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2006 Lebanon War

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2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
Part of the 2006 Middle East conflict
File:Israeli Soldiers with LB Hezbollah Flags.jpg
Israeli soldiers displaying captured Lebanese and Hezbollah flags
Date12 July 2006 – present
Location
Beirut, and southern 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:
13 killed[2]
IDF claims 2 captured, 100 killed.[3][4]

Civilians:
19 killed[5]
418 injured[6]Tens of thousands displaced[7]
Soldiers:
24 killed[8][9][10][11][11]


68 wounded[11]		 Civilians
360 killed[12]
1100 injured
800,000 displaced[13]
Soldiers:
22 killed
63 wounded[5]

Template:Campaignbox Arab-Israeli conflict

The 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict is a series of ongoing military actions and clashes in northern Israel and Lebanon between Hezbollah's armed wing and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). On 12 July 2006 Hezbollah initiated Operation Truthful Promise,[14] consisting of some limited shelling, followed by the capture of two Israeli soldiers;[15][16] 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, an air and naval blockade of Lebanon (especially southern Lebanon and Beirut), and raids into southern Lebanon by ground troops.[19] In response, Hezbollah has engaged in artillery rocket bombardment on Israel's northern cities and towns, including Haifa.[20]

The Lebanese government has consistently disavowed Hezbollah's actions while urgently calling for international peacemakers to end the conflict.[21]

On 23 July 2006, Israel crossed into Lebanon proper into the Maroun al-Ras area, which overlooks several other sites said to have been used as launch pads for Hezbollah rockets.[22]

Concerns have been raised regarding the targeting of civilian areas by both sides of the conflict.

Military operations

Main article: Military operations of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
See also: Timeline of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict

Beginning of conflict

File:Hassan Nasrallah Hezbollah.jpeg
Artistic representation of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's Secretary General

At 9:05 AM local time (06:05 CET), on 12 July 2006, Hezbollah initiated a rocket and mortar attack on Israeli military positions and on the towns of Even Menahem and Mattat, injuring 11 soldiers and civilians[citation needed]. Afterwards, a ground contingent of Hezbollah militants attacked two Israeli armored Humvees on a routine patrol along the Israel-Lebanon border near the Israeli village of Zar’it with anti-tank rockets, capturing two Israeli soldiers, and killing eight.[23] The IDF confirmed the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers and identified them as Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, both reservists who were on their last day of operational duty.[24] According to Lebanon, the Israeli soldiers had infiltrated the Lebanese town Ayta al-Sha`b.[25]

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israel responded within 2 hours: "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."[26]

Hezbollah released a statement saying 'Implementing our promise to free Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, our strugglers have captured two Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon'.[27] Later on, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah 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.”[28]

Israeli response

For Hezbollah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers for prisoner exchange negotiation, Israel retaliates, killing hundreds of civilians and leaving half a million Lebanese (both Christian and Muslim) homeless.

According to ABC:

The Israeli air strikes on Lebanon have flattened entire neighborhoods, killing more than 330 people and leaving another half a million homeless. ABC-Lebanon

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."[29]

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.”[30] 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.”[31]

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.[32] An emergency meeting of the Lebanese government reaffirmed this position.[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 then bombarded 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 kidnapped 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 14 July, Following Israeli bombing raids on Lebanon which result in killing 60 civilians[3] Nasrallah said, addressing Israel: "You wanted an open war, and we are heading for an open war. We are ready for it."[41] By that time, the Israel attacks had killed about 60 people in Lebanon.[42]

On Sunday evening Hezbollah militants attempted to infiltrate an Israel Defense Forces post on the Lebanese Border.[43]

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz says that the ground operations would be limited though.[44]

Some politicians and analysts say that Israel's response is disproportionate. Lebanon's social affairs minister said: she sees "monstrous and disproportionate retaliation" of the Israeli military against her country.[45] Also EU warns Israel about disproportionate attacks against Lebanon.[46][47][48] In addition spokespersons from the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization of Islamic Conference and an assortment of human rights organizations have condemned Israel for its ‘disproportionate’ response to Hezbollah’s attacks, although uprovoked by Israel.[49]

Hezbollah rocket campaign

File:Nasrallah on al-Manar television.jpg
Nasrallah on al-Manar television.

