From the AP:
An Israeli airstrike in Lebanon on Monday destroyed at least one long- range Iranian missile capable of hitting Tel Aviv, military officials said.
Israeli aircraft targeted a truck carrying the weapons before they could be launched, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of military regulations. The force of the blast sent at least one missile flying into the air, but it fell nearby.
From NewsDay:
The last time Hezbollah abducted Israeli soldiers, the Shia militant group was richly rewarded.
Since forcing Israel to withdraw from a self-declared “security zone” in southern Lebanon in May 2000, Hezbollah has made freeing Lebanese prisoners held by Israel one of its main goals. In October 2000, Hezbollah guerrillas ambushed an Israeli patrol near the border, severely wounding three soldiers in an attempt to capture them. The three soon died, but Hezbollah kept the bodies.
Through the German government, Hezbollah and Israel held three years of torturous negotiations. In January 2004, Israel freed 425 Arab prisoners, including two Lebanese guerrilla leaders, in exchange for the soldiers’ bodies and an Israeli businessman kidnapped by Hezbollah.
At a mass rally staged by Hezbollah to welcome the freed prisoners, the group’s leader warned it would abduct more Israeli soldiers to secure the release of the last three Lebanese detainees being held by Israel.
Turning to a poster of Hezbollah’s ambush of the three soldiers, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah declared: “This is a choice.” Saying Hezbollah fighters were heavy-handed in fatally wounding the soldiers, he added, “I pledge to you that, next time, they will bring them alive.”
On Wednesday, after Hezbollah had kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in a daring cross-border raid, a smiling Nasrallah dubbed the latest abductions “Operation Truthful Promise.”
From the New York Times:
They came into office waving Lebanon’s flag, victorious over Syria, promising to usher a new age for Lebanon. But as the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora faced the country’s most significant crisis in a decade, its officials disappeared from public view.
As the country faced the third day of Israeli bombardment Friday, the cabinet remained behind closed doors, reportedly brainstorming ideas for a solution. Officials and ministers who normally sought out the press suddenly switched off their cellphones or had assistants screening calls. There were no visits to bombed out buildings, no photo opportunities at the hospital with the injured, and no fiery speeches in defense of the country.
What the government did was call on the international community for help.
From AP:
Hundreds of people have been stranded on the Egyptian side, unable to get to their homes in Gaza.
Rafah’s closure left hundreds of Palestinians who work and study in Egypt stranded, while preventing hundreds of others from leaving the coastal area to receive medical treatment abroad.
Last week, a 26-year-old Palestinian woman suffering from cancer died at the border while waiting to be allowed into Gaza.
From Yahoo! Asia:
The Vatican on Friday strongly deplored Israel’s strikes on Lebanon, saying they were “an attack” on a sovereign and free nation.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano said Pope Benedict and his aides were very worried that the developments in the Middle East risked degenerating into “a conflict with international repercussions.”
“In particular, the Holy See deplores right now the attack on Lebanon, a free and sovereign nation, and assures its closeness to these people who already have suffered so much to defend their independence,” he told Vatican Radio.
From the New York Times:
Israel today held to three conditions it set for any ceasefire: the release of the two Israeli soldiers seized by Hezbollah in the cross-border raid on Wednesday that touched off the current fighting; a halt to rocket fire by Hezbollah; and a decision by the Lebanese government to implement a United Nations resolution calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah.
In New York, Nouhad Mahmoud, Lebanon’s ambassador to the United Nations, told the Security Council that Israel’s actions “were undermining the sovereignty’’ of his country.
Israel extended punishing airstrikes deeper inside Lebanon today, as President Bush rebuffed a Lebanese request that he push Israel for a cease-fire.
From AM:
Syria is again of course being identified as the one country that could defuse the situation on Israel’s Northern border.
That’s because it’s considered to have considerable sway over Hezbollah, the armed group which has been attacking Israeli forces and towns.
US President George W. Bush says Syria has to be held accountable for its support, but Damascus denies it has any real influence.
From the Khaleej Times:
a significant move, Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s political heavyweight and economic powerhouse, accused Hezbollah guerrillas - without naming them - of “uncalculated adventures” that could precipitate a new Middle East crisis.
A Saudi official quoted by the state Saudi Press Agency said the Lebanese Hezbollah’s brazen capture of two Israeli soldiers was not legitimate.
The kingdom “clearly announces that there has to be a differentiation between legitimate resistance (to Israel) and uncalculated adventures.”
Israel has intensified its attacks on Lebanon, striking bridges, airports and the main highway leading to Syria to put pressure on the government and force Hezbollah to free the two Israeli soldiers it captured Wednesday.
From NBC News:
But all day, the U.S. was alone in defending Israel. At the U.N., the U.S. exercised the sole veto against a resolution condemning Israel’s Gaza incursion.
The European Union called Israel’s attacks on Lebanon “disproportionate.”
In fact, diplomatic sources tell NBC that Israel has been looking for an excuse to clean out Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon after weeks of rocket attacks into Israel.
What role has the U.S. played? Today, U.S. diplomat David Welch arrived in Israel, but critics say too late — 17 days after the first Israeli soldier was captured.
And Rice has not been to Israel or the Palestinian territories since last November.
“I think it’s really inexplicable,” says James Steinberg, dean of the LBJ School of Public Policy at the University of Texas. “There’s been some sense that if they get involved and fail, that somehow it will lessen American credibility. But I think the opposite is true. That American credibility has been damaged by our willingness to get involved.”
From the AP:
Israel intensified its attacks against Lebanon on Thursday, imposing a naval blockade, twice hitting Beirut’s airport, and blasting two Lebanese army air bases near Syria. Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets into Israel, which said one also struck the port city of Haifa.
