Friday, July 28, 2006

Exclusive Coverage of Israel at War

(Note: this post will be continuously updated with breaking news and commentary)
- 15 Hizbollah terrorists killed in Bint Jabel
- More than 130 terrorist targets were struck in Lebanon over night
- The name of the murdered resident of Shomron has been released
- A kindergarten in Ashkelon was struck by a kassam, two children injured
- More rockets continue to destroy infrastructure in the north, over 100 fired today, fires are raging, long range Fajir 5 rockets landed near Afulah
- 3 soldiers hurt in rocket attacks
- Nasarallah is believed to have met with Assad in Damascus along with Hamas and Islamic Jihad chief's, others believe he is in the Iranian embassy in Beirut


4:45 PM EST: Things have been kind of slow the past few hours. The big news story is that the IDF has killed 15 terrorists in Bint Jabel. There were no IDF casualties to speak of.

2:00 PM EST: Fighting has resumed in Bint Jabel after several days of relative quiet. 3 terrorists were killed and no IDF casualties were reported.

Also, Joseph Farah, editor of WND has just published his weekly column on Israel. Its a good read. Another great column is Victor Davis Hanson's piece listing all of the eupahmisms, catch phrases, and distorting diction that the media uses in regard to Israel.

1:10 PM EST: The rockets are continuing unabated. One rocket scored a direct hit on a local hospital in Nahariya, but no patients were present because everyone was trasported to an underground facility at the beginning of the war. Another rocket destroyed a house in Ma'alot, injuring 6 and causing shock to ten more residents.

On the diplomatic front, Bush and Blair just held a joint press conference about the war. I didn't get the impression that anything new was really said besides for their endorsement of some multinational force in Lebanon and the dispatching of Sec. Rice to Israel for the second time. They were very ambiguous about the timing of the proposed international force, so I will save my judgment for now. We all know how effective these forces have been in the past in helping Israel's enemies. The problem is that the leftist Israeli government themselves have endorsed this ridiculous idea so I am hard pressed to criticism Bush for his endorsement.

11:45 AM EST: Warren Christopher just came out of the woodworks to go and condemn Israel in an op-ed in today's Washington Compost. I think that completes the cycle of Clinton former cabinet members trashing Israel.

Also, there was extensive damage in Ma'alot when a rockst struck a house and injured two. Another one damaged a school.

11:30 AM: We reported earlier on Kuwaiti and other sources that believe that Nasarallah is in Damascus with Assad. The Washington Times has an article speculating on the whereabouts of Nasarallah and cites the possibility of him hiding out at the Iranian embassy in Beirut. Whether this is true or not, I have always felt that we need to crack down on espionage activities at foreign embassies.

11:10 AM EST: 3 soldiers were moderately injured by rocket attacks in the north. In regard to the long range attack on Afulah several hours ago, police have now confirmed that they were Iranian Fajir-5's that were filled with 100 kg of explosives. These things have a 120-130 km range. Miraculously, they landed in open fields, sparking massive fires but resulted in no casualties.

10:30 AM: There is one seriously wounded in the latest rocket attack on Safed, 9 others were lightly injured.

Must Read Column Update: Ralph Peters and Caroline Glick have great columns out today on the Israeli war. They have some good critique on the Israeli government's decision to overrule the IDF's request for more troops and firepower to fight an effective ground war.

10:15 AM EST: Rockets continue to rain down on Nahariya, Haifa, and Tiberious, causing extensive damage. It appears that there are fewer casualties the past two days because most people have evacuated. Meanwhile, the IAF just destroyed the rocket launchers that fired the long range missiles at Afulah an hour ago. Update: A top Hizbollah terrorist was killed in that air strike.

9:10 AM EST: There is now an intense rocket barrage under way all across the Galilee. 5 long range rockets landed near Afulah, the southern most city that they have been firing on. These rockets have a much larger payload. There have been over 60 rockets fired today in the north and about 10 in the south.

9:00 AM EST: Yesterday, there were reports that Hassan Nasarallah might have crossed over into Lebanon to meet with Assad. Debkafile reports that there seems to be more evidence of this. Iran's state news agency confirmed Nasrallah's presence in the Syrian capital for consultations. DEBKAfile's military sources note that Nasrallah crossed over despite the heavy Israeli air bombardment of Lebanese-Syrian border regions. The war conference was attended also by Hamas leaders Khaled Meshaal and Mussa Abu Marzouk as well as the Palestinian Jihad Islami chief Abdallah Ramadan Shelah. The Palestinian terrorist leaders were invited in their capacity as commanders of the second front against Israel in Gaza. Debka also reports that Nasarallah might have received the green light from Tehran to launch his Zelzal-2 rockets that have a 250 km range and can hit Tel Aviv. He is believed to have dozens of these rockets with 600 kilogram payloads. They are being hidden in buildings with strengthened floors and walls to carry their weight, their roofs removed and replaced with makeshift coverings such as branches and twigs. These coverings are dense enough to block the missiles from the view of Israeli aircraft but are easily removable to enable the rapid launch of the Zelzal from inside the building where it is stored.

For the life of me, I don't understand why Israel has never targeted all these leaders that are based in Damascus eventhough their locations have been known on and off for years. They have been planning the murder of Israelis for years in clcollaborationtion with Assad and Israel refuses to issue Assad ultimatumatum?!

8:45 AM EST: Two people were lightly to moderately wounded when four rockets fired by Hizbullah from south Lebanon Friday hit a residential neighborhood in Kiryat Shmona at around 14:30 p.m. Four vehicles caught fire and a number of people suffered shock. Additionally, rockets landed in open areas near Carmiel, Maalot and Rosh Pina, incurring no casualties. Following the rocket strikes a number of fires ignited which fire fighting crews were working to extinguish. Another rocket struck a house right near a wedding ceremony, but nobody was hurt. Despite the widespread damage, there really are a lot of miracles taking place.

In Lebanon, IDF officials now estimate that at least 200 Hizbollah terrorists were killed since the beginning of the war. This is more news that isn't reported on in the mainstream media.

8:30 AM EST: In Lebanon, it appears that the IDF has scaled back ground operations for now, but has intensified it's air campaign. More than 130 targets were struck over night in Lebanon which was the most to date. The IAF destroyed a Hizbullah base in the Bekaa Valley where long-range rockets were stored, 57 Hezbollah structures, six missile launching sites and six communication facilities.
Inside Israel, the rockets continue to fall in the north. There have been few casualties today, but there were widespread reports of damage and raging fires. The big news was that a kindergarten was struck by a kassam in the south, near Ashkelon. Two children were injured and evacuated to a local hospital, while several others were treated for shock. The IDF has been conducting major operations in the south for the past two days, but have failed to stop the rocket attacks. 9 more kassams were fired within several hours of their pullout. They have now pulled out of Gaza once again without accomplishing their mission. Go figure.
Yesterday, we reported on the media blackout of the third front in the war, namely, the West Bank. The body of the kidnapped Israel was found burt and the name of the victim was confirmed. There was also a terrorist shooting attack in Jerusalem that injured two policemen.

No comments: