UNIFIL: Israeli forces did not enter Lebanon

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3929817,00.html

JFNA Briefing: Israel and Lebanon Clash on Northern Border

 

LEADERSHIP BRIEFING

ISRAEL AND LEBANON CLASH ON NORTHERN BORDER Aug. 3, 2010 A major escalation of tension and hostilities took place a few hours ago on the Israel- Lebanon border. Since there were Israeli casualties, a media blackout was in place in Israel on some details until about one hour ago, when JFNA prepared this report.  According to the Israel Defense Forces, Lebanese soldiers opened fire across the border at Israeli troops in the most serious incident since the end of the Second Lebanon War. A senior IDF officer, Lieutenant Colonel Dov Harari, 45, was killed in the skirmish. Harari was an IDF reservist who served as a battalion commander in the sector where the clash took place. In the past, border incidents have involved Hezbollah terrorists, but in this case, it was regular Lebanese Army troops who fired on the IDF. According to the IDF, Israeli soldiers were engaged in routine maintenance near Misgav Am, in an area between the internationally recognized ‘blue line’ border and Israel’s security fence, when they came under fire. The Lebanese government is claiming the Israeli troops had crossed over the border and entered no-man’s land in order to tear down a tree that was blocking Israel's vision. The IDF says the troops had remained on the Israeli side of the border. There are no claims that Israeli troops actually crossed into Lebanese territory. “It was a planned ambush by a sniper unit … this was a provocation by the Lebanese Army,” said IDF Major-General Gadi Eisenkot. “We view this fire as a highly grave incident. Our forces responded at once, and immediately after that we resorted to artillery and gunship fire.” Three Lebanese soldiers and a Lebanese journalist also died in today’s clash, following heavy Israeli retaliation with artillery and tank fire. The wounded Israeli soldier is 30-year-old reservist Captain Ezra Lakia, who was evacuated by helicopter to Haifa's Rambam hospital. After the initial fire, Israel directed artillery fire at other Lebanon Army outposts and also dispatched gunships to strike the posts, which hold a dominating position and could have posed a risk to Israeli troops on the ground. The Israel Air Force also struck a Lebanese Army headquarters in a nearby village. Several Lebanese military vehicles were destroyed in the strike. At one point, the Lebanese Army requested a ceasefire in order to evacuate wounded soldiers. The IDF agreed, but during this lull, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at an IDF tank, though it missed its target. There is speculation that this was an intentional Lebanese attack aimed at deflecting Lebanese public attention from a UN report on the assassination of former President Rafik Hariri, which was threatening to cause major civilian unrest in the country in the coming days. Some news accounts say the report will blame Hezbollah for the killing. Israel today lodged an urgent and immediate complaint with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, saying Lebanon committed a blatant violation of the UN-sanctioned 2006 ceasefire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated: “I hold the Lebanese government directly responsible for this provocation.” He added that Israel would continue to respond with force to any further attempts to violate the ceasefire and disturb the lives of residents of Israel’s north and the IDF troops who protect them. Foreign Minister Ehud Barak issued a warning to the Lebanese government, saying that Israel would not tolerate any attacks on citizens or soldiers on its “sovereign territory.” Barak called on the international community to condemn the “criminal acts of the Lebanese Army.” Earlier in the day, Kiryat Shmona Mayor Nissim Malcha said there is no need for northern residents to enter bomb shelters. JFNA will keep Federations updated as major news develops.

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Breaking news: Massive exchange of fire on Lebanese border

Dead, wounded in massive skirmish on Lebanon border Article by YnetNews, August 3, 2010 Explosions rock northern border Tuesday as IDF clashes with Lebanese forces; at least four Lebanese reportedly killed; Northern residents in Israel report major blasts, UNIFIL urges both sides to show restraint.  [more]

Eilat, Aqaba targeted by rockets; 1 dead in Jordan

My #1 son is currently in Eilat, Israel, a location targeted by terrorist rockets early Monday morning. He reports that another group on his trip heard the rockets, but that everyone is safe.//Mark Finkelstein


Rockets fired toward Israel, kill one person in Jordan

August 2, 2010 By ARON HELLER AND MARK LAVIE. The Associated Press 

JERUSALEM - A string of rockets was fired early Monday toward the Israeli resort city of Eilat, and one hit in neighboring Jordan, killing one person and wounding four, officials in the two countries said.

The rockets appeared to have been fired from the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, an Israeli police spokesman said, though Egypt denied the claim.

It was the second such attack this year.

http://www.newsday.com/news/world/rockets-fired-toward-israel-kill-one-person-in-jordan-1.2167644

Issacharoff: World Jihad targeting Jordan and Egypt, not just Israel

 World Jihad targeting Jordan and Egypt, not just Israel

Concern over possible missile strikes or major terror attacks has spurred the Jordanians to closer security collaboration with Israel.

By Avi Issacharoff  8/3/10  http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/mess-report/mess-report-world-jihad-targeting-jordan-and-egypt-not-just-israel-1.305616

A Jordanian citizen was killed and three others were wounded by Grad rockets fired on Monday from Egyptian territory at the Gulf of Eilat and Aqaba. One rocket struck open space north of Eilat, three struck Aqaba's hotel area, one rocket apparently landed in the sea and one landed in Sinai.

On an Army Radio show on Monday morning, the presenter, a well-known comic, ridiculed the rocket launchers for having bad aim and mistakenly hitting Aqaba. But the perpetrators, apparently members of the group known as Global Jihad, intended to hit Aqaba no less than Eilat. They consider the Hashemite kingdom to be as legitimate a target as Israel, if not more so.

