Lebanon protesters burn US, Israeli flags (PHOTOS)

Lebanese Muslim demonstrators burn the US (R) and Israeli flags during a protest against a film mocking Islam in Abra, east of Sidon, on September 13, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mahmoud Zayyat)

TRENDS:Arab world protests

TAGS: Religion, Asia, Protest, Politics, Police

 

Several hundred people have rallied in the Lebanese city of Tripoli, burning American and Israeli flags in outrage over an American-made film mocking Islam’s prophet, Muhammad.

The streets of Tripoli saw a heavy police presence on Thursday despite the fact that only around 200 people took part in the demonstration. There were no reports of violence or clashes during the demonstration.

Protesters carried black banners bearing the traditional Islamic message, “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet.” Several protesters burned American and Israeli flags while chanting “God is great!”

Another demonstration took place in the southern city of Sidon, on Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast. Offended men and women showed posters containing slogans like “freedom does not mean insults to religion” and “who are you, you lowlifes, to insult what is good for people.”

Lebanon is just another in a handful of countries hit by the wave of outrage sparked Tuesday by the anti-Islam movie “Innocence of Muslims.” In the most violent display of discontent so far, an armed mob killed four US diplomatic staff, including the ambassador to Libya, during an attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi.

On Thursday, Muslim protesters clashed with police near the US embassy in Cairo for the third consecutive day. Meanwhile, in Yemen at least four protesters were killed and dozens more injured when security forces opened fire at protesters after hundreds stormed the US Embassy in Sana’a, the country’s capital.

Protesters burn a U.S. flag during a protest against a film they consider blasphemous to Islam and insulting to the Prophet Mohammad in Tripoli, northern Lebanon September 13, 2012 (Reuters / Omar Ibrahim)

Protesters carry flags that read “There is no God but Allah, Mohammad is Allah’s messenger” and chant slogans during a protest against a film they consider blasphemous to Islam and insulting to the Prophet Mohammad in Tripoli, northern Lebanon September 13, 2012 (Reuters / Omar Ibrahim)

Protesters chant slogans during a protest against a film they consider blasphemous to Islam and insulting to the Prophet Mohammad in Tripoli, northern Lebanon September 13, 2012 (Reuters / Omar Ibrahim)

Protesters burn a U.S. flag during a protest against a film they consider blasphemous to Islam and insulting to the Prophet Mohammad in Tripoli, northern Lebanon September 13, 2012 (Reuters / Omar Ibrahim)

Supporters of Sunni Muslim Salafist leader Ahmad al-Assir burn an Israeli and a U.S. flag during a protest against a film they consider blasphemous to Islam and insulting to the Prophet Mohammad, in Sidon, southern Lebanon September 13, 2012 (Reuters / Ali Hashisho)

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Chief of Staff: War will Knock Lebanon Back by Decades

Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz hopes Iranian leaders will scrap nuclear program of their own accord. As for Gaza, he predicts IDF “will visit it.”

By Gil Ronen

First Publish: 9/6/2012, 9:19 PM

Lt. Gen. Gantz in action.

Israel news photo: Flash 90

 

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz voiced hope in an interview published Thursday that Iranian leaders will decide to scrap their nuclear arms program of their own accord. He also said that the next war with Lebanon will knock the country back “by decades.”

“We are more prepared than in the past, we are better than we were in the past, and we will do whatever the political echelon decides after this dialog [with Iran] is over,” he said. “A nuclear Iran is not a question of ability, but rather one of decision. This is a global problem. Ultimately, the one who will decide to relinquish the nuclear program is Iran,” the Chief of the Staff said in aninterview to Halochem magazine, which is published by the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization.

“Iran is a great nation with tens of millions of residents, universities, economic and scientific capabilities; we can’t take that away from them. I think that is a very rich culture that must decide, ultimately, that this is not the way,” he added. “I think that ultimately, it will make the decision. The Iranian leadership will decide that the price of sticking with its [nuclear] program is more than it is willing to pay.”

Lt. Gen. Gantz also discussed the northern border and called the situation in Syria “acute,” stating that “the central government is fading, losing power… It is difficult to paint a picture of how the Syria of the future will look. We are closely tracking developments and are prepared for any possible aggression from that direction.”

