"The authors give a high grade to Hezbollah's performance in the 2006 war, describing it as more effective than that of any Arab army that confronted Israel in the Jewish state's history, and that Hezbollah militants wounded more Israelis per fighter than any previous Arab effort."
Or, in other words, Israel got her as* kicked...
Showing posts with label Hezbollah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hezbollah. Show all posts
Friday, December 19, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
'Israeli threats don't scare Hizbullah'
Katyushas prepared for launching by Hizbullah. Photo: AP [file]The war of words between Israel and Hizbullah continued on Sunday, with a top official in the guerrilla group brushing off "threats" made by IDF Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, in which the latter said that the next war would have serious consequences for the villages which support Hizbullah.... "The resistance is completely ready and Israel's threats do not scare [us]," Sheikh Nabil Kaouk said during a rally in southern Lebanon. His comments were published by United Arab Emirates newspaper Al-Hilaj on Sunday.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Arab country "cooperates with Mossad"
Assassinated Hezbollah commander Imad MughniyehIsraeli sources confirmed on Monday that Mossad chief Meir Dagan's reliance on cooperation with an Arab country was the reason behind the successful completion of Israeli operations in various countries, IRNA reported.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Hizbullah chief warns Israel against Gaza strike
Hizbullah Chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah warned Monday that if Israel "launches a war against Lebanon, Syria, Iran or Gaza, it will have thousands of scores to settle", adding that such a conflict would have "unclear implications for the Zionists."
Yea, I can see that...
Yea, I can see that...
Friday, June 20, 2008
Israel attempting scuttle $400 million U.S.-Lebanon arms deal
"Israeli authorities have stated that recent events in Lebanon, including Hezbollah's resurgence in the south, have led them to believe that the arms transfer could pose a security threat, namely if future clashes cause government forces to splinter, possibly causing the arms to fall into the hands of the Lebanese Shi'ite militia Hezbollah."
Judging from the 2006 As* whipping Israel took, I can't say I blame them. But, I seriously doubt Hezbollah need US made weapons - they seem to be doing just fine the way things are...
Judging from the 2006 As* whipping Israel took, I can't say I blame them. But, I seriously doubt Hezbollah need US made weapons - they seem to be doing just fine the way things are...
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Crying (Iranian) wolf in Argentina
"For 13 years the US and Argentina have charged that Iran was behind the fatal fire-bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. In November, reported pressure from the two governments led Interpol to "red list" five former Iranian officials and a Hezbollah leader for allegedly masterminding the attack. But a FBI agent and top US diplomats now say no real evidence was ever produced and any link with Iran was at best "flimsy"."
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Nasrallah: We're ready for any of Israel's crazy adventures
Nasrallah speaks on Al Manar Television network.
"Israel will suffer an even greater defeat than that which was suffered during that July, because Hizbullah today has become stronger, braver, and more experienced," Nasrallah said during a meeting with senior Lebanese religious leaders.
"Israel will suffer an even greater defeat than that which was suffered during that July, because Hizbullah today has become stronger, braver, and more experienced," Nasrallah said during a meeting with senior Lebanese religious leaders.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Evidence of Israeli 'Cowardly Blending' Comes to Light
"A new report, written by a respected Israeli human rights organization, one representing the country's Arab minority, not its Jewish majority, has unearthed evidence showing that during the fighting Israel committed war crimes not only against Lebanese civilians – as was already known – but also against its own Arab citizens. This is an aspect of the war that has been almost entirely neglected until now."
Monday, December 31, 2007
Knesset war report: IDF failed to eliminate Hizbullah rocket threat
"The IDF was supposed to eliminate the threat of Hizbullah's short-range rockets, but in the 34 days of fighting failed to do so… {not only that, but the IDF got it's collective as* kicked} nevertheless, the committee has learned that the lessons derived from the war have been properly assimilated and implemented." {And, Hizbullah has properly assimilated and implemented the lessons derived from the war as well}.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Israeli Military Clears Itself of Cluster Bomb Misuse in Lebanon
The Mines Advisory Group detonates 47 cluster bombs in Al-Malkiyye, south Lebanon. [Date picture taken: 09/01/2006] "Israel's military advocate-general, Brig-Gen Avihai Mendelblit, has said the military's use of cluster munitions during the conflict in Lebanon in 2006 was in accordance with international humanitarian law. Human rights groups and the UN had previously condemned the use of the bombs."