Aqaba has become an attractive destination for European, American and even Israeli tourists in recent years, and is an important source of income for Jordan. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in new hotels in the area, which is what makes it attractive to terrorists.

This is not the first time Aqaba has appeared on the map of Islamic terror. As recently as April, two Grad rockets were fired at Eilat and Aqaba, causing no injuries. Jordan itself has had several serious terror attacks, the most deadly of which was in Amman, when three suicide bombers blew themselves up simultaneously in a hotel, killing almost 60 people.

Concern over possible missile strikes or major terror attacks has spurred the Jordanians to closer security collaboration with Israel, despite this past year's rift between the Israeli government and the Jordanian monarchy. Throughout this period, the parties have continued coordinating on security matters; the information on more than one occasion thwarted an attack on Israeli or Jordanian soil. It seems that quite a few people in Israel are unaware that they owe their lives to Jordanian security forces.

The authorities haven't determined from where the Grads were launched. Israeli sources think they were fired from Sinai, a charge the Egyptians have roundly denied. The Egyptians say this couldn't happen when Egyptian security forces are so effectively deployed in Sinai. But Sinai was and still is a hotbed for Global Jihad. Weapons are being smuggled from Sinai into Gaza, including Grad missiles. Some of these missiles presumably remain in Sinai, waiting to be launched.

A Grad missile was fired at Ashkelon Friday, causing no injuries. Radical Islamist groups in Gaza could be behind both attacks. There are at least five groups identified with Al-Qaida or Global Jihad: Jaish al-Umma (army of the nation ), which first appeared in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, although it was officially established only two years ago; Jaish al-Islam (the army of Islam ) - a group associated with the Dughmush clan; and Jund Ansar Allah (army of the supporters of Allah ), which clashed with Hamas a year ago in Rafah, ending in Hamas killing 24 of its activists after the group declared an Islamic emirate in Gaza. This group was assisted by non-Palestinian Global Jihad activists; Jaish al-Momaminin (the army of the believers ); Al-Qaida Palestine, which took responsibility for the attack on the American school in Gaza; and Kataib al-Suyuf al-Haq al-Islamiyah (the brigades of the swords of Islamic justice ).

Global Jihad activists have come to the Gaza Strip, trained there, armed themselves and returned to Sinai to commit acts of terror against tourist targets in Sinai and elsewhere in Egypt. That may be the case this time as well.

 

TIP: Israel Hit by Rockets and Mortars; Attack Comes a Day after Arab League OKs Direct Peace Talks

From The Israel Project         

Israel Hit by Rockets and Mortars
Attack Comes a Day after Arab League OKs Direct Peace Talks  

Terrorists in Gaza fired a Grad rocket into the Israeli town of Ashkelon Friday morning (July 30), hitting a residential area and sending several people into shock as well as damaging nearby cars and an apartment complex. A few hours later, terrorists launched two mortars that hit the western Negev. The explosions didn’t cause injuries. [1]

Ashkelon, a port city of 125,000 people[2] along the southernmost portion of the Mediterranean,[3] is located seven miles (12 km) from Gaza and has been the site of numerous past Gaza rocket and missile attacks.[4]

“Israel takes the firing on Ashkelon very seriously,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Friday. [5]

The Ashkelon attack occurred a day after the Arab League met in Cairo and approved Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to engage in direct peace talks with Israel. Hamas said the League’s decision was a "political sin."[6]

Last weekend, terrorists in Gaza fired four Qassam rockets and two mortar shells that hit the western Negev but didn’t cause any injuries. [7]

Iran-backed Hamas’s Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades took credit for the Ashkelon attack.[8] Hamas has been in full control of Gaza since launching a bloody coup against the Palestinian Authority’s rival Fatah group in June 2007.

Terrorists in Hamas-controlled Gaza have fired 108 rockets, mortars and missiles from Gaza into Israel since Israel ended its defensive operation from December 2008-Jan. 9 to root out rocket launchers and weapons storage facilities Gaza.[9]

That marks a significant decrease from the 7,000 rockets, mortars and missiles fired from Gaza since Israel withdrew all of its citizens and forces from the area in August 2005.[10] Israel carried out the 2005 operation in hopes of paving the way for an independent Palestinian state.  

----  The full Press Release from The Israel Project is online at  http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=689705&ct=8549423

Arab League endorses direct Israel-PA talks; Abbas wants guarantees of outcome

Arab League endorses direct Israel-PA talks

Palestinian President Abbas tells senior Arab officials convening in Cairo he refuses to enter direct peace talks without guarantees for independent state; Qatari FM says League agrees in principle to direct negotiations

Roee Nahmias

Published:  07.29.10, ynetnews.com

Arab officials convening in Cairo began crucial talks with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas on Thursday to decide whether he will begin direct negotiations with Israel amid pressure from the United States.

 

Qatar's foreign minister said the Arab League has agreed in principle to direct Palestinian talks with Israel.

 

In his speech, Abbas told 13 foreign ministers from Arab countries representing the Arab League that he would not agree to direct talks without a guarantee for a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 war borders and an end to all settlement activity.

  

Asked if the league would back direct talks, Hamad ibn Jassem said: "Of course, there is agreement, but agreement over the principles of what will be discussed and the manner of the direct negotiations."

 

It would be up to Abbas to decide whether to hold talks, based on whatever conditions he sees fit, Jassem said.

 

The official Egyptian news agency MENA quoted the Palestinian leader as saying ahead of the meeting, "When I receive the demanded guarantees, which are the acceptance of the 1967 borders and an end to settlements... I will immediately enter negotiations."

 

Egypt said Wednesday it has received US assurances that may help in restarting direct peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel.

 

 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3927055,00.html