After the Israeli initial response, 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 nearly 1,000,000 Israeli civilians have since been sent to bomb shelters or fled their homes to other parts of the country.[50][51][52] 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.[53][54][55][56]

Hezbollah attacks have penetrated as far south as Haifa, Israel's third largest city, as well as Atlit and the Jezreel Valley 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.[57][58] One of the attacks hit a railroad repair depot, 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.[59] [60]

Defence Minister Amir Peretz has declared martial law throughout northern Israel.[61]

So far, Israeli Magen David Adom emergency teams have been called to 502 rocket landing sites, attending to 954 casualties. [62]

Targeting of civilian areas

Attacks on civilians in Lebanon and Israel on the part of all combatants has been a major component in the conflict.

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. [63][64][65] 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."

Amnesty International condemned both Israel and Hezbollah 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."[66]

One day after the call for a ceasefire by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on 20 July a UN-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 said that the post "was hit by an Israeli artillery shell."[67]

By Israel

File:Tyre Mass Graves (PBS NewsHour).png
A mass grave of Lebanese, among them children (in the half-length coffins), killed in the Israeli attack on Tyre, 21 July 2006.
Southern suburbs of Beirut after heavy bombing by the Israeli Air Force

Strikes on Lebanon's civilian population and infrastructure include Beirut airport, ports, a lighthouse, grain silos,[68] bridges, roads, factories, medical and relief trucks,[69] mobile telephone and television stations,[70] fuel containers and service stations,[71] and the country's largest dairy farm Liban Lait.[72] UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland, called Israel's offensive "disproportionate" and "a violation of international humanitarian law". Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent, reported from Beirut, "It use to be that that Red Cross or that Red Crescent, or some sort of health care sign made you immune in some ways on a battlefield. Not so here. We're hearing stories—confirmed stories now about ambulances actually being attacked. Hospitals actually being bombed, so much so, that they can no longer function."[73][74] 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.[75][76][77] Human Rights Watch called for an investigation into this incident.[78] There have been numerous reports of attacks on fleeing civilians; on 23 July 2006 three families fleeing Tyre at the command of the IDF were attacked by rockets fired from Israeli helicopters; all were prominently waving a white flag from their automobiles.[79][80] Human Rights Watch has also accussed Israel of firing cluster munitions on the civilian area of Bilda. [81]

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."[82] Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Israel has no intention to harm Lebanese civilians, but warned that civilians who live near Hezbollah weapon caches were in danger: "Because we know that some of their rocket caches, which are fired at Israel, are hidden in private apartments, I call on these residents to leave their homes. He who lives near a rocket is likely to get hurt."[83] Israeli Army radio reported that Israeli forces are under orders to bomb ten multi-storey buildings in Dahaya (south Beirut) for every Hezbollah rocket fired at the Israeli port of Haifa.[84]

According to CNN's Paula Zahn on 24 July, the Red Cross said that "an Israeli missile hit two clearly marked Red Cross ambulances that were parked inside a Lebanese town [Qana] evacuating civilians—the wounded included a 60-year-old woman and 12-year-old boy who's now in a coma";[85] this is the same town in which Israeli artillery destroyed a UN base in 1996 (Qana shelling), killing more than 100 Lebanese civilians who had taken refuge with the peacekeepers. On 25 July 2006 a UN peacekeeping force was hit by Israel rocket fire, prompting UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to charge, "I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli defence forces of a UN Observer post in southern Lebanon that has killed two UN military observers, with two more feared dead."[86] Daniel Ayalon, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., responded, "This kind of rhetoric is deplorable — For anyone to jump into conclusions I think this is not a good way to conduct international diplomacy. … This is shocking that anyone, especially of that stature, somebody who has been in Israel, someone who knows our morals, who knows the conduct of the military … For him to level this accusation that it was deliberate, this is just outrageous and shocking, and I hope that he will apologize for that."[87] UNIFIL added that they believe Israeli forces continued to fire at close range even during the rescue operation.[88]

The UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland has said that one third of the dead are children,[89] and declared that the "horrific" levelling of "block after block" of buildings in Beirut "makes it a violation of humanitarian law."[90][91] By Egeland's estimates, in his address to the United Nations Security Council, more than 500,000 Lebanese have been rendered internal refugees in Lebanon, as they have fled from the ongoing bombardments from Israel, and there is a mounting humanitarian situation in the country. [92].