Israel :: Humanitarian Law ~ that's an oxymoron.
Syria says Israel's aura of invincibility is long gone
"A senior Syrian official warned Israel on Thursday that its army had lost its aura of invincibility since its better-armed troops failed to overpower Hizbullah during the summer war of 2006. "The [Israeli] superiority did not lead to surrender. And Syria has more weapons than Hizbullah," Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told the Financial Times Deutschland."
Friday, December 14, 2007
Israel faces army recruitment problems: report
Israeli army officers look towards Syria from the Mount Bental observation post in the Golan Heights, September 2007. Israel is facing an army recruitment problem with fewer and fewer people signing up as career officers following the loss of prestige suffered in the Lebanon war with Hezbollah, a newspaper has reported.(AFP/File/Menahem Kahana)
Amazing how an as*-kicking can dampen one's appetite for war isn't it? And, they're talking about attacking Iran? I don't think so...
Hezbollah mystique undiminished
In 2006, Israel bombed Lebanese cities for 34 daysin an attempt to destroy Hezbollah [GALLO/GETTY]
"As political turmoil continues in Lebanon, observers say Hezbollah, the Shia movement, is re-arming and pursuing fresh recruits for its armed wing."
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Lest We Forget: Israel Charged with Systematic Harassment of U.S. Marines
"It was 12 years ago, on March 14, 1983, that the commandant of the Marine Corps sent a highly unusual letter to the secretary of defense expressing frustration and anger at Israel. General R.H. Barrow charged that Israeli troops were deliberately threatening the lives of Marines serving as peacekeepers in Lebanon. There was, he wrote, a systematic pattern of harassment by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that was resulting in “life-threatening situations, replete with verbal degradation of the officers, their uniform and country.”"
And, I bet you thought it was all about Hezbollah - didn't you?
And, I bet you thought it was all about Hezbollah - didn't you?
Friday, November 2, 2007
Israel says Hezbollah can hit Tel Aviv
In that case, considering the As* Whipping Israel took during the last Hezbollah matchup, I'd start behaving more neighborly.
by EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press - Oct 31, 2007
Israel alleges that Hezbollah militants in Lebanon have rearmed with new long-range rockets capable of hitting Tel Aviv and tripled their arsenal of land-to-sea missiles since last summer's war, the United Nations secretary-general said in a report Wednesday.
Ban Ki-Moon said the reports of Hezbollah's rearming are a cause of great concern for the stability of Lebanon.
"Israel has stated that the nature and number of weapons in Hezbollah's control constitutes a strategic threat to its security and the safety of its citizens," he said.
Israel claims Hezbollah's long-range rocket force is stationed in areas north of the Litani River and that most of the new rockets, including hundreds of Zilzal and Fajr generation rockets, have a range of 155 miles, "enabling them to reach Tel Aviv and points further south," the report said.
"Israel also claims that Hezbollah has tripled its shore-to-sea C-802 missiles and have established an air defense unit armed with ground-to-air missiles," Ban said.
While Israel has not provided the United Nations with specific intelligence due to the sensitivity of the sources, Ban said several speeches by Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah in the past few months "seem to confirm these Israeli claims."
Senior Hezbollah officials have said Nasrallah's comments were made to serve as a deterrent to aggression rather than as threats to Israel, Ban said.
"Reports of rearming are a cause of great concern which pose serious challenges for the sovereignty, stability and independence of Lebanon," he added.
Ban said Israel's contention that Hezbollah has rearmed to a level higher than before last year's war — and that arms continue to be smuggled across the Lebanon-Syria border despite Syrian denials — raise serious concerns about implementation of the U.N. resolution that ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Under the Security Council resolution, weapons transfers to the Iranian- and Syrian-backed militants are banned. Ban warned during a visit to Lebanon in March that arms smuggling threatened the Aug. 14, 2006 cease-fire. The resolution calls for the disarming of all militias.
Ban said there has been no progress the disarmament of Hezbollah and other militias, although he sees this as essential to fully restoring government authority throughout the country. The current political crisis in Lebanon has hindered efforts to implement the resolution.
