< Home