Additionally, Gantz addressed the possibility of chemical weapons falling into the hands of the Hizbullah terror organization. “The danger of a loss of control [over the weapons] is great, but I would stay level-headed regarding this matter,” he said, also warning of the risk of getting pulled into a complex conflict.

The Chief of Staff warned Hizbullah against trying to attack Israeli targets. “Today, the IDF is massively more prepared than in the past to carry out a large-scale, multi-dimensional offensive against Hizbullah,” he said. “I would not recommend that it try our power. That would hurt it to the point that it would understand with whom it is playing with and with what it is gambling.”

He added, “If I needed to choose to be an Israeli citizen or a resident of Lebanon, I would quickly choose to be an Israeli citizen, who will receive not only justice in war but also good protection. Lebanon would be knocked back by decades after the next war; I really would not try us.”

Regarding recent developments in Egypt, the Chief of Staff explained, “That is a state with which we have a peace agreement, and most of the activity that the Egyptians carry out in Sinai, they do with [our] consent. I would not rush to eulogize our peace agreement or to give up on it. It is a strategic asset to both countries.”

With regard to the Hamas terror organization’s control of Gaza, Lt. Gen. Gantz did not rule out the possibility of an offensive to stop the persistent rocket attacks on southern Israel. “I think there will be another offensive campaign in Gaza,” he said. “The State of Israel decided to disengage from Gaza and not to stay there, but that does not mean that we don’t need to go back to visit – if and when there is a need.”

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Tags: Benny Gantz ,Iran Nuclear Program ,Hizbullah

Israel threatens to attack Lebanon in case of Hezbollah ‘provocations’ – report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (REUTERS / Baz Ratner)

TAGS: Conflict, Military, Scandal, Middle East,Politics, Iran, Israel

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said Tel Aviv is ready to strike against its neighbor if Lebanon-based Hezbollah attempts “provocations.” The armed group, in turn, claims it is ready to retaliate to a possible strike from Israel.

For months now Israel has been brandishing a sword in bellicose rhetoric directed at Iran. Now it seems to have broadened the subject matter to include neighboring Lebanon.

The conflict between Tel Aviv and Beirut has been on a slow-burner, but never quite extinguished, since Lebanon serves as the home base for militant group Hezbollah, which Israel sees as one of its main foes.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Netanyahu has indicated Tel Aviv is ready to strike Lebanon, should Hezbollah carry out any provocations.

The message was not delivered to Lebanese officials in person, but rather relayed through a Western diplomat with whom Netanyahu met several weeks ago in Jerusalem.

An unnamed senior official told the daily that Israeli PM sees Hezbollah as part of the Lebanese administration, and is ready to strike without differentiating between the armed group and the state of Lebanon.

Netanyahu reportedly told the diplomat that “As far as we’re concerned, the Lebanese government is responsible for whatever happens in its jurisdiction.”

There are several events in which Israeli PM may act out on his warning.

One such scenario is Hezbollah getting its hands on Syrian chemical weapons if the regime of President Bashar al-Assad collapses. Prime Minister Netanyahu did not specify exactly what measures would be taken, but said Israel would have to act.

“Could you imagine Hezbollah, the people who are conducting with Iran all these terror attacks around the world – could you imagine them having chemical weapons? It would be like Al-Qaeda having chemical weapons,” he said in an interview to Fox News Sunday in July.

Hezbollah’s leader has warned the group is poised to react if Israel strikes Lebanon.

Hassan Nasrallah said his party had already fixed targets in Israel and would be able to hit them with a small number of rockets if Tel Aviv decides to attack first.

“If we are forced to use them to protect our people and our country, we will not hesitate to do so…and that will turn the lives of hundreds of thousands of Zionists into a living hell,” Nasrallah warned at a Jerusalem Day rally earlier in August.

The ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel stems from the former’s support of Palestinian autonomy and calls for annihilation of Israel.

If Israel follows through with these alleged threats, it would mean an attack on Lebanon with IDF strikes, not limited to Hezbollah targets, and would paralyze the country’s infrastructure, taking out power plants, air and sea ports, among other facilities.

The Israeli prime minister’s office has so far declined to comment on the matter.