Ban has said the Chebaa Farms, captured by Israel during the 1967 war, "remains a key issue" in implementing the 2006 resolution. The United Nations determined that the area is Syrian. But Lebanon claims Chebaa Farms — a claim backed by Syria — and Hezbollah continues to fight over the disputed land, arguing that Israel's occupation justifies its resistance.
The report for the first time publishes the provisional "definition" of the Chebaa Farms area, which was prepared by a senior U.N. cartographer.
Ban said he is encouraged by the Lebanese government's first strides to enhance the control of its borders. He again urged Syria to demarcate its border with Lebanon and establish formal diplomatic relations with its neighbor.
He criticized Israel for failing to provide Lebanon with "the exact location, quantity and type of cluster munitions utilized during last summer's conflict" which has led to an increasing number of deaths and injuries of Lebanese civilians.
"Israel's continued violations of Lebanese airspace not only constitute repeated violations of Security Council resolutions but also undermine the credibility of the U.N. ... and damage efforts to reduce tension, build confidence and stabilize the situation in southern Lebanon," Ban said.
by EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press - Oct 31, 2007
Israel alleges that Hezbollah militants in Lebanon have rearmed with new long-range rockets capable of hitting Tel Aviv and tripled their arsenal of land-to-sea missiles since last summer's war, the United Nations secretary-general said in a report Wednesday.
Ban Ki-Moon said the reports of Hezbollah's rearming are a cause of great concern for the stability of Lebanon.
"Israel has stated that the nature and number of weapons in Hezbollah's control constitutes a strategic threat to its security and the safety of its citizens," he said.
Israel claims Hezbollah's long-range rocket force is stationed in areas north of the Litani River and that most of the new rockets, including hundreds of Zilzal and Fajr generation rockets, have a range of 155 miles, "enabling them to reach Tel Aviv and points further south," the report said.
"Israel also claims that Hezbollah has tripled its shore-to-sea C-802 missiles and have established an air defense unit armed with ground-to-air missiles," Ban said.
While Israel has not provided the United Nations with specific intelligence due to the sensitivity of the sources, Ban said several speeches by Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah in the past few months "seem to confirm these Israeli claims."
Senior Hezbollah officials have said Nasrallah's comments were made to serve as a deterrent to aggression rather than as threats to Israel, Ban said.
"Reports of rearming are a cause of great concern which pose serious challenges for the sovereignty, stability and independence of Lebanon," he added.
Ban said Israel's contention that Hezbollah has rearmed to a level higher than before last year's war — and that arms continue to be smuggled across the Lebanon-Syria border despite Syrian denials — raise serious concerns about implementation of the U.N. resolution that ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Under the Security Council resolution, weapons transfers to the Iranian- and Syrian-backed militants are banned. Ban warned during a visit to Lebanon in March that arms smuggling threatened the Aug. 14, 2006 cease-fire. The resolution calls for the disarming of all militias.
Ban said there has been no progress the disarmament of Hezbollah and other militias, although he sees this as essential to fully restoring government authority throughout the country. The current political crisis in Lebanon has hindered efforts to implement the resolution.
Ban has said the Chebaa Farms, captured by Israel during the 1967 war, "remains a key issue" in implementing the 2006 resolution. The United Nations determined that the area is Syrian. But Lebanon claims Chebaa Farms — a claim backed by Syria — and Hezbollah continues to fight over the disputed land, arguing that Israel's occupation justifies its resistance.
The report for the first time publishes the provisional "definition" of the Chebaa Farms area, which was prepared by a senior U.N. cartographer.
Ban said he is encouraged by the Lebanese government's first strides to enhance the control of its borders. He again urged Syria to demarcate its border with Lebanon and establish formal diplomatic relations with its neighbor.
He criticized Israel for failing to provide Lebanon with "the exact location, quantity and type of cluster munitions utilized during last summer's conflict" which has led to an increasing number of deaths and injuries of Lebanese civilians.
"Israel's continued violations of Lebanese airspace not only constitute repeated violations of Security Council resolutions but also undermine the credibility of the U.N. ... and damage efforts to reduce tension, build confidence and stabilize the situation in southern Lebanon," Ban said.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Hezbollah, PKK and American Hypocrisy
by Gwynne Dyer, Arab News - Oct 30, 2007
Fifteen months ago, the armed wing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah party, listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and most other Western countries, attacked Israel’s northern border, capturing two Israeli soldiers and killing eight more. Israel replied with a month of massive air attacks all across Lebanon that destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure, leveled a good deal of south Beirut, and killed around a thousand Lebanese civilians.
