Exclusive Coverage of Israel At War

(Note: this post will continuously be updated with breaking news and commentary)
- Number 3 Hizbollah terrorist, Abu Jaffar was killed
- A 15 year old Druze girl was killed by a rocket,many more injured in attack on Druze village
- Over 100 rockets land in the north,scores injured in Haifa and other towns, one man died of heart attack, widespread damage incurred
- Half of all northern residents in Israel have fled south
- The IDF now controls Bint Jabel, 100 terrorists are still holed up in a marketplace, more terrorist hiding in surrounding villages
-More Iranian weapons were found in Bint Jabel, several soldiers were wounded in today's fighting
- Sec. Rice met with Abbas to voice support for a "Palestinian" State!

8:20 PM EST: It is well known that Haifa has been on the front lines of this war, enduring numerous rocket attacks. It is less known however, that Haifa has been on the front lines of liberal appeasement for years. Haifa is one of the most liberal areas of Israel. Well, unfortunately, Haifa citizens are learning the hard way that the right wing in Israel has been correct for all these years. Here are excerpts of a letter written by a Haifa resident begging for forgiveness from Jewish refugees of Gaza for supporting their deportation. He wrote, "During five years you coped with bombs, and I didn't care. Even when you came to visit me in my house, to explain, to convince, to share your feelings with me, I refused to listen to you. People from Gush Katif and the Shomron! Forgive me! Forgive us for not understanding you." Very profound indeed.

6:55 PM EST: Arch terrorist Hassan Nasarallah came out with another blabber dissertation on his terrorist TV network that Israel doesn't want to shut down for some reason. He threatened to start shooting longer range missiles into deeper parts of Israel. This just underscores the need for the IDF to put some speed on their operation. These long range missiles are also more devastating on impaction than regular Katyushas. Today was already a terrible day for Israeli civilians. Here are some pictures of the devastation in Haifa.

5:45 PM: Big news: Number 3 Hizbollah terrorist, Abu Jaffar was killed. Also, a local Hizbollah commander was killed in Bint Jabel. Debka is reporting that in Bint Jubeil, Israeli forces killed Khalil Amin Shivli, 44, commander of the Central Sector in South Lebanon, with four lieutenants Tuesday. He is the most senior Hizballah officer to die in the Lebanon war. His function paralleled a regional brigade commander of the Israeli army.

5:20 PM EST: 4 UN "observers" were killed in an IAF airstike when a UNIFIL base was hit by a bomb. Get ready for the the Europeans to slip the dogs of war.

4:45 PM EST: There are reports that Palestinian terrorists in Lebanon plan to join the fight alongside Hizbollah. Fatah's Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade, chaired by Mahmoud Abbas (who Condi Rice has met with today) announced that they have thousands of fighters who are ready to join the war. There are many "experts" that always say that Sunni and Shiite terrorists hate each other and will not work together, nor will secular and religous ones unite either. Well, Fatah and Hamas are religous Sunnis, Hizbollah is religous Shiite, and they are all based in secular Sunni Syria and backed by religous Shiites in Iran. Go figure!

4:20 PM: Congressman JD Hayworth (R- Arizona), the ultimate red meat conservative, was on the Hannity show today. He ridiculed those that support anything but complete one sided support for Israel with his usual articulate and take no prisoners approach. Only someone who understands the full dangers of our open borders like JD can fully appreciate the dangers that Israel is facing. He also completely assailed the incomprehensible idea of land for peace. I hope that "Palestinian state" Condi Rice was listening.

3:40 PM EST: 3 Israeli soldiers were wounded by mortar fire in Bint Jabel during the night. Also, on the West Bank front, the IDF has surrounded the PA compound to arrest some terrorists that are holed up there.

3:10 PM: 20 more wounded in Nahariya over the past hour. There are now reports that half of all northern residents have fled south. These are people who's lives have been completely disrupted and have not worked in 10 days.

2:45 PM EST: More rockets fell on Haifa, Nahariya, and the Galilee resulting in more damage. No casualties were reported. Meanwhile, Christian residents of Muslim towns in Israel are reporting that the Muslim residents are celebrating the attacks on Israel over loudspeakers. This is one more reason why these vermin need to be deported from Israel. Instead, the leftist government gives them representation in the Knesset!

2:10 PM EST: Another round of rockets hit a building in Ma'alot, one person was injured and several were treated for shock. In Lebanon, the IDF is encountering more terrorists near Maroun al Ras. 5 terrorists were killed including the regional commander. Aslo, remember those two Lebanese who were captured the first day of the ground invasion? Well, the Israelis just released them, claiming that they weren't associated with Hizbollah. I hope this is true, but Israel has had a bad habit in the past of freeing major terrorists.

