We do not know who started for real but for sure that the Israeli army attacked the Lebanese army first as the Lebanese official spokesperson stated that the Lebanese army stopped the IDF from cutting a tree in the Lebanese territories in return the Israeli army fired back with shelling the whole Adaisseh area leading to the injury of Lebanese officer. The Israeli snipers were targeting the Lebanese army and from few minutes ago the IDF has called in speakers the Lebanese to stop immediately in order to evacuate their injured. Two Lebanese soldiers were killed.Hezbollah is going to issue an official statement sooner.
The Israeli from their side claim that Katyusha rockets were launched first from the South. According to experts the IDF crossed many lines and broke many international laws. You can read more from Haartez about the Israeli view.
This is most dangerous Israeli attack since the war in 2006 according to the Lebanese. I believe the Israelis were underestimating the Lebanese army.
The UN has called the two parties to stop and at the same time the Lebanese president is blaming the UN.
This is provocation from the Israeli side comes in a very interesting time :
- Friday during the Arab summit we find that the IAF flying over the Lebanese skies.
- On Sunday Shimon Perez visited Egypt !!
- Yesterday Monday we got this enigmatic attack in Akaba and Eilat , Egypt officially stated that the rockets came from Israel.
- Today Nasrallah is going to speak.
- Earlier this morning the Lebanese army arrested an officer for spying.
More to come , refresh this post for more updates.
Updates :
- The Lebanese army announced that 3 of its soldiers have been killed and 4 have been injured.
- According to Al Manar station following Hezbollah a high rank Israeli officer was killed.
- The Lebanese artillery reached to the Israeli territories targeting an Israeli vehicle near an Israeli settlement.
- The Lebanese Akhbar newspaper reporter in the South has been badly injured.
- Hassan Nasrallah is going to speak tonight , also Michel Own will speak too.
- PM Saad El-Hariri currently in Sardinia has stated that the Israelis broke the security council 1701 resolution and Lebanon is going to report to the council
- There are civilian injuries in Lebanon
- Here is a photo from Adaisseh (Reuters)
Updates #2 :
- Israeli Police denied the news that there were rockets launched from the South of Lebanon.
- The Al Akhbar journalist Assaf Abu Rahal has passed away , he is the first reporter to fall in the line of duty during this escalation
- The Lebanese army is using light arms according to experts where Israel is using its heavy arms
- The Israeli shelling has not stopped but it is focusing on the LA positions and its surroundings.
- The Israeli choppers are seen at the Lebanese villages skies yet they have not opened their fires yet.
Updates #3 :
- The LA issued an official statement in its official website about the incident and according to that statement the IDF was warned by the UNIFIL when it entered the Lebanese territories which forced the Lebanese army to act. There is a new statement issued by the LA saying that the situation in the area is still critical.
- Al Manar TV reported was injured and transferred to the hospital yet his injuries are not dangerous.
- President Nabieh Barry of Lebanese Parliament has issued a strong official statement attacking Israel and accusing it of trying to sabotage the Arabic attempts to unify the Lebanese scene and Lebanon's stability
- The IDF denies that it has entered the Lebanese territories which does not make sense why it entered the Lebanese territories to get back its injured.
- Avigdor Lieberman has ordered Israel's envoy to the security council to report Lebanon for breaking 1701 resolution !! He is holding the Lebanese government's responsibility , Lieberman is the first Israeli official to address the matter
Updates #4 :
- The Southern Lebanese bow the UNIFIL forces for not protecting them against the Israeli aggression whether abduction of farmers or IAF missing around their skies.
- There is news that an Israeli chopper was attacked and three Israeli soldiers were injured.
- Hezbollah will not interfere as expected , it is much wiser and I think today we found out that there is a real Lebanese army.
- Egypt has officially commented on the matter ,with full support to Lebanon and its Lebanese army attacking the Israeli aggression on 1701 resolution
Updates #5 :
- Ok Israel claims that they did not start the clashes or the cut Lebanese trees in Lebanese territories , well check out these photos from Reuters
An Israeli soldier is seen on a crane on the Lebanese side on the Lebanese-Israeli borders near Adaisseh village, southern Lebanon, August 3, 2010. Israeli artillery shelled a Lebanese village Tuesday, wounding two people, after Lebanese Army troops fired warning shots at Israeli soldiers along the usually quiet but tense frontier, witnesses said. REUTERS/Stringer
Another photo from Reuters:
An Israeli soldier is seen on a crane on the Lebanese side on the Lebanese-Israeli borders near Adaisseh village, southern Lebanon, August 3, 2010. Israeli artillery shelled a Lebanese village Tuesday, wounding two people, after Lebanese Army troops fired warning shots at Israeli soldiers along the usually quiet but tense frontier, witnesses said. REUTERS/Stringer
So the Israelis actually trespassed the borders against the resolution 1701 whether it is crane or not , this is illegal
Of course these are not the most interesting photos of today showing how many international law the IDF has broken today because it seems that IDF has used as usual its favorite bombs : White Phosphorus
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| What is this ??? |
Updates#6
- There is a national security meeting at the Lebanese Presidential Palace in Beirut at the same time in Jerusalem there is a cabinet meeting.