By Hezbollah

Map showing some of the Israeli localities attacked by rockets fired from Lebanese soil as of Monday 24 July.
File:Depotblasthaifa.jpg
Haifa Train Depot After Hezbollah Rocket Attack Killed 8 People and Injured 20.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has said that "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 … Hezbollah militants had destroyed military bases, while the Israelis killed civilians and targeted Lebanon's infrastructure."[93]

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, Safed, Afula[94] Kiryat Shmona, and Karmiel, and numerous small agricultural villages;[55][95] some 1,000,000 Israeli civilians were sent to bomb shelters.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).[96][55][97]

These targets included two Israeli hospitals, according to the director general of the Israeli Ministry of Health, professor Avi Israeli.[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." The reasoning was that "the warheads used suggest a desire to maximize harm to civilians. Some of the rockets launched against Haifa over the past two days contained hundreds of metal ball bearings that are of limited use against military targets but cause great harm to civilians and civilian property. The ball bearings lodge in the body and cause serious harm."[98]

Opinions on civilian attacks

UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland, while calling Israel's offensive "disproportionate" and "a violation of international humanitarian law", also accused Hezbollah of "cowardly blending" among Lebanese civilians and causing the deaths of hundreds during two weeks of cross-border conflict with Israel. [99][100]

Israeli military spokesman Capt. Eric Snider asserted 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".[101] In addition, The Israeli Air Force informs Lebanese civilians of future operations by way of leaflet droppings. These leaflets indicate where and after when it is unsafe to be in a particular area, giving civilian populations time to evacuate despite providing an early warning to the intended target, Hezbollah militants.[102] Also, general leaflets explaining Israel's desire not to bring harm to the Lebanese populace have been dropped, asking civilians to "Refrain from being located in places in relation to Hezbollah".[103][104] The IDF reports that Hezbollah militants are preventing or impeding the evacuation of civilians from southern Lebanon despite warnings by Israel to do so, thereby keeping civilians inside the military theatre and exposing them to danger.[105]. However, the IDF has provided no evidence to support any of these claims.

In response to American support and Israel's military tactics, Kim Howells, British Foreign Office minister, 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."[106]

Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights has warned that Israel may be breaking international law and committing war crimes if it does not do more to protect civilians. "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", said Arbour.[107]

Claims of phosphorus incendiary bomb use by Israeli forces

See also: Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons § Protocol III: Incendiary Weapons

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud claimed Israeli forces have used "phosphorus incendiary bombs, which are a violation of international laws, … against Lebanese civilians".[108][109][110] Information Minister Ghazi Aridi also said, "Israel is using internationally prohibited weapons against civilians".[111] The Lebanese claim has been denied by Israeli authorities, and remains unverified.[112]

The relevant portion of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, to which Israel is a party,[113] reads:

2. It is prohibited in all circumstances to make any military objective located within a concentration of civilians the object of attack by air-delivered incendiary weapons.
3. It is further prohibited to make any military objective located within a concentration of civilians the object of attack by means of incendiary weapons other than air-delivered incendiary weapons, except when such military objective is clearly separated from the concentration of civilians and all feasible precautions are taken with a view to limiting the incendiary effects to the military objective and to avoiding, and in any event to minimizing, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects.[114]

Attacks on UNIFIL personnel

Main article: United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

The United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, or UNIFIL, was created by the United Nations, with the adoption of Security Council Resolution 425 and 426 on 19 March, 1978, to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon,restore the international peace and security, and help the Lebanese Government restore its effective authority in the area. The first UNIFIL troops arrived in the area on 23 March 1978; these troops were reassigned from other UN peacekeeping operations in the area (namely UNEF and UNDOF).

Israel invaded Lebanon again in 1982 (1982 Lebanon War), U.N. positions were overrun. During the occupation, UNIFIL's function was mainly the provision of food and aid to locals in Southern Lebanon. In 1999, it undertook a full withdrawal, which concluded in 2000 and enabled UNIFIL to resume its military tasks. At the request of the country of Lebanon in January 2006, the UN extended UNIFIL's mandate to expire 31 July 2006.