1:15 PM EST: Meanwhile, the terror inside of Israel continues. A man was shot in the cheek in Hebron by someone who Condi Rice wishes to create a state for.

12:40 PM EST: Here is an update on the condition of Israelis in the north that you won't see in the drive by media. Debkafile reports, "As the third week of the war begins, conditions in the shelters where about a million Israeli civilians are confined are deteriorating. People living in terror of the next rocket and unable to work are running out of food, money and medicines. Airlessness is unbearable in the hot summer days. In some shelters, the individual must make do with half a meter of space on a mattress. After 13 days of warfare, 85,000 business in northern Israel face ruin. Half a million trees and much of the wild vegetation have been destroyed. "

Condi Rice Update: Rice has just met with arch terrorist Mahmoud Abbas. She announced that she expects two states to exist side by side. So lets get this straight. She meets with Arafat's top deputy and demands the creation of a Palestinian terror state in the midst of a war that was triggered by these very Clintonian suicidal policies of concessions and appeasement that she is advocating once again! She is actually calling for a Hamas state! Also, keep in mind that Abbas, besides for being out of power and irrelevant is just as much of a terrorist as Hamas. He is the head of Fatah which fields the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, which is based in Syria. So this guy who was the top aid of Hitler in a headscarf and who has ties ti Syrian terrorists is able to have a cordial audience with an American Sec. of State?! And by the way, nobody has ever explained to me how it is geographically possible to create two states (in an area the size of New Jerzey) without breaking one in half? Only one of them can be contiguous.

12:25 PM EST: Rockets have been falling all day in Israel. There has been some more damage in the latest attacks but miraculously there have been no more casualties. A rocket landed 100 yards from the Akko City Hall while the Mayor was convening an emergency meeting. The hand of the Lord is really at work here. Thousands of people are currently holding a prayer rally at the Western Wall.

In Lebanon, the IAF resumed its bombing campaign of the Dahiya part of Beirut after a two day break. 10 buildings were destroyed during the latest raid.

On the ground, the JPost is reporting that Brigadier General of Division 91 Commander Gal Hirsch revealed on Tuesday that troops operating in Bint Jbeil discovered war rooms with eavesdropping and surveillance equipment made by Iran, being used by Hizbullah against Israel. They also found large cache of weapons and communications devices. Meanwhile, several IDF soldiers from a tank unit were wounded when troops encountered resistance in Maroun al-Ras, a Hizbullah stronghold the IDF believed it had under its control. Troops were attempting to evacuate the wounded under fire. The number of casualties was unclear as was the nature of the wounds.

10:35 AM EST: Column Update: Here is a great National Review column that explains as we have been reporting, that not only are the UN forces in Lebanon ineffective, they are part of the problem.

10:10 AM EST: Rockets continue to devastate northern Israel. Meanwhile our soldiers in Iraq have been sending letters of encouragement to the IDF soldiers through a website specially set up for this purpose. More than 400 messages from outside Israel have been sent to IDF soldiers, including several from the Americans. "Take care of the Hizbullah; we will take care of Iran," wrote one U.S. soldier. Another wrote, "From Iraq, we wish good tidings for you brave IDF soldiers. The American army is 100 percent for Israel."

8:45 AM: Debkafile has now published their exclusive report on Bint Jabel: They report "Hizballah is reported by IDF sources to have lost 100-120 Hizballah fighters.
Israel's immediate military mission now is to capture or subdue Bint Jabel's five satellite villages, where 300 Hizballah fighters are sheltering: Ain Ebel, Hannine, Deble, Yaroun and Rmaich, the latter two very close to the Lebanese-Israeli border. " They are also reporting that the terrorists are planning to resort to guerillala tactics instead of a head on confrontation after suffering many casualties. Also, there are reports of many local residents, probably Christians, being very helpful to the IDF in providing real time intelligence.

However, this wont stop with Bint Jabel and it's suburbs. Hizbollah had six years to prepare for this and have spread out their forces throughout Lebanon, even in the most northern areas. This is allowing them to continue their intense rocket barrages. Unfortunately, it appears that the IDF is fighting a very slow PC war that is obsessed with civilian casualties while disregarding their own civilian casualties.