- After an hour or less Siyyad Hassan Nasrallah will address the Lebanese nation
- Michel Aoun said the following :
I am not surprised with the Israeli attack, but I am surprised with those who give Israel their trust
- More photos from Reuters showing the Israeli infiltration and how the UNIFIL warned the Israelis in vain
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| Waving by the UN flag to the Israelis |
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| Israeli injured |
The photos of the Lebanese front on the other hand are here along the footage which can bee seen in the Lebanese channels now.
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| Lebanese victim |
- There are news that two high ranks officers from the IDF were killed in the clashes.
- I have read in the news bar of Al Arabiya channel that the IDF claims that it was an isolated incident !!!!
- The IDF has issued the following in twitter :
IDF battalion commander, Lt. Col. Dov Harari (45), was killed by Lebanese Armed Forces' fire at Israel-Lebanon border
- The Lebanese people in the South are extremely angry from the UNIFIL , they escaped when they were needed by the people
- Here is the photo of late Lebanese journalist Assaf Abu Rahal of Al Akhbar Daily
- Also here are photos from the Lebanese front showing the injured.
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| Al Manar reporter |
- Al Hariri had called Egypt , Turkey and France to make Israel stop.
Updates#7
- After hours of negotiations with the UNIFIL , the Lebanese and Israeli parties ceased their fire. According to some sources it was based on Israeli request.
- LAF has announced the martyrdom of 2 officers : Abdullah El-Tafaily and Robert El-Ashy
- El-Hariri has called Mubarak twice today and earlier this morning before the clashes the Egyptian Ambassador visited the Lebanese president.
- Sheikh Nasrallah will speak after one hour on air.
- Hezbollah has not yet address an official statement about today's event except a statement condemning the targeting of journalists in the clash
@Zienobia, regarding "interesting photos of today showing how many international law the IDF has broken today because it seems that IDF has used as usual its favorite bombs : White Phosphorus" White phosphorus isn't against international law. It's an incendiary and smoke-screening weapon used by various nations. It causes nasty burns on exposed skin and is toxic, but nowhere near toxic enough to be outlawed under the Chemical Weapons Convention. Wikipedia article. It is illegal to use it against civilians, but it's not clear from the picture whether that's happening. I wouldn't assume it.
ReplyDeleteDear Jason , you are speaking about WP as if it is nothing , did you see the photos of its victims !!?? Did you see its effects !!?? it should be outlawed
ReplyDeleteRegarding the photo ,this is so close if it were not WP bombs , we know how it looks from the war on Gaza , we learned it by heart
Dear Zeinobia, I am used to your racist motivated "journalism", but what is too much is too much.
ReplyDeleteSo the Israelis actually trespassed the borders against the resolution 1701 whether it is crane or not , this is illegal
Based on what?
based on the fact that these are Lebanese trees , based on the fact that the UNIFIL warned the Israelis
ReplyDeletebased on the fact that the LAF warned the IDF
I know Z, it's terrible stuff. I don't want it on my skin, for sure. The Israelis use it and I am sure you know what it looks like, as you say. The categories of prohibited weapons get re-negotiated from time to time, so maybe white phosphorus will be added. I don't think it will happen any time soon though, because it's useful for tracer rounds, battlefield illumination, and nothing comes close for making large volumes of smoke.
ReplyDelete@John 7:05 PM, Can you explain the picture you linked to? You and Z might find it self-explanatory but MENA is not my back yard and I never heard of 1701 so I need a hint. Thanks! In the meantime I will Google 1701.
based on the fact that these are Lebanese trees
ReplyDeleteAs I shown in the picture 99% of border near Adaisse lies 10-200 meters before the fence road.
LAF is irrelevant, UNIFIL has not made a statement http://unifil.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1511
@Jason check the links in the post 1701 is among them
ReplyDelete@John , right now I see on Lebanese TV the area you are speaking about , are you serious !?? it is in Lebanon for God sake
My dear the UNIFIL soldiers as you see in the photos and their captions were waving their flags for the Israelis to remind them that they breaking the law.