Washington, London, Ottawa and some other Western capitals insisted that this was a reasonable and proportionate response, and shielded Israel from intense diplomatic pressure to stop the attacks even when Israel launched a land invasion of southern Lebanon in early August, 2006. The operation only ended when Israeli casualties on the ground mounted rapidly and the Israeli government pulled its troops back.
So what would be a reasonable and proportionate Turkish response to the recent attacks by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and most other Western countries, from northern Iraq into southeastern Turkey? More than forty Turkish civilians and soldiers have been killed in these attacks over the past two weeks, and a further eight Turkish soldiers were captured.
Well, it would be unreasonable for Turkey to bomb Iraq, where the PKK’s bases are, for any more than one month. It would be quite disproportionate for the Turkish Air Force to level more than a small part of Baghdad — say, 15,000 homes. Ideally, it should leave Baghdad alone and restrict itself to destroying some Kurdish-populated city in northern Iraq near Turkey’s own border. Moreover, when the Turks do invade Iraq on the ground, they should restrict themselves to the northern border strip where the PKK’s bases are.
What’s that? Washington is asking Turkey to show restraint and not attack Iraq at all? Even after the Kurdish terrorists killed or kidnapped all those Turkish people? Could it be that Turkish lives are worth less than Israeli lives?
Never mind. At least the United States officially classes the PKK as a terrorist organization and refuses to let its officials have any contact with it. But what’s this? There is a parallel terrorist organization called the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), essentially a branch office of the PKK, also based in northern Iraq, which carries out attacks into the adjacent Kurdish-populated region of Iran, and the United States does not condemn the PJAK? It even sends its officials to have friendly chats with the PJAK terrorists? How odd!
The PJAK’s leader, Rahman Haj-Ahmadi, paid an unofficial visit to Washington last summer. One of his close associates, Biryar Gabar, claims to have “normal dialogue” with US officials, according to a report last Tuesday in the New York Times — and the American military spokesman in Baghdad, Cmdr. Scott Rye, issued a carefully structured nondenial saying that “The consensus is that US forces are not working with or advising the PJAK.”
Biryar Gabar also said that PJAK fighters have killed at least 150 Iranian soldiers and officials in the past three months. That’s a lot more people than the PKK have killed in Turkey in the same time, and yet neither Washington nor any other Western country has expressed sympathy for Iran. Could it be that Iranian lives are worth even less than Turkish lives?
And here’s something even more peculiar. Iran, like Turkey, is already shelling Kurdish villages on the Iraqi side of the frontier that it suspects of sheltering or supplying the PKK/PJAK. How come President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney simply ignore these actions, when they have been working hard for the past year to build a case for attacking Iran? As Pat Buchanan noted on MSNBC’s “Hardball” last week: “Cheney and Bush are laying down markers for themselves which they’re going to have to meet. I don’t see how.”
The US military “assets” for an attack on Iran are all in place, so it can’t be that. Maybe the delay means that Bush and Cheney are having difficulty in persuading the military professionals to go along with this hare-brained scheme. Most senior American military officers see an attack on Iran as leading to inevitable failure and humiliation for the United States, and the last thing the White House wants is a rash of US generals resigning in protest when it orders the attack.
On the other hand, Bush is still the commander-in-chief, and how many American generals resigned when he committed the somewhat lesser folly of invading Iraq? Only one, and he did it very quietly.
Fifteen months ago, the armed wing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah party, listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and most other Western countries, attacked Israel’s northern border, capturing two Israeli soldiers and killing eight more. Israel replied with a month of massive air attacks all across Lebanon that destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure, leveled a good deal of south Beirut, and killed around a thousand Lebanese civilians.
Washington, London, Ottawa and some other Western capitals insisted that this was a reasonable and proportionate response, and shielded Israel from intense diplomatic pressure to stop the attacks even when Israel launched a land invasion of southern Lebanon in early August, 2006. The operation only ended when Israeli casualties on the ground mounted rapidly and the Israeli government pulled its troops back.
