Israel decides not to expand offensive

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Quigley_Sharps, Jul 27, 2006.


  1. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    JERUSALEM - Top Israeli Cabinet ministers decided Thursday not to expand the country's Lebanon offensive but ordered the call up of thousands of additional reserve soldiers to boost the campaign. The decision came as Israeli jets pounded across Lebanon on Thursday, extending their air campaign a day after suffering its highest one-day casualty toll in fighting with Hezbollah, with nine soldiers killed.
    So far, 16 days of bombardment and intense ground fighting in recent days have been unable to stop the Hezbollah rocket attacks. On Wednesday, the guerrillas unleashed their biggest volley yet — 151 rockets into northern <FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post><INPUT type=hidden value='"Israel"' name=p> <INPUT type=hidden value=c1,i,yn,c3 name=sourceOrder> <INPUT type=hidden value='[FONT=arial,sans-serif]Israel[/FONT]
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    News | News Photos | Images | Web
    ' name=c3> <INPUT type=hidden name=sourceURL> <INPUT type=hidden value=yq-news name=fr> <INPUT type=hidden value="So far, 16 days of bombardment and intense ground fighting in recent days have been unable to stop the Hezbollah rocket attacks. On Wednesday, the guerrillas unleashed their biggest volley yet — 151 rockets into northern Israel." name=context> </FORM>Israel.
    On Thursday, a Hezbollah rocket slammed into a laundry detergent plant in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shemona, setting a warehouse on fire, Israeli security officials said. Farej Fares, a local police commander in the northern town, said no one was in the building when it was hit, and that there was no threat of toxic materials being released into the air.
    The Israeli military warned Lebanese in the south on Thursday that their villages would be "totally destroyed" if missiles are fired from them.
    A high-level Mideast conference in Rome ended Wednesday without agreement. Most European leaders want Israel to halt its offensive against Hezbollah immediately, while the United States is willing to give Israel more time to punish the guerrilla group.
    "We received yesterday in the Rome conference permission, in effect, from the world, part of it gritting its teeth and part of it granting its blessing, to continue the operation, this war, until Hezbollah's presence is erased in Lebanon and it is disarmed," Justice Minister Haim Ramon told Army Radio.
    Although top international, European and U.S. officials agreed in Rome conference that urgent action was needed to stop the killing of civilians in Lebanon, they issued no joint statement calling for a cease-fire.
    With cease-fire efforts stalemated, U.S. Secretary of State <FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post><INPUT type=hidden value='"Condoleezza Rice"' name=p> <INPUT type=hidden value=c1,i,yn,c3 name=sourceOrder> <INPUT type=hidden value='[FONT=arial,sans-serif]Condoleezza Rice[/FONT]
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    News | News Photos | Images | Web
    ' name=c3> <INPUT type=hidden name=sourceURL> <INPUT type=hidden value=yq-news name=fr> <INPUT type=hidden value="With cease-fire efforts stalemated, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that she was prepared to make a second tour of the Middle East to try to hammer out a resolution, but she did not specify when." name=context> </FORM>Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that she was prepared to make a second tour of the Middle East to try to hammer out a resolution, but she did not specify when.
    "I am more than happy to go back," Rice said, if her efforts can "move toward a sustainable cease-fire that would end the violence." She spoke in Malaysia after attending the Rome conference. Rice held talks in Beirut and Jerusalem earlier in the week.
    During a session Thursday with the security Cabinet, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the goals of Israel's 17-day offensive are being met, participants of the meeting said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details of the discussion.
    The participants said the call up of three additional reserve divisions, comprising thousands of soldiers, was meant to refresh troops in Lebanon, but the huge size of the mobilization raised questions about the military's overall strategy. One division has 12,000 to 15,000 soldiers.
    Ramon, considered to be close to Olmert, also told Army Radio that Israel should unleash massive airstrikes against villages in southern Lebanon to clear out Hezbollah gunmen.
    His call for greater firepower came a day after Israel suffered its heaviest single-day casualty toll in the campaign, with nine soldiers killed and 25 wounded in house-to-house fighting in Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon.
    Ramon said the Israeli air force must bomb villages before ground forces enter, suggesting this would help prevent Israeli casualties in the future.
    Asked whether entire villages should be flattened, he said: "These places are not villages. They are military bases in which Hezbollah people are hiding and from which they are operating."
    Ramon said Israel has given civilians in southern Lebanon sufficient warning to leave the area, and that those left behind should be considered Hezbollah sympathizers. "All those now in south Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hezbollah," he said.
    However, it is believed that civilians remain in these communities. A Red Cross doctor who visited the town of Bint Jbail before the Israelis advanced on it this week said the majority of residents had fled, but a considerable number were taking cover in schools and other places.

    Ramon said the military should not hold back.
    "What we need to activate in south Lebanon is tremendous firepower before ground forces enter," he said. "Our great advantage against Hezbollah is firepower, not hand-to-hand combat."
    The Israeli daily Haaretz said military officials have criticized the government for not ordering a broader ground offensive, which they said would give troops an advantage over Hezbollah. Several thousand Israeli soldiers are currently fighting several hundred Hezbollah gunmen. Military commanders also demanded greater air support of the ground troops, Haaretz said.
    One of the aims of the ground offensive is to push Hezbollah out of a 1.2-mile strip along the Israeli-Lebanese border to prevent future attacks by the militia. However, Israel's offensive has failed to stop Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel.
    During the 17-day offensive, Hezbollah has fired more than 1,400 rockets into Israel. By midmorning Thursday, 30 rockets had already hit three northern Israeli towns. On Wednesday, 151 rockets hit Israel, the highest daily total since the start of the fighting, the army said.
    Israel's offensive has killed 423 people in Lebanon since the crisis began July 12. It erupted when Hezbollah fighters staged a cross-border attack that led to the deaths of eight Israeli soldiers and left two captured.
    Fifty-two Israelis have been killed in the fighting, including 34 soldiers.
    The growing Israeli casualty toll was accompanied by criticism of the military operation. Some politicians warned that Israel could get dragged into a long offensive in Lebanon. Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000 after an 18-year occupation of the area.
    In the first apparent ramification of the killing of four U.N. observers by an Israeli airstrike earlier this week, Australia decided to withdraw 12 unarmed logistics specialists who had been sent to southern Lebanon to help with evacuation efforts.
    It also said it would not support a new international force in southern Lebanon unless it had the strength and will to disarm Hezbollah, Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday.
    Earlier this month, Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson backed participation of Australian troops in a new U.N. Middle East peacekeeping mission, but on Thursday, he seemed to rule out any major contribution.
    "I would be surprised if Australia were to be committing a significant number of troops to this area," Nelson said. Australia, a staunch U.S. ally in the war on terror, has troops in <FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post><INPUT type=hidden value='"Iraq"' name=p> <INPUT type=hidden value=c1,i,yn,c3 name=sourceOrder> <INPUT type=hidden value='[FONT=arial,sans-serif]Iraq[/FONT]
    ' name=c1> <INPUT type=hidden value='SEARCH
    News | News Photos | Images | Web
    ' name=c3> <INPUT type=hidden name=sourceURL> <INPUT type=hidden value=yq-news name=fr> <INPUT type=hidden value="Ramon said the military should not hold back.

    &quot;What we need to activate in south Lebanon is tremendous firepower before ground forces enter,&quot; he said. &quot;Our great advantage against Hezbollah is firepower, not hand-to-hand combat.&quot;

    The Israeli daily Haaretz said military officials have criticized the government for not ordering a broader ground offensive, which they said would give troops an advantage over Hezbollah. Several thousand Israeli soldiers are currently fighting several hundred Hezbollah gunmen. Military commanders also demanded greater air support of the ground troops, Haaretz said.

    One of the aims of the ground offensive is to push Hezbollah out of a 1.2-mile strip along the Israeli-Lebanese border to prevent future attacks by the militia. However, Israel's offensive has failed to stop Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel.

    During the 17-day offensive, Hezbollah has fired more than 1,400 rockets into Israel. By midmorning Thursday, 30 rockets had already hit three northern Israeli towns. On Wednesday, 151 rockets hit Israel, the highest daily total since the start of the fighting, the army said.

    Israel's offensive has killed 423 people in Lebanon since the crisis began July 12. It erupted when Hezbollah fighters staged a cross-border attack that led to the deaths of eight Israeli soldiers and left two captured.