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Fighting in Syria spills over into Lebanon- 3 killed in skirmishes

Posted by The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

August 25, 2012 – LEBANON – Clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian factions in the Lebanese city of Tripoli killed three people including a Sunni cleric, jeopardizing a fragile truce, a security official said. The deaths brought to 14 the number of people killed in factional fighting in the Mediterranean port city over the past five days linked to the conflict in neighboring Syria. A further 110 people have been wounded, most of them shot by snipers. A sniper killed Sunni cleric Sheikh Khaled al-Baradei, 28, at dawn, sparking the flare-up between fighters from the pro-Syrian Alawite district of Jabal Mohsen and anti-Damascus Sunni districts, an AFP correspondent reported. One person died of his wounds in the Sunni Qobbeh area. A third died in the adjacent Sunni Bab al-Tebbaneh district, the security official said. The militiamen exchanged rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire in the two neighborhoods in the east of the city, Lebanon’s second largest, sparking several blazes, the correspondent reported. Families hammered holes through the walls of their apartments to escape to safety down makeshift ladders as the clashes raged. A journalist and a technician from Sky News Arabia were slightly hurt by stray bullets near the Sunni Bab al-Tebbaneh neighborhood, another scene of recent clashes on the city’s northern outskirts, medical sources said. Dozens of Sunni militiamen have encircled the Alawite district, with the army separating the rival gunmen, the correspondent said. The fighting continued until around 8:30 am (0530 GMT) when militiamen on both sides pulled back from the frontline, driving away on motorbikes, and a fragile calm returned. Six businesses in the city centre were later set ablaze — four Alawite-owned, one Sunni-owned, and the other a Christian-owned shop selling alcohol, the security official said. “We were surprised by this battle,” said Abu Othman, a gunman from the Sunni side. “They are the ones who opened fire, the Jabal Mohsen people.” Several families displaced by the fighting had returned to the two districts on Thursday to inspect the damage to their homes, as a truce agreed on Wednesday had appeared to take hold. –SBS

                                                U.S. continues military build-up in the Mediterranean

Hezbollah says can kill tens of thousands of Israelis

Posted by The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

August 17, 2012 – ISRAEL – Hezbollah said on Friday it could kill tens of thousands of Israelis by hitting targets with what it described as precision-guided missiles in a declaration that seemed aimed at deterring Israeli strikes on Lebanon or its regional backer Iran. Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his group could turn the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis “to real hell” by hitting a small number of number of targets which he said was “not large” – a possible reference to nuclear facilities, though Nasrallah would not go into details. “During any stage of an attack on our country, if we are forced to use or target this type of target, to protect our people and country, we will not hesitate,” he said. Nasrallah’s remarks will likely be factored into Israeli calculations ahead of any military action against Iran, which is pursuing a nuclear program viewed as an existential threat in Israel. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said he believes his country would suffer up to 500 casualties in any conflict aimed at wiping out Iran’s nuclear facilities – which both Israel and Western powers believe Tehran is using to develop nuclear weapons. “We can talk about tens of thousands of dead,” Nasrallah said in a speech to mark Jerusalem Day, commemorated on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan according to a tradition established by Iran’s late Ayatollah Khomeini. “I tell the Israelis that you have a number of targets, not a large number … that can be hit with precision rockets … which we have,” Nasrallah said. “Hitting these targets with a small number of rockets will turn … the lives of hundreds of thousands of Zionists to real hell,” he said. Israel, thought to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed power, has repeatedly threatened military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue. Iran denies seeking a bomb and says its nuclear work has only peaceful purposes. Hezbollah is a Shi’ite Islamist guerrilla and political movement founded after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 with Iran’s help and has deep ideological links to the Islamic republic. The group last fought Israel in 2006 during a 34-day war in which 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, were killed. –Yahoo News

Ahmadinejad goes on anti-Israeli rant: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told an annual anti-Israel protest in Tehran on Friday that the Jewish state was a “cancerous tumour” that will soon be excised, drawing Western rebukes. Washington said Ahmadinejad’s statements were “reprehensible,” while Paris viewed them as “outrageous.” Ahmadinejad’s diatribe against Israel in his Quds (Jerusalem) Day address was the latest in a long line to have drawn criticism from Western governments. “The Zionist regime and the Zionists are a cancerous tumour,” he said. “The nations of the region will soon finish off the usurper Zionists in the Palestinian land….A new Middle East will definitely be formed. With the grace of God and help of the nations, in the new Middle East there will be no trace of the Americans and Zionists,” he said. -YN