  • An Israeli tank shell hit a UNIFIL position in southern Lebanon on Monday 24 July, wounding four Ghananian soldiers.[115]
  • Shrapnel from tank shells fired by the IDF seriously wounded an Indian soldier on 16 July.[116]
  • Hezbollah fire wounded an Italian observer on the border on Sunday.[117]
  • On 25 July 2006 four UN peacekeepers from Austria, Canada, China and Finland were killed in an Israeli air strike on a UN observation post in southern Lebanon. According to the UN, the four had taken shelter in a bunker under the post. It had been shelled 14 times by Israeli artillery, and a rescue team was also shelled as it tried to clear the rubble. "I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defence Forces of a UN Observer post in southern Lebanon," Secretary General Annan said in a statement from Rome. [118]

Attacks on ambulances

File:Lebanese ambulance.jpg
Lebanese Ambulance in Quna
Wikinews has related news:

It was reported on 26 July that "at least 10 Lebanese ambulances bearing the emblem of the international red cross have [...] become targets in Israeli air strikes",[119] resulting in the death of more than a dozen patients and emergency workers.[120][121][122][123] Similarly, an ambulance struck by Israeli aircraft fire near Sour was marked as belonging to "the Shiite Amal militia", although that organisation is not acknowledged as a combatant in the conflict.[124]

Historical background

See also: 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict § More background
See also: Roles of non-combatant State and non-State actors in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict

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[125]. 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. During these years, the PLO and other similar organizations had launched numerous terrorist attacks on civilian targets in Israel, such as the Ma'alot massacre. 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[126] 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[127] 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[128] and the Sabra and Shatila massacre.[129][130]

On 24 May, after the collapse of the SLA and the rapid advance of Hezbollah forces, Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon, more than six weeks before its stated deadline of 7 July."[131] This was considered by some Lebanese a victory for Hezbollah and boosted its popularity hugely in Lebanon.

The pullout was certified by the UN as complete as of 18 June 2000, in compliance with the mandate of United Nations Security Council Resolution 425 for Israel to “withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory”.[132] However, Lebanon claims the Shebaa Farms, a 35 square km (13.5 sq mi) area, controlled by Israel, to be Lebanese territory.[133] This territory which the United Nations Security Council has ruled is an occupied territory of Syria, and not part of Lebanon. Syria however denies this.[134][135] The United Nations holds several maps produced by the governments of Lebanon and Syria which clearly indicate the Sheeba Farms area as Syrian territory.[citation needed]

Hezbollah has repeatedly attacked Israeli military positions, whilst Israel has carried out numerous attacks aimed at striking Hezbollah bases (see: Hezbollah activities).[136][137][138][139][140]

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 Mahmoud Mjzoub and his brother (May 26 2006), and Hezbollah officials Ali Saleh (2003) and Ali Hassan Dib (1999).[141]

Hezbollah

Main article: Hezbollah

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shi’a Muslim Islamist organization formed in 1982 "primarily to offer resistance to the Israeli occupation."[142]. Hezbollah's political rhetoric has consistently called for the destruction of Israel.[142]

It has a military and civilian wing, the latter participating in the Lebanese parliament, currently with 18% of the seats (23 out of 128) and the bloc it forms with others, the "Resistance and Development Bloc", a little less than 30% for a total of 35 seats (see Lebanese general election, 2005). It is a minority partner in the current Cabinet.

Hezbollah's military wing is called Al-Muqawama Al-Islamiyya ("The Islamic Resistance").

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.[143] A prisoner swap was carried out on 29 January 2004: 30 Lebanese and Arab prisoners, the remains of 59 Lebanese militants and civilians, 400 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.[144]

Casualties

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

Lebanese

According to various media, between 350 and 390 people are reported dead. 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.[145][146][147][148]

Hezbollah acknowledges 27 killed.[149][150] [151] IDF Chief of Staff Lt. General Dan Halutz has claimed that close to 100 Hezbollah fighters have been killed at 22 July, in land fighting in South Lebanon.[152] However he provided no evidence for the claim.