    Fifty-two Israelis have been killed in the fighting, including 34 soldiers.

    The growing Israeli casualty toll was accompanied by criticism of the military operation. Some politicians warned that Israel could get dragged into a long offensive in Lebanon. Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000 after an 18-year occupation of the area.

    In the first apparent ramification of the killing of four U.N. observers by an Israeli airstrike earlier this week, Australia decided to withdraw 12 unarmed logistics specialists who had been sent to southern Lebanon to help with evacuation efforts.

    It also said it would not support a new international force in southern Lebanon unless it had the strength and will to disarm Hezbollah, Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday.

    Earlier this month, Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson backed participation of Australian troops in a new U.N. Middle East peacekeeping mission, but on Thursday, he seemed to rule out any major contribution.

    &quot;I would be surprised if Australia were to be committing a significant number of troops to this area,&quot; Nelson said. Australia, a staunch U.S. ally in the war on terror, has troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as East Timor and the Solomon Islands.

    ___

    AP correspondents Hussein Dakroub and Sheherezade Faramarzi in Beirut; Kathy Gannon in Tyre; Hamza Hendawi in Sidon; Jocelyn Gecker in Kuala Lumpur; and Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia; contributed to this story." name=context> </FORM>Iraq and <FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post><INPUT type=hidden value='"Afghanistan"' name=p> <INPUT type=hidden value=c1,i,yn,c3 name=sourceOrder> <INPUT type=hidden value='[FONT=arial,sans-serif]Afghanistan[/FONT]
    ' name=c1> <INPUT type=hidden value='SEARCH
    News | News Photos | Images | Web
    ' name=c3> <INPUT type=hidden name=sourceURL> <INPUT type=hidden value=yq-news name=fr> <INPUT type=hidden value="Ramon said the military should not hold back.

    &quot;What we need to activate in south Lebanon is tremendous firepower before ground forces enter,&quot; he said. &quot;Our great advantage against Hezbollah is firepower, not hand-to-hand combat.&quot;

    The Israeli daily Haaretz said military officials have criticized the government for not ordering a broader ground offensive, which they said would give troops an advantage over Hezbollah. Several thousand Israeli soldiers are currently fighting several hundred Hezbollah gunmen. Military commanders also demanded greater air support of the ground troops, Haaretz said.

    One of the aims of the ground offensive is to push Hezbollah out of a 1.2-mile strip along the Israeli-Lebanese border to prevent future attacks by the militia. However, Israel's offensive has failed to stop Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel.

    During the 17-day offensive, Hezbollah has fired more than 1,400 rockets into Israel. By midmorning Thursday, 30 rockets had already hit three northern Israeli towns. On Wednesday, 151 rockets hit Israel, the highest daily total since the start of the fighting, the army said.

    Israel's offensive has killed 423 people in Lebanon since the crisis began July 12. It erupted when Hezbollah fighters staged a cross-border attack that led to the deaths of eight Israeli soldiers and left two captured.

    Fifty-two Israelis have been killed in the fighting, including 34 soldiers.

    The growing Israeli casualty toll was accompanied by criticism of the military operation. Some politicians warned that Israel could get dragged into a long offensive in Lebanon. Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000 after an 18-year occupation of the area.

    In the first apparent ramification of the killing of four U.N. observers by an Israeli airstrike earlier this week, Australia decided to withdraw 12 unarmed logistics specialists who had been sent to southern Lebanon to help with evacuation efforts.

    It also said it would not support a new international force in southern Lebanon unless it had the strength and will to disarm Hezbollah, Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday.

    Earlier this month, Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson backed participation of Australian troops in a new U.N. Middle East peacekeeping mission, but on Thursday, he seemed to rule out any major contribution.

    &quot;I would be surprised if Australia were to be committing a significant number of troops to this area,&quot; Nelson said. Australia, a staunch U.S. ally in the war on terror, has troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as East Timor and the Solomon Islands.