Syrian rebels armed with first T-62 tanks

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 14, 2012, 9:53 AM (GMT+02:00)

Syrian pilot captured by rebels

The Syrian rebels’ Western and Arab sponsors have ratcheted up their military assistance by giving them tanks, 20 Russian-made T-62 tanks from Libya,DEBKAfile reports. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave the nod for the transfer to the rebels of their first heavy weapons during her brief visit to Istanbul Saturday, Aug. 13, as the prelude to the next step of the war. Qatar is paying for the tanks.
The Obama administration first agreed to Turkey arming the Free Syrian Army with FIM-92 anti-air Stinger missiles, as DEBKAfile disclosed Aug. 11.
Monday, Aug. 13, for the first time in the 18-month revolt against the Assad regime, rebels shot down a Syrian Air Force fighter jet, a Mig-21, over the northeastern town of Deir al-Zour, using shoulder-carried Stingers. The Syrian government claimed it had crashed because of technical problems, but the rebels quickly released photos of the captured pilot, Col. Rafiq Mohammed Suleiman, surrounded by their guns.
The Syrian conflict has thus entered a new phase, the prelude, DEBKAfile’s military sources report, to the creation of the first safe havens inside the country, which the FSA and other rebel groups will now be armed to defend.
Sources in Ankara report that Turkey has drawn up plans for carving out those safe havens between 5 and 25 kilometers deep inside Syrian territory and on its borders with Turkey and Iraq.  Ankara is concerned less with the military aspects of those safe zones than with using them to relieve Turkey of the burden of hundreds of thousands of displaced Syrians who have fled and continue to flee across the border into Turkey as destitute refugees.
The supply of tanks and the Stingers lays the ground for the sanctuaries’ defenses against Assad’s warplanes and tanks, which until now had free rein of the skies and the battlefield.
The 20 T-62 tanks from Libya were unloaded last week at the Turkish port of Iskenderun, already painted over with FSA insignia. They were handed to Syrian rebel teams trained in tank warfare and have since crossed into northern Syria.
DEBKAfile’s military sources: Assad is confronted with fateful decisions: The supply of heavy weapons to the Syrian rebels, the downing of a fighter jet by a Stinger missile and the prospect of protected enclaves cutting through the country, threaten to turn the tide of war against him.

Unless he decides to cut and run, the danger is greater than ever before of his turning to unconventional weapons to save his regime. He cannot carry on fighting if his armed forces continually lose face by seeing their warplanes depicted on world television screens blowing up in mid-air and their burning debris falling to the ground amid clouds of heavy smoke, clearly shot down by enemy missiles.
Bracing themselves for the contingency of Syria waging chemical and biological warfare,Israel, Turkey and Jordan have formed teams to work with the US military on setting up counter-measures and emergency medical aid in the event of those countries and US military facilities posted there coming under unconventional attack.
Deciding there was no time to lose, Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak held long consultations through Monday night, Aug. 14, and by Tuesday morning had rushed through the appointment of Avi Dichter, former Shin Beit Director and Internal Security Minister, as home front minister in place of Mattan Vilnai, Israel’s designated ambassador to Beijing.
Dichter was picked because he has the administrative experience and practice in operational tasking needed to step straight into the job and start working without delay, in case it is necessary to grapple with a Syrian chemical attack even before Iran’s nuclear program.

Hizbullah Claims Rockets Can Reach All of Israel

The Hizbullah terror leadership claimed Monday that its missiles can now reach all of Israeli territory.

 IsraelNationalNews

By Chana Ya’ar

First Publish: 8/13/2012, 8:00 PM

Lebanese Shi’ite women listen to Nasrallah address

Reuters

The Hizbullah terror leadership claimed Monday that its missiles can now reach all of Israeli territory.

Speaking at a ceremony in southern Lebanon, Nabil Ka’uk announced from the podium that “Hizbullah rockets can reach all Israelisettlements,” referring to Israeli towns and cities. The reference by Ka’uk, who is deputy director for Hizbullah’s terror activities, included all territory, including that liberated in the 1967 Six Day War, and those that preceded it.

Ka’uk’s leader, Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah, also continues to threaten Israel with annihilation, but does so only from the safety of a hideout whose location is known to very few of his closest advisers. Last month Nasrallah addressed massive halls of supporters, separated by gender, who listened as he spoke to the families of those who were killed during the 2006 Second Lebanon War with Israel. His address was heard, as usual, via a video link, in the “Shahid” Hall in Haret Hreik, Beirut.