Israeli

File:Apache channel10.jpg
Crashed IAF Apache
  • 24 Israeli soldiers have been killed (including one pilot, killed in a collision between two helicopters, and two in another helicopter crash, also 4 sailors were killed after INS Hanit was hit), and 68 more wounded.[9][11]
  • 19 civilians have been killed[5], while another 418 civilians were treated in hospitals, 19 of whom were seriously injured, and another 875 treated for shock.[6]

Foreign nationals

  • Seven Canadian members of a family from Montreal, including four children, 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.[153]
  • A family of four Brazilians, including two children, was killed in the Israeli bombings in Srifa,[154] drawing condemnation from foreign relations minister Celso Amorim.[155] Another Brazilian child was killed in an Israeli strike in Tallousa.[156]
  • 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.[157][158]
  • The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry has reported that two Kuwaiti nationals have been killed by Israeli bombing.[159]
  • One Sri Lankan was killed in an Israeli bombing.[9]
  • Nigerian couple was killed by Israeli bombing.[9]
  • One Iraqi was killed by Israeli bombing.[9]
  • One Jordanian was killed when Israeli missiles hit trucks near Zahleh in the mountains above the eastern Bekaa Valley.[9]
  • A Brazilian businessman was killed in an IAF missile attack on a factory he owned in Lebanon.[160]
  • A Palestinian was killed in an Israeli bombing that hit a Palestinian refugee camp at Rashidiyeh.
  • An Argentinean woman died 13 July in a Hezbollah rocket attack on Nahariya, Israel.[161]

United Nations

  • Four UNIFIL 'unarmed observers' (Austrian, Canadian, Chinese and Finnish) were killed in an Israeli air raid on 25 July. The UN secretary General, Kofi Annan, declared a statement that the act of bombardment upon the bunker where the observers were residing, was deliberate and purposefully acted upon, the Israeli government has denied any intent of destruction on UNIFIL and has rejected the accusations [162]

Position of Lebanon

While Israel holds the Lebanese government responsible for the Hezbollah attacks, Lebanon disavows the Hezbollah raids and states it does not condone them.[32] An emergency meeting of the Lebanese government reaffirmed this position.[33] 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.”[163]

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.”[164]

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.[165] 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."[166] 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”.[167]

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[168][169]. 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."[170]

On 21 July Lebanese defense minister Elias Murr said that the Lebanese army would fight any ground invasion by Israel.[171]

Negotiations for ceasefire

Hezbollah has demanded that Israel trade three Lebanese prisoners for the two captured Israeli soldiers but Israel has refused the offer.[172]

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.[173] 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.[174]

On Saturday 15 July the United Nations Security Council again rejected pleas from Lebanon that it call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The 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.[175]

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.[176]
But a spokesman for Hezbollah says it wants an unconditional ceasefire.[177]

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that a prisoner exchange was the only way to secure the release of the soldiers.[178]

On Saturday 2006-07-15 the United Nations Security Council again rejected pleas from Lebanon that it call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The 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.[175]

On 19 July "The 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."[179] Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice rejected an immediate ceasefire and said one could only occur once certain conditions are met." John Bolton, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, rejected the call for a ceasefire: "The notion that you just declare a ceasefire and act as if that is going to solve the problem, I think is simplistic."[180]

Peace Agreement

On the 23rd of July a group of Lebanese People wrote a Peace Agreement (English Link) and translated it to over 10 Languages (including hebrew and arabic). This remains a small move towards peace done by a group called One Lebanon. A study of this peace agreement, shows that no blame is reported and that all the solutions for a long lasting peace between Israel and Lebanon are forwarded.