    ___

    AP correspondents Hussein Dakroub and Sheherezade Faramarzi in Beirut; Kathy Gannon in Tyre; Hamza Hendawi in Sidon; Jocelyn Gecker in Kuala Lumpur; and Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia; contributed to this story." name=context> </FORM>Afghanistan as well as <FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post><INPUT type=hidden value='"East Timor"' name=p> <INPUT type=hidden value=c1,i,yn,c3 name=sourceOrder> <INPUT type=hidden value='[FONT=arial,sans-serif]East Timor[/FONT]
    ' name=c1> <INPUT type=hidden value='SEARCH
    News | News Photos | Images | Web
    ' name=c3> <INPUT type=hidden name=sourceURL> <INPUT type=hidden value=yq-news name=fr> <INPUT type=hidden value="Ramon said the military should not hold back.

    &quot;What we need to activate in south Lebanon is tremendous firepower before ground forces enter,&quot; he said. &quot;Our great advantage against Hezbollah is firepower, not hand-to-hand combat.&quot;

    The Israeli daily Haaretz said military officials have criticized the government for not ordering a broader ground offensive, which they said would give troops an advantage over Hezbollah. Several thousand Israeli soldiers are currently fighting several hundred Hezbollah gunmen. Military commanders also demanded greater air support of the ground troops, Haaretz said.

    One of the aims of the ground offensive is to push Hezbollah out of a 1.2-mile strip along the Israeli-Lebanese border to prevent future attacks by the militia. However, Israel's offensive has failed to stop Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel.

    During the 17-day offensive, Hezbollah has fired more than 1,400 rockets into Israel. By midmorning Thursday, 30 rockets had already hit three northern Israeli towns. On Wednesday, 151 rockets hit Israel, the highest daily total since the start of the fighting, the army said.

    Israel's offensive has killed 423 people in Lebanon since the crisis began July 12. It erupted when Hezbollah fighters staged a cross-border attack that led to the deaths of eight Israeli soldiers and left two captured.

    Fifty-two Israelis have been killed in the fighting, including 34 soldiers.

    The growing Israeli casualty toll was accompanied by criticism of the military operation. Some politicians warned that Israel could get dragged into a long offensive in Lebanon. Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000 after an 18-year occupation of the area.

    In the first apparent ramification of the killing of four U.N. observers by an Israeli airstrike earlier this week, Australia decided to withdraw 12 unarmed logistics specialists who had been sent to southern Lebanon to help with evacuation efforts.

    It also said it would not support a new international force in southern Lebanon unless it had the strength and will to disarm Hezbollah, Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday.

    Earlier this month, Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson backed participation of Australian troops in a new U.N. Middle East peacekeeping mission, but on Thursday, he seemed to rule out any major contribution.

    &quot;I would be surprised if Australia were to be committing a significant number of troops to this area,&quot; Nelson said. Australia, a staunch U.S. ally in the war on terror, has troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as East Timor and the Solomon Islands.

    ___

    AP correspondents Hussein Dakroub and Sheherezade Faramarzi in Beirut; Kathy Gannon in Tyre; Hamza Hendawi in Sidon; Jocelyn Gecker in Kuala Lumpur; and Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia; contributed to this story." name=context> </FORM>East Timor and the Solomon Islands. ___
     
  2. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    Now more of that and things will change.
     
  3. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    This will not be a repeat of the 6 Days War. The troublemakers learned well from that, and Arafat saw to it that the troublemakers had ample time and resources to build up a supply of arms. I am not so sure the Israelis have had enough intelligence to assess the situation. I heartily hope they have.
     
  4. MicroBalrog

    MicroBalrog Monkey+++

    Two things to keep in mind:

    1. The population here REALLY wants the army to 'get mean', for obvious reaosns'.


    2. This is not 1973. The 'other guys' now know they don't need to CONQUER ISrael to screw us over. If they keep up a barrage of missiles - not necessarily even inflicting damage, but keeping the Israelis in their bomb shelters and out of their work places - for long enough, if they can get the tourists in America and Europe to cancel their hotel reservations and the world's millionaires to cancel their investments, ISrael is screwed and they know it.
     
  5. TailorMadeHell

    TailorMadeHell Lurking Shadow Creature

    Can I [violin] while Hezzbullcrap burns? Haha.

    Since they call themselves holy warriors, everyone knows, the holy ones need halos. Israel should oblige them with some nice nuke ones. [angel] [finger] [micro]

    A stance Israel could take would be 'Nuke 'em all, let Allah sort 'em out'. :D
     
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