IDF military intelligence experts have estimated that Hizbullah has stockpiled tens of thousands of missiles in varying ranges, all of which are pointed at various locations within the Jewish State.

This week the Home Front Command is testing Israel’s new nationwide text message alert system, designed to warn citizens about an impending missile attack.

Each day, residents living in various cities within a new area of the country receive a text message alerting them that Home Front Command is testing the new system, together with a numeric code. The messages are sent between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., and are transmitted in Hebrew, English, Arabic and Russian.

IDF Preparing For Next War With Hezbollah

http://www.jpost.com

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Israel’s 2009 offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, will pale in comparison to what will happen to Lebanon in a future war with Hezbollah, a senior IDF officer in the Northern Command said on Thursday.

“The destruction will be greater in Lebanon than in Israel and the amount of explosives which will fall there will be far more than what will fall here… We will need to be strong and aggressive,” the officer said.

Related: •’IAF strikes Hezbollah target in Lebanese territory’•’Beirut banks funneling illicit funds for Hezbollah’Brig.-Gen. Herzi Halevy, commander of Division 91, clarified the remark and told reporters that the destruction will be widespread due to Hezbollah’s decision to establish its command posts and bases inside villages and towns throughout Lebanon.

Halevy, who headed the Paratroop Brigade during Operation Cast Lead in 2009, said Israel would take immediate action – from the air and on the ground – in a future war that would cause “extensive damage, not as a punishment but rather to hit the enemy where it is.”

“The damage will be far greater [in Lebanon] than the Second Lebanon War,” he added.

“The past six years have been the quietest along the border in more than 40 years,” Halevy said in a briefing marking six years since the Second Lebanon War.

“But we understand that there is more than one catalyst that can potentially break the quiet.”

Halevy said that an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities – no matter by whom – or the ongoing uprising in Syria could spark a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. In addition, increased tension between the IDF and the Lebanese Armed Forces could lead to a bigger conflict.

Last week, for example, a small force of soldiers from the Paratroop Brigade were patrolling the border when they spotted Lebanese troops standing 20 meters away and aiming their weapons –including a rocket-propelled grenade – at them. One of the Israeli soldiers, who speaks Arabic, heard the Lebanese commander dividing up targets for his men. The Israeli soldiers called in a backup force that quickly arrived at the scene, leading the Lebanese to withdraw.

“These type of incidents have the ability to turn into something larger,” a senior officer said.

The IDF has spent the past year upgrading its defenses along the border. A few weeks ago, it completed the construction of a concrete wall between the Israeli border town of Metulla and the Lebanese town of Kafr Kila. The army decided to build a wall along that section of the frontier to minimize friction between the sides.

Since the war in 2006, in addition to Hezbollah’s extensive rearmament and procurement of tens of thousands of rockets and missiles, the IDF has detected a concerted effort by the guerrilla group to gather intelligence on Israeli military positions along the border.

The army released photos on Thursday showing Hezbollah operatives with surveillance gear along the border filming IDF movements and deployments.

In a film recently captured by the IDF, two cars are shown arriving near the Lebanese side of the border. Men wearing hooded sweatshirts are seen exiting the cars and surveying the border. One of them is holding papers. IDF assessments are that the group was possibly planning an attack against Israel along the border.

“They brings operatives from northern Lebanon to teach them about the south and the terrain where they will be expected to operate in a future war,” another officer in the Northern Command said.

Senior IDF officer: Israel is preparing for the next Lebanon war

Officer says instability in Syria could ignite violent confrontation with the Lebanese army, says ‘Goldstone report will pale in comparison to what will be here next time.’

Posted by HAARETZ

The Israel-Lebanon border, July 5, 2012. Photo by Yaron Kaminsky

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Israel is not prepared for the next war

By Amos Harel | Jul.05,2012 | 9:02 PM |  6

Israel issues stark warning to Hezbollah amid political instability in Syria, Iran

By Amos Harel | Jul.05,2012 | 9:02 PM

Six years after the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, the IDF is saying openly that Israel is preparing for another Lebanon war.