So what would be a reasonable and proportionate Turkish response to the recent attacks by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and most other Western countries, from northern Iraq into southeastern Turkey? More than forty Turkish civilians and soldiers have been killed in these attacks over the past two weeks, and a further eight Turkish soldiers were captured.
Well, it would be unreasonable for Turkey to bomb Iraq, where the PKK’s bases are, for any more than one month. It would be quite disproportionate for the Turkish Air Force to level more than a small part of Baghdad — say, 15,000 homes. Ideally, it should leave Baghdad alone and restrict itself to destroying some Kurdish-populated city in northern Iraq near Turkey’s own border. Moreover, when the Turks do invade Iraq on the ground, they should restrict themselves to the northern border strip where the PKK’s bases are.
What’s that? Washington is asking Turkey to show restraint and not attack Iraq at all? Even after the Kurdish terrorists killed or kidnapped all those Turkish people? Could it be that Turkish lives are worth less than Israeli lives?
Never mind. At least the United States officially classes the PKK as a terrorist organization and refuses to let its officials have any contact with it. But what’s this? There is a parallel terrorist organization called the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), essentially a branch office of the PKK, also based in northern Iraq, which carries out attacks into the adjacent Kurdish-populated region of Iran, and the United States does not condemn the PJAK? It even sends its officials to have friendly chats with the PJAK terrorists? How odd!
The PJAK’s leader, Rahman Haj-Ahmadi, paid an unofficial visit to Washington last summer. One of his close associates, Biryar Gabar, claims to have “normal dialogue” with US officials, according to a report last Tuesday in the New York Times — and the American military spokesman in Baghdad, Cmdr. Scott Rye, issued a carefully structured nondenial saying that “The consensus is that US forces are not working with or advising the PJAK.”
Biryar Gabar also said that PJAK fighters have killed at least 150 Iranian soldiers and officials in the past three months. That’s a lot more people than the PKK have killed in Turkey in the same time, and yet neither Washington nor any other Western country has expressed sympathy for Iran. Could it be that Iranian lives are worth even less than Turkish lives?
And here’s something even more peculiar. Iran, like Turkey, is already shelling Kurdish villages on the Iraqi side of the frontier that it suspects of sheltering or supplying the PKK/PJAK. How come President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney simply ignore these actions, when they have been working hard for the past year to build a case for attacking Iran? As Pat Buchanan noted on MSNBC’s “Hardball” last week: “Cheney and Bush are laying down markers for themselves which they’re going to have to meet. I don’t see how.”
The US military “assets” for an attack on Iran are all in place, so it can’t be that. Maybe the delay means that Bush and Cheney are having difficulty in persuading the military professionals to go along with this hare-brained scheme. Most senior American military officers see an attack on Iran as leading to inevitable failure and humiliation for the United States, and the last thing the White House wants is a rash of US generals resigning in protest when it orders the attack.
On the other hand, Bush is still the commander-in-chief, and how many American generals resigned when he committed the somewhat lesser folly of invading Iraq? Only one, and he did it very quietly.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Hezbollah leader reports 'progress' on talks for major swap deal
Ahhhh, the arrogance of perceived power. If Israel had agreed to exchange prisoners when initially asked by Hezbollah, the war could have averted and Israel would have been spared an As* whipping. Wonder if Israel learnt the obvious lesson - Naaw, probably not.
by Amos Harel, Barak Ravid and Yoav Stern, Haaretz - Oct 15, 2007
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday there is positive progress in negotiations to swap two Israel Defense Forces soldiers the group captured last year for Lebanese prisoners.
Nasrallah said a limited exchange on Monday in which Israel returned a prisoner and the bodies of two Hezbollah guerrillas in exchange for the body of an Israeli who drowned at sea two years ago provided an important incentive for a major prisoner swap in the future.
Hezbollah's capture of IDF reservists Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in July 2006, sparked a 34-day war between the Lebanese guerrillas and Israel, leaving about 1,400 people dead.
"There is positive progress in the main negotiations over the two soldiers and the prisoners," Nasrallah said on TV Tuesday. "I assert that there are strenuous negotiations, continuing sessions which will be resumed in days," he said.
Hezbollah has repeatedly said it would only exchange the two soldiers against the release of all Lebanese and Arabs detained in Israel. Israeli government officials declined to immediately comment Hezbollah's
assertion, saying they would have to study the speech first.