@John 7:35 PM
ReplyDeleteAs I shown in the picture 99% of border near Adaisse lies 10-200 meters before the fence road. LAF is irrelevant, UNIFIL has not made a statement http://unifil.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1511
Your picture does support your claim of varying separation between fence road and border. But. My naive interpretation is that the barbwire fence itself marks the border. The fence road is sometimes closer and sometimes farther from the fence. The location in Zeinobia's pictures is a place where the road is right up against the fence. Technically it looks to me like an Israeli trespass, but minor, just reaching over with the crane. We'll see what UNIFIL says. I bet they say Israel trespassed.
@Zeinobia, Thank you. I read about 1701.
Jason:
ReplyDeleteIt works this way, the road fence on the picture is built by Israel on Israeli territory and it doesn't copy the Blue Line. (it is the same fence built around the West Bank - image ). That is why Israel does a maintenance.
The photo shows the google satellite image of the area where the incident took place. From photos I guess it is in the top area where Lebanese road crosses the blue line.
The problem with Hezbollah and Lebanon is that they take the fence road as "the border", usually all the fence road crosses to Lebanese territory are dealt by UNIFIL ( example ). But this time Lebanese snipers just took down two high ranked IDF soldiers who observed the situation.
Zeini: if I posted something like "Israeli Channel 2 says" you would laugh, that is why I posted independent map of the location which cannot be more clear.
UNIFIL has not made a statement. And UNIFIL soldiers on all photos wave with flags when the lift is already behind the fence, therefore they most likely wave in order to calm the clash down.
Before bringing photos and maps , why will the LAF lie !!?? seriously why !!??
ReplyDeleteFor the same reasons why would the IDF lie.
ReplyDeleteJohn, Does UNIFIL mark the blue line? There should be prominent concrete posts every couple hundred yards at most, each in line of sight of the next. If some parties recognize the UNIFIL blue line, others recognize the fence, and others recognize the road that's a recipe for disaster.
ReplyDeleteZ, LAF wouldn't necessarily lie but Israel wouldn't necessarily lie either. They don't trust each other so it makes sense to see what the third party says. Also, it seems like UNIFIL's inadequate border demarcation encourages honest disagreement.
Really, how hard can it be to agree to a border. This is dumb.
I don't think sniping at the Israeli officers was a good idea whether the crane reached over the border or not. Israel is likely to be annoyed.
IDF just realized the exact location of the incident, which is just 200 meters far from the place I had anticipated.
ReplyDeleteBoth IDF map and Google map confirm they were 50-100 meters behind the line.
Jason:
For the resolution is important the blue line. I agree with you on this - to open fire at officers who cut trees during the regular maintenance is just idiotic, even if they had crossed blue line, no matter what side does this.
and since when IDF ever tells the truth about any story?!!
ReplyDelete@Jason: if the IDF breached as little as possible the Lebanese army has every reason to shoot at them.
"Really, how hard can it be to agree to a border. This is dumb."
Well, tell us about it, its impossible to get any thing straight with those Israelis.
Its clear the 1st move came from Israel and the real question should be why now? What is going on that Israel is trying to divert attention or mess up?!!
John, wow, good find. Google Earth also gives a good view of the exact spot. If the IDF blog is correct (or Zeinobia might say "not lying" since it depends who you are predisposed to trust) about the location, it looks to me only about 35 meters from the blue line, but clearly inside Israel. The camera is looking northeast along the road as you can see from the cultivated fields in the background.
ReplyDeleteIt is alleged that the true motive behind the provocation started by IDF was to draw Hezbollah into the conflict. But Hezbollah was too smart to be dragged into a major war through a minor border skirmish unless it was obliged.
ReplyDeleteHezbollah soldiers were observing and encouraging the Lebanese soldiers from the sidelines.
Israel has knowledge of Hezbollah's long range rockets that can reach deep into Israel are determined to locate and destroy them ASAP.
UNIFIL: Tree in Deadly Border Clash is Inside Israeli Territory
ReplyDeletehttp://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&EA907E32A9EE47BBC2257775002C9B38
So once again the Muslims are the agressors and the ones who start wars.
Lieutenant Naresh Bhatt, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, UNIFIL, said on Wednesday they have determined the tree was in Israeli territory. via Yahoo News
ReplyDeleteAfter all it seems I was right about your classic example of racist motivated "journalism".
Now you can answer yourself "Why would the LAF lie!!!?"
Hi Zeinobia and everyone, I don't see it posted here (maybe not approved yet? Not submitted? I don't know) but one of the Egyptian Chronicles regulars tells me the following: UNIFIL: Tree in Deadly Border Clash is Inside Israeli Territory. As UNIFIL is a disinterested party that seems to confirm the IDF version and refute the LAF story.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there will be an "Updates#8" for this blog post saying that the UNIFUL stated that the Israeli soldiers were on the Israeli side and that the Lebanese army had no reason to attack them...
ReplyDelete