The commander of the IDF’s 91st Division, Brigardier-General Hertzi Halevy told journalists on Thursday, “We understand that there is more than one factor, whether this is Lebanese, or whether it will come from somewhere else, that can ignite the border here.”

The 91st Division, part of the Northern Command, and responsible for the front with Lebanon, sees developments in Syria as one of the factors that could upset the calm that has prevailed in the region since the war. The collapse of the Syrian regime may also bring with it an increase in Jihadi or Hezbollah operatives, who may try to carry out targeted attacks in the area.

Already, Northern Command intelligence says certain areas of the border between Lebanon and Syria are “lawless zones,” which enable the transfer of more advanced weapons into the region. The IDF has stated that there are some 60 thousand missiles in Lebanon, ten times more than there were in the country during the first Lebanon war. Hezbollah has the capability to launch a large quantity of rockets in a short period time, and this could cause significant damage on the Home Front.

In IDF simulations of what a third Lebanon war would look like, ground maneuvers in villages that are considered bastions of Shiite Hezbollah become particularly important. “The next war will be different, and therefore we should stop it as quickly as possible, in order to make things easier for the home front. This means carrying out a very strong attack against Lebanon, and the damage will be enormous,” says a senior officer in the Northern Command.

“The Goldstone report will pale in comparison to what will be here next time. There is no choice but to fight against the enemy where he is, and that is in the heart of a populated area. “

Despite Halevy’s warnings against Hezbollah violence in the north, the majority of violent incidents have actually been taking place on the initiative of the Lebanese army, which has aimed its arms at the IDF. Only last week an unusual incident occurred on the Hasbani River, near Ghajar. A group of eight soldiers, who were on patrol in the area with the company commander, identified five fighters from the Lebanese Army, together with RPG launchers and snipers. In a subsequent investigation, a tracker reported that a commander from the Lebanese force had instructed his fighters to harm IDF soldiers. In response, the IDF advanced the tank force in the area as a cover, sending a strong message to the UNIFIL force in the area that the IDF would respond harshly in case of any fire from the Lebanese army.

In practice, the forces serving in the region must practice restraint: Official policy dictates that the IDF must not open fire first, except for extenuating circumstances. Nevertheless, recent violent events have occurred only with the Lebanese army, and not with Hezbollah.

“When things happen with the Lebanese army, it is preferable to solve them with an M16, and not with F-16s,” a senior official in the area explained.

The Northern Command point out that reconstruction work in Bint Jbeil, the site of a major battle during the 2006 war, was only completed a few months ago. The next confrontation, they point out, will cause even more damage. In the event that the situation would erupt, said Halevy, “the IDF is preparing seriously and professionally for another Lebanon war. The response will need to be sharper, harder, and in some ways very violent. The next war will be with very heavy exchanges of fire on both sides, and so both need to make every effort to stop this happening. In the Goldstone Report, the community and the world tended to get confused and think that this can be done in a nicer way. It cannot be nice. Without the use of great force, we will find it difficult to achieve the aim, and the enemy should also know that. “

Report: IAF Strikes Hizbullah in Southern Lebanon

The Hizbullah al-Manar television station reported a strike on the terror organization’s infrastructure by Israeli warplanes.

 IsraelNationalNews

By Gabe Kahn

First Publish: 7/2/2012, 9:00 PM

IAF F-16

IAF F-16

According to Hizbullah’s al-Manar TV, Israeli warplanes fired at a target in southern Lebanon on Monday.

“The enemy detonated an explosive device remotely against a telecommunication line in Zrariyeh” village, the Hizbullah television station reported.

The IAF aircraft reportedly struck a site used by the Hizbullah near the town of Zira in southern Lebanon.

The terror group immediately closed the area to ensure reporters, security forces, and peacekeepers could not survey the damage.

Lebanese emergency personnel were reportedly barred from the site, preventing them from treating those potentially wounded in the strike.

Hizbullah officials also refused to comment on the incident.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon  (UNIFIL) said it was looking into the report.

“Our military on the ground are checking these reports about the alleged explosion,” UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told reporters.

IDF officials said the army declines to comment on foreign news reports as a matter of policy.

Hizbullah, a Shiite Muslim terrorist organization backed by Syria and Iran and designated a terrorist group by the US, last fought Israel in a month-long conflict in 2006, during which it aimed its missiles at Israeli towns and cities.