The report concludes, "Whichever direction Israel's high command chooses for the next stage of the war will necessitate proceeding at a slow pace, whether because of an insufficiency of men on the ground, the risks of troop and civilian casualties or the complexity of their missions. The snail's pace of the IDF's advance means that HizballahÂ’s rocket offensive against northern Israel cannot be completely disabled in the near term, and that Hassan Nasrallah and his overlords in Tehran and Syria have enough time to come up with fresh initiatives while topping up HizballahÂ’s resources as they are depleted.

There is no doubt that this is a result of the indecisiveness of the politicians and top military brass and not of the rank and file military officials. Keep in mind that anyone who is currently in a top military position, is by definitin an incompetent person. This is because Sharon fired everyone who opposed his Gaza retreat and filled those positions with those that supported it. And these guys are running the war that they helped create??!

Caroline Glick has written in her column today, "Their statements [Olmert an Livni's] expose a consistent watering down of the goal of the IDF's mission in Lebanon - from destroying Hizbullah as a fighting force to weakening it as a fighting force and "paving the way for a diplomatic settlement" that will apparently include Hizbullah. " It is clear that they need to send in massive amounts of ground troops and completely destroy every last Hizbollah fighter. Israel's citizens and economy cannot last this way.

8:35 AM EST: Condi Rice met with PM Olmert today. There doesn't appear to be anything new coming from her. She continues to support Israel, and if anything its the Israeli gov't that is preassuring Rice to send in an international anti semitic force to "patrol" the border. This leftist government is unbelievable! Also, there were thousands of Palestinians protesting against Rice in Ramallah today. I don't understand how Rice continues to love these people that hate her guts?

8:20 AM EST: Rockets continue to fall. In Lebanon, IDF officials are saying that they now control Bint Jabel with several pockets of resistance remaining. There are 100 terrorists still holed up in a marketplace. Over 40 terrorists were killed in the battle for Bint Jabel. They have been using the typical tactics of hiding amongst civilians and shooting out of hospitals.

8:00 AM EST: Breaking: A 15 year old girl was killed by a rocket in a Druze village near Carmiel in the Galilee, several others seriously injured. There are also reports that a rocket struck the village Mosque and wounded several more people. Keep in mind that unlike the other Arabs living in Israel, most of the Druze are very patriotic and serve in the Army. Also, one man died of a heart attack in Haifa during the massive rocket barrage. Update: 48 people were injured so far today from over 60 rockets fired. There is a tremendous amount of damage with many houses and buildings suffering direct hits, along with widespread fires raging across the Galilee.

6:30 AM EST: Inside Israel, the rockets have resumed this morning with the terrorists firing at least 35 of them. There has been a major attack in Haifa. Dozens were injured when a barrage of 16 rockets scored direct hits on a resurant, apartment building, and a bus. Some of them are seriously or moderately injured. One person was hurt in Ma'alot as well. More rockets landed in Nahariya causing widespread damage and electrical failures. There was another direct hit on a home in Amioz in the south by a Kassam rocket, one person was moderately injured. Miraculously, there were no fatalities yet.
In Lebanon, the IDF is now in control of the outskirts of Bint Jabel and have imposed a full seizure on the city. 4 Soldiers were lightly wounded in a gun battle this morning. In Tyre, the IAF destroyed 16 rocket launchers in addition to many weapons caches. Unfortunately, this has not impeded their ability to wreak havoc on Israel's northern cities.

12:15 AM EST: Its early in the morning Israel time and things are quiet so far, so here are some updates from yesterday's news. The IDF is investigating whether yesterday's helicopter crash that killed the two pilots was a result of a malfunction or friendly fire from IDF artillery. Also, tomorrow the Knesset plans to convene a meeting to decide whether to officially call this conflict a "war". Olmert's leftist Kadima party is opposed to it, while others on the right and the Haifa Mayor want a clear declaration of war. Go figure.
Column Update: Here is a must read column in the JPost by John Hagee, President of the new Christian Zionist group Christians United for Israel. He details the future goals of his organization in protecting Israel through legislation in Congress.

Major News: PM Olmert announced today that the Islamonazi attacks have not detered him from his plans to surrender the heart of the country to the terrorists and deport 100,000 Jews, eventhough it is clear that the Gaza and Lebanon retreat were the cause of this!!! Worst of all, he said this in front of a crowd of refugees that he threw out of Gaza. Handing over Judea and Samaria will exacerbate their strategic peril 100 fold. The only explanation is that liberalism is a sick mental disoreder. Olmert must be thrown out immediately! How can one who plans to deport more Jews and create a violent terror state be trusted with the responsibility of fighting the very enemy that he seeks to appease??!