In the first swap since the 2006 Lebanon war, Israel late Monday released an ailing Hezbollah guerilla as well as the bodies of two others, in exchange for the remains of an Israeli civilian who drowned two years ago off the coast of the north and whose body was swept into Lebanon.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, referring to the overnight swap, said Tuesday that Israel's enemies are engaged in an "ugly and cynical trade in feelings," demanding ever higher prices in exchange deals aimed at the return of missing and kidnapped Israeli troops.
The Israeli whose body was returned Monday was named as Gabriel Dwait, a 27-year-old immigrant from Ethiopia, who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea on January 20, 2005. Several months ago, Hezbollah began hinting that it held Dwait's body. Israeli authorities at the time were unaware of the remains of another Israeli in Lebanon. The Abu Kabir Forensics Institute identified Dwait's body at the border at Rosh Hanikra.
The Lebanese prisoner was identified as 50-year-old Hassan Naim Aqil, a former Hezbollah guerilla who did not fight in the Second Lebanon War. Israel decided to release Aqil, one of Hezbollah men it holds, due to his age and poor health. The bodies of the militants were identified as Ali Wizwaz and Mohammed Damasqiah.
According to a Lebanese security source, the Hezbollah militants were killed in the war.
Olmert, speaking in Ashdod at a conference on aliyah issues, said that the swap was "balanced, and at a price which Israel was authorized to bear."
But he added that "For years, our enemies have been seeking to raise the price to be paid by Israel for scraps of information, abducted civilians and soldiers, or, heaven forbid, remains.
"This is an ugly and cynical trade in feelings, and in the feelings of Israeli society. At times there is no alternative but to pay the painful price."
Israel said the swap was part of a larger negotiation process on the release of two of its soldiers abducted by the guerilla group in July 2006. Israel and Hezbollah have in recent months been conducting negotiations aimed at securing the release of Regev and Goldwasser.
The negotiations are being conducted through United Nations-appointed German mediator Ernst Uhrlau. The major sticking point currently in the talks is Hezbollah's demand that Israel first release a large number of prisoners in exchange for information on the two trips, while Israel is insisting that the exchange be carried out in a single stage.
Meanwhile, German Attorney General Monika Harms said Tuesday that is standing behind its decision to free an imprisoned Iranian agent despite a plea from the family of missing Israel Defense Forces soldier Ron Arad to reconsider the terms of the release.
Also Tuesday, the Lebanese daily Al-Akbar reported that as part of a 2004 deal, Hezbollah gave Israel documents written in Arad's handwriting, exactly 21 years after the navigator's fighter jet went down over Lebanon on October 16, 1986.
The Lebanese paper did not specify when the documents with Arad's handwriting were written, but reported that they apparently dated to when the abducted Israel Air Force navigator was held in Lebanon.
Sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau said Monday's swap also included information from Hezbollah regarding a separate issue, and that the information would be examined in the coming days. They have not confirmed Al-Akhbar's report on Ron Arad.
In a statement on its television station Al-Manar, Hezbollah confirmed that it had transferred information "related to issues of mutual interest, with the intention of achieving progress on them."
"Hezbollah hopes that this goodwill will produce long-awaited progress toward resolving the cases of all prisoners," the statement said.
A statement released by the Prime Minister's Office said the swap was "an additional step in the framework of the negotiations to return abducted soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser."
"Israel expects that this evening's significant step will serve to hasten the processes that have been underway for over a year," the statement said.
"As a goodwill gesture, there will be a swap of a prisoner and the bodies of two Hezbollah fighters for the remains of an Israeli who was not a soldier," the source said.
Israeli security sources also called the exchange a confidence-building measure, aimed at improving the atmosphere ahead or a future prisoner exchange with Lebanon.
Several IDF soldiers have been missing in Lebanon since the 1980s and are presumed dead. But there had been no previous report that an Israeli civilian was missing.
Hamas: Shalit deal more complicated
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Abu Obadiah said Tuesday that the deal for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted last June by militants from Hamas and other Palestinian organizations, would be more complicated than the exchange deal Israel made with Hezbollah.