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.[181] Some nations, including the United States,[182] United Kingdom, Germany, France 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.[183][184]

George W. Bush supports the Israeli action and on 13 July said Israel has a right to defend itself.[185] 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."[186] Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed his support for Israel's actions, calling the Israeli response "measured". According to Reuters and the New York Times, the Bush administration authorized the expedited processing and shipment of precision-guided bombs (already allotted for sale in 2005) to Israel to support the Israeli campaign, but did not announce the increased haste publicly. [187] As the campaign in Lebanon began, on 14 July, the US Congress was notified of a potential sale of $210 million worth of jet fuel to Israel. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency noted that the sale of the JP-8 fuel, should it be completed, will "enable Israel to maintain the operational capability of its aircraft inventory." and "The jet fuel will be consumed while the aircraft is in use to keep peace and security in the region."[188] It was reported on 24 July that the United States was in the process of providing Israel with "bunker buster" bombs, which would allegedly be used to target the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group and destroy its trenches.[189]

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[190]. 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.”[191][192]

Russia sharply criticized Israel over its onslaught against Lebanon 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.[193] 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." [194] and a Russian newsagency said "Putin believes that Israel pursues other aims in the Middle East, except for the return of hostages."[195]

Iran, Syria and Yemen have given support to Lebanon and Hezbollah.[196] 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).[197] 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".[198] According to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan: "What is most urgently needed is an immediate cessation of hostilities for three vital reasons: first, prevent further loss of innocent life and the infliction of further suffering; second, to allow full humanitarian access to those in need; the third, give diplomacy the chance to work out a practical package of actions that would provide a lasting solution to the current crisis."[199]

Demonstrations for and against Lebanon and demonstrations for and against Israel have been staged all over the world, in most major capital cities from London to Washington DC, Seoul to Jakarta. Demonstrations specifically for Hezbollah have been staged in various Islamic countries including Turkey,[200] Pakistan,[201] Iraq,[202] Iran,[203] and Syria.[204]

See also


References

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  178. ^ "Reserve IDF division called up in wake of attack; Nasrallah: Prisoner swap only way to free soldiers". Haaretz. 2006-07-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  179. ^ "Headlines for July 19, 2006". Democracy Now!. 19 July 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  180. ^ "Headlines for July 20, 2006". Democracy Now!.
  181. ^ Developments in Israel-Lebanon Crisis
  182. ^ Office of the Press Secretary (2006-07-13). "President Bush and German Chancellor Merkel Participate in Press Availability". The White House. Retrieved 2006-07-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  183. ^ "G8 says Israel has right to self-defence".
  184. ^ "G8 urges 'extremists' to stop Middle East attacks". ABC. 2006-07-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  185. ^ http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-07-13-voa6.cfm
  186. ^ Office of the Press Secretary (2006-07-18). "President Bush meets with Bipartisan Members of Congress on the G8 Summit". The White House. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  187. ^ Reuters (2006-07-22). "US Rushes Precision-Guided Bombs to Israel". Reuters. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  188. ^ Defense Security Cooperation Agency news release 14 July 2006, Transmittal No. 06-40, [2]
  189. ^ Israel to get U.S. "bunker buster" bombs - report, Reuters, 24 July, 2006
  190. ^ "France Criticizes Israel Attack on Lebanon". Washington Post. 2006-07-14. Retrieved 2006-07-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  191. ^ "Israel intensifies Lebanon offensive, 36 civilians killed". Aljazeera.com. 2006-07-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  192. ^ "France Condemns Israeli Attacks, Hezbollah Kidnapping". Fox News. 2006-07-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  193. ^ Dakroub, Hussein, Israelis, Hezbollah Clash Again in Lebanon, Forbes.com, 20 July 2006. Accessed 22 July 2006.
  194. ^ "Bush defends Israel actions, Russia condemns attacks". Reuters. 2006-07-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  195. ^ http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10628944&PageNum=0
  196. ^ Arabs divided over Hezbollah's role in Lebanon crisis - Deutsche Presse-Agentur - 15 July 2006
  197. ^ Al Jazeera (2006-07-16). "World divided over Mideast conflict". Al Jazeera.net. Retrieved 2006-07-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  198. ^ BBC News (2006-07-20). "Annan demands Lebanon ceasefire". BBC.co.uk. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  199. ^ "30 Lebanese Killed in Israeli Strikes". Democracy Now!. 2006-07-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  200. ^ http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20060717&hn=34841
  201. ^ http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19870456-23109,00.html
  202. ^ http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/story/3592961p-4152971c.html
  203. ^ Middle East: War Has Only Just Begun, Iran's House Speaker Tells Anti-Israel Rally, AKI - Adnkronos international
  204. ^ Warren, Alex, Syria watches and waits, Aljazeera.Net, 17 July 2006. Accessed 26 July 2006.

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