Ten more Israelis were killed in rocket attacks today. More than 100 rockets have hit Israel so far today with the brunt hitting Kiryat Shimona. Three Chinese peacekeepers were injured by Hizbullah rockets as well.
As Israelis die, the Palestinians in Nablus rejoice. They, like the Palestinians in Nablus do not want peace with Israel but would much rather see Israel destroyed.
The Israeli warship Hanit, which was hit by a rocket three weeks ago, is redeploying to Lebanon.
Israel appears pleased with the ceasefire draft, but Hizbullah has no interest in submitting to it. Lebanon has previously said it would not approve it. The head of the Lebanese parliment also slammed the draft statement.
And Reuters pulls the doctored photo that I wrote about yesterday. The photo was pulled after pressure from US bloggers and professional photographers found clear signs of blatant photo editing. See more here.
Bloggers to check in with for daily updates are Blue Crab Boulevard, Carl in Jerusalem, Israellycool, Dave Bender, Meryl Yourish, Euphoric Reality, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, Jameel at the Muqata, Greetings from the French Hill, R'Lazer, and Live from an Israeli Bunker. Check back with them regularly for updates.
UPDATE:
Syria rejects the US/French ceasefire plan. Go figure. They're also saying that they're prepared for a regional war. I'm sure they think that they are. Fighting a guerilla war and fighting a straight up military campaign are two different things. Arab military prowess is questionable, and Hizbullah certainly appears to be the most effective Islamic military in the region. However, even that military capability is limited to guerilla action.
Hizbullah's rockets continue hitting Israel. More than 80 fell in a 15 minute period. That, in and of itself, is not particularly surprising. Katuysha rockets are meant to be fired in groups, and the truck mounted rocket launchers are designed to fire a salvo of a dozen or more in a very short time. This barrage could have been conducted by literally a half dozen truck mounted rocket launchers. That points to the difficulty in stamping out the Hizbullah rocket threat, but also shows just how limited Hizbullah's capabilities are. Destroy the launchers, and you destroy their capability to hit Israel, regardless of how many rockets are in Hizbullah's inventory. It also points to the absolute necessity to deny Hizbullah's ability to resupply from Syria. That means interdicting convoys entering Lebanon from Syria.
This map at IRIS shows just how dangerous the Katuysha rocket threat is to Israel's population centers.
Here's something that the headline writers simply don't get. The draft agreement on a ceasefire resolution is just that. It's a draft. There's no agreement on it among the UN Security Council, and there's no agreement by all of the parties to the conflict to the resolution. In other words, it's simply a piece of paper that has no more effect on the situation than a screed written by a pajamas clad blogger. Hizbullah and Israel are both slugging it out with each other because they're in the middle of fighting a war. Hizbullah wants to kill as many Israelis as possible, and Israel is trying to destroy Hizbullah's ability to kill Israelis. It is as simple as that, and no piece of paper is going to change that basic calculus.
John at Powerline has some additional analysis of the terms of the draft resolution. Even Sec. State Rice notes that the draft resolution is the first step in a process. Let's repeat that last part. It's part of a process. Forget about facts on the ground and the need to eliminate a terrorist organization whose intent is the obliteration of the state of Israel, the diplomats are focused on process. That's why the diplomats are saying what they're saying and the Administration and Israel are doing what they have to actually destroy Hizbullah's capabilities.
Israel tells off the Europeans, saying that they shouldn't preach to Israel about casualties all while Israel is under fire from a terrorist group whose intent is to maximize civilian casualties.
UPDATE:
Israel has been hit with a number of Hizbullah rocket barrages. One rocket hit a building in Haifa causing a collapse. One person was killed and more than 30 injured. Another reports 40 injured. That's on top of the 12 (previously reported as 10 above) killed in an earlier rocket attack into Israel.
The Muqata has photos you wont find in the big media outlets of the IDF in action.
Solomonia comments on the HRW report that calls Hizbullah's rocket attacks against Israel war crimes. Israeli Arabs are calling for Nasrallah's head, considering that they just received the brunt of Hizbullah's latest rocket barrages.
Shadi expressed anger at the government for the lack of shelters in the neighborhood. "I live in Wadi Nisnas and we have no shelters, we hardly have where to live, we have no where to go, we have nowhere to go, and our shelter is the toilet. There are no shelters at all."Israel continues hunting down those rocket launchers, and killed three Hizbullah and destroyed seven launchers in Tyre. Israel went after another launcher in Qana as well.
"I hope Nasrallah gets a rocket between the legs for what he is doing to me here, for harming grandma and grandpa."
Yossi Landau, an MDA volunteer who arrived at one of the damaged buildings, said that the carnage was severe: "We have a difficult situation, an almost complete collapse of the building, and many injured outside of it. There were people trapped in the building but we succeeded in evacuating them and are working to disconnect the gas main in order to prevent leaks."
This isn't a good bit of news. Israel says it's ditching plans to go to the Litani River. Maybe this is a diversion, or that Israel intends to go even deeper or swing towards the Bekaa Valley, but the article shows that the political considerations are overtaking the military and strategic goals.
Abu Mazen says that Hizbullah is a source of pride for Arabs. I guess those Israeli Arabs who were killed and injured by Hizbullah were expendible or didn't figure into his calculation. It's also illuminating in that Abu Mazen shows the world his callous disregard for human life by showing his appreciation for Hizbullah's terror attacks against Israel.
UPDATE:
If Hizbullah hits your newspaper's office building with a rocket, who do you blame, Israel or Hizbullah? Israel of course. That's precisely what the editor of the Arab daily al-Ittihad has done. Never mind the fact that Hamas started by invading Israel and killing two soldiers when Gilad Shalit was taken, or that eight other Israeli soldiers were killed and two soldiers taken by Hizbullah. No, this guy blames Israel.
The toll from today's attacks are three Israelis dead, and 150 injured.
So why do so many Arabs hate the West and America in particular? Ann Althouse points to an article by Dexter Filkins which seems to point out that Western women appear to vex the Arab man.
Israel continues hitting targets throughout Lebanon, killing more Hizbullah terrorists, and hitting more targets in Baalbek, where Israeli commandos had earlier stormed a Hizbullah bunker, which doubled as a hospital, in the search for the two soldiers being held by the terrorist group. They uncovered weapons caches in villages as well. The IAF also engaged four targets near the Syrian border east of Baalbek.
The Israelis also arrested a Hamas MP. The Palestinian Authority continues to protest the detention of Hamas legislators. Well, the PA knows how to resolve the situation - it's called stop their terrorist acts and release Gilad Shalit. If they don't no one gets released and Israel continues to destroy Hamas and Fatah weapons caches and terror infrastructure.
Is anyone else curious as to why Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is so interested in Israel's actions? What exactly has he and Ahmadinejad been up to in all those cozy chats?
Technorati: terrorism, fatah, Gilad, Shalit, Olmert, Eliyahu, Asheri, Ashri, Abbas, Rains, Summer, cavaliers, wrath, PRC, Hamas, Gaza, palestinian, Israel, hizbullah, hezbullah, hezbollah, lebanon, syria.
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