The spokesman told the Palestinian news agency Ramatan that Shalit's captors would not give up their demands to compromise with Israel. He also said to expect a deal which would embarrass Olmert and his cabinet.
by Amos Harel, Barak Ravid and Yoav Stern, Haaretz - Oct 15, 2007
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday there is positive progress in negotiations to swap two Israel Defense Forces soldiers the group captured last year for Lebanese prisoners.
Nasrallah said a limited exchange on Monday in which Israel returned a prisoner and the bodies of two Hezbollah guerrillas in exchange for the body of an Israeli who drowned at sea two years ago provided an important incentive for a major prisoner swap in the future.
Hezbollah's capture of IDF reservists Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in July 2006, sparked a 34-day war between the Lebanese guerrillas and Israel, leaving about 1,400 people dead.
"There is positive progress in the main negotiations over the two soldiers and the prisoners," Nasrallah said on TV Tuesday. "I assert that there are strenuous negotiations, continuing sessions which will be resumed in days," he said.
Hezbollah has repeatedly said it would only exchange the two soldiers against the release of all Lebanese and Arabs detained in Israel. Israeli government officials declined to immediately comment Hezbollah's
assertion, saying they would have to study the speech first.
In the first swap since the 2006 Lebanon war, Israel late Monday released an ailing Hezbollah guerilla as well as the bodies of two others, in exchange for the remains of an Israeli civilian who drowned two years ago off the coast of the north and whose body was swept into Lebanon.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, referring to the overnight swap, said Tuesday that Israel's enemies are engaged in an "ugly and cynical trade in feelings," demanding ever higher prices in exchange deals aimed at the return of missing and kidnapped Israeli troops.
The Israeli whose body was returned Monday was named as Gabriel Dwait, a 27-year-old immigrant from Ethiopia, who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea on January 20, 2005. Several months ago, Hezbollah began hinting that it held Dwait's body. Israeli authorities at the time were unaware of the remains of another Israeli in Lebanon. The Abu Kabir Forensics Institute identified Dwait's body at the border at Rosh Hanikra.
The Lebanese prisoner was identified as 50-year-old Hassan Naim Aqil, a former Hezbollah guerilla who did not fight in the Second Lebanon War. Israel decided to release Aqil, one of Hezbollah men it holds, due to his age and poor health. The bodies of the militants were identified as Ali Wizwaz and Mohammed Damasqiah.
According to a Lebanese security source, the Hezbollah militants were killed in the war.
Olmert, speaking in Ashdod at a conference on aliyah issues, said that the swap was "balanced, and at a price which Israel was authorized to bear."
But he added that "For years, our enemies have been seeking to raise the price to be paid by Israel for scraps of information, abducted civilians and soldiers, or, heaven forbid, remains.
"This is an ugly and cynical trade in feelings, and in the feelings of Israeli society. At times there is no alternative but to pay the painful price."
Israel said the swap was part of a larger negotiation process on the release of two of its soldiers abducted by the guerilla group in July 2006. Israel and Hezbollah have in recent months been conducting negotiations aimed at securing the release of Regev and Goldwasser.
The negotiations are being conducted through United Nations-appointed German mediator Ernst Uhrlau. The major sticking point currently in the talks is Hezbollah's demand that Israel first release a large number of prisoners in exchange for information on the two trips, while Israel is insisting that the exchange be carried out in a single stage.
Meanwhile, German Attorney General Monika Harms said Tuesday that is standing behind its decision to free an imprisoned Iranian agent despite a plea from the family of missing Israel Defense Forces soldier Ron Arad to reconsider the terms of the release.
Also Tuesday, the Lebanese daily Al-Akbar reported that as part of a 2004 deal, Hezbollah gave Israel documents written in Arad's handwriting, exactly 21 years after the navigator's fighter jet went down over Lebanon on October 16, 1986.
The Lebanese paper did not specify when the documents with Arad's handwriting were written, but reported that they apparently dated to when the abducted Israel Air Force navigator was held in Lebanon.
Sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau said Monday's swap also included information from Hezbollah regarding a separate issue, and that the information would be examined in the coming days. They have not confirmed Al-Akhbar's report on Ron Arad.
In a statement on its television station Al-Manar, Hezbollah confirmed that it had transferred information "related to issues of mutual interest, with the intention of achieving progress on them."
"Hezbollah hopes that this goodwill will produce long-awaited progress toward resolving the cases of all prisoners," the statement said.
A statement released by the Prime Minister's Office said the swap was "an additional step in the framework of the negotiations to return abducted soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser."
"Israel expects that this evening's significant step will serve to hasten the processes that have been underway for over a year," the statement said.
"As a goodwill gesture, there will be a swap of a prisoner and the bodies of two Hezbollah fighters for the remains of an Israeli who was not a soldier," the source said.
Israeli security sources also called the exchange a confidence-building measure, aimed at improving the atmosphere ahead or a future prisoner exchange with Lebanon.
Several IDF soldiers have been missing in Lebanon since the 1980s and are presumed dead. But there had been no previous report that an Israeli civilian was missing.
Hamas: Shalit deal more complicated
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Abu Obadiah said Tuesday that the deal for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted last June by militants from Hamas and other Palestinian organizations, would be more complicated than the exchange deal Israel made with Hezbollah.
The spokesman told the Palestinian news agency Ramatan that Shalit's captors would not give up their demands to compromise with Israel. He also said to expect a deal which would embarrass Olmert and his cabinet.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Israel, Hezbollah conduct first swap since 2006 war
Gabriel Dwait, the Israeli whose body was handed over by Hezbollah in a swap Mon. (Reproduction)Haaretz - Oct 15, 2007
Israel and Hezbollah carried out their first swap since the Second Lebanon War on Monday, with Israel releasing a mentally ill Hezbollah guerrilla and the bodies of two others in exchange for the body of an Israeli civilian.
Sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau said Israel also received information regarding a separate issue, and that the information would be examined in the coming days.
The Lebanese media reported that the information pertained to the fate of captured Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad, who went missing when his fighter jet went down over Lebanon in 1986.
Channel 2 TV identified the Israeli whose body was returned as Gabriel Dwait, a Jewish immigrant from Ethiopia, who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea on January 20, 2005. He was 27 at the time.
Several months ago, Hezbollah began transferring information according to which it held Dwait's body. Israeli authorities at the time were unaware of an additional Israeli body in Lebanon. The Abu Kabir Forensics Institute identified the Dwait's body at the border.
The Lebanese prisoner was identified as 50-year-old Hassan Naim Aqil, a former Hezbollah guerilla who did not fight in the Second Lebanon War. Israel decided to release Aqil, one of Hezbollah men it holds, due to his age and poor health. The bodies of the militants were identified as Ali Wizwaz and Mohammed Damasqiah.
According to a Lebanese security source, the Hezbollah militants were killed in the Second Lebanon War.
"As a goodwill gesture, there will be a swap of a prisoner and the bodies of two Hezbollah fighters for the remains of an Israeli who was not a soldier," the source said.
Israeli security sources also called the exchange a confidence-building measure, aimed at improving the atmosphere ahead or a future prisoner exchange with Lebanon.
A large Hezbollah convoy, with an ambulance carrying the remains of the Israeli, arrived at Naqoura town on the Lebanese side of the border with Israel at around 5 P.M. to complete the swap, sources and witnesses said.
The exchange was not covered live by local media, as the military censor had imposed a day-long blackout.
"I'm very proud of my son who gave up his life for his nation," Hussein Wizwaz, father of one of the two militants, told Reuters as he and relatives of other Lebanese prisoners waited at the border.
Israel and Hezbollah have in recent months been conducting negotiations aimed at securing the release of captured Israel Defense Forces reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser, whose abduction on July 12, 2006 sparked the Second Lebanon War.
The negotiations are being conducted through United Nations-appointed German mediator Ernst Uhrlau. The major sticking point currently in the talks is Hezbollah's demand that Israel first release a large number of prisoners in exchange for information on the two trips, while Israel is insisting that the exchange be carried out in a single stage.
Shlomo Goldwasser, the father of Ehud Goldwasser, told Haaretz that he was aware of the developments, stressing that they "are not directly connected to our son and the abducted soldier Eldad Regev."
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported Friday that a prisoner exchange between the sides could be carried out in the near future, given the release of an Iranian prisoner held in Germany last week.
Last week, Germany announced its intention to free Kazem Darabi, an Iranian who was to be released in exchange for information on Arad under the terms of a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hezbollah in 2004.
Several IDF soldiers have been missing in Lebanon since the 1980s and are presumed dead. But there had been no previous report that an Israeli civilian was missing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
