Israel Under Siege

(Note: this post will be updated throughout the day with breaking news and commentary)

Updated: Monday, Aug. 7th

- Rocket attacks continue, damage and injuries reported in the north with over 160 fired

- IDF commando operation under way in Tyre, Hizbollah drone shot down

- 3 KIA, 6 wounded in Bint Jabel, 3 more wounded in eastern sector, 14 terrorists killed

Sunday's Headlines

- 3 dead, over 100 injured when rockets collapsed an apartment building in Haifa
- 12 army reserves killed in major rocket attack in a village near the border
- Major commando operation in Tyre resulted in the destruction of rocket launchers, killing of terrorists, and the capture of 3, one who participated in the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, two commandos seriously wounded
- Heavy fighting in the east, 5 IDF injured, 15 terrorists killed
- Lebanon reject cease fire, Syria says its prepared for war
- IDF will not fight on to the Latani

7:00 PM EST: Did you ever wonder how Hizbollah's rockets are so accurate eventhough they are lacking any guidance system? Well, WND is reporting that there are Arab spies living in Israel who are providing Hizbollah with vital information. This enemy within lives within so called pre 67' Israel and most of them hold Israeli citizenship due to the ultra leftist policies of the traitors in the government. They report that Al Aksa Martyrs terrorists (Abbas's group) are working in conjunction with Hizbollah to inform them about the location of rocket impactions in order to perfect their accuracy in the future. How can a state survive with such an enemy within?

Meanwhile, the Lebanese government is claiming that they plan to call up 15,000 of their reserves to take control of the border. That's right! The Lebanese are going to protect Israel's border from Hizbollah. If this weren't sad and tragic it would be funny. On the ground in Lebanon today, Israel's Northern Commander is claiming that they have killed 20 terrorists, bringing the total to about 450.

2:30 PM EST: A Hizbollah drone was just shot down off the coast of Israel. The debris is being gathered by the navy. In other news, 2 more soldiers were killed and two wounded in Bint Jabeal by an anti tank missile. I'm not sure if they ever had control of the city or if they gave it up, but they certainly don't have control at this point. Unbelievable!

12:15 PM EST: Rockets continue to pummel northern Israel. Over 50 rockets have hit Kiryat Shemona resulting in widespread damage and raging fires. A school building suffered a direct hit, along with several homes. A few more civilians were injured in the latest attacks, no fatalities reported. Over 160 rockets were fired today.

Remember the fake Al Reuters picture of smoke billowing out of Beirut yesterday? Well, it looks like the Islamonazi media has struck again. Al Reuters was forced to pull another picture, this time depicting Israeli F-16's shooting missiles at Lebanon. The doctored the real pictures of the jets shooting deflecting flares to look like missiles. Michelle Malkin has the full roundup.

10:30 AM EST: There are currently 40 IDF special forces operating in the Tyre area to root out terrorist rocket launching cites. They were dropped off by helicopter on a hilltop overlooking the city and are engaged in gun battles with some local Hizbollah fighters.

In other news, DM Amir Peretz said today that if a diplomatic solution fails, then they will target rocket launchers all over Lebanon. What!? Is he saying that they currently know where more rockets are located and are not destroying them because of so called diplomacy? I think that the volume of rockets beign fired almost four weeks into the war answers that question. President Bush just held a press conference at his Texas ranch. While he expressed support for the terrorist Lebanese government and the creation of a Palestinian terrorist state, these are the convictions of the current Israeli government and Bush was merely supporting their views. In regard to Hizbollah he couldn't have been more resolute in his support for the war. So any hesitation in regard to the destruction of Hizbollah is coming from Olmert and not the White House.

8:00 AM EST: As the rockets continue to be fired at a rapid pace it is no surprise that Syria and Iran are orchestrating the attacks. DEBKA reports: "The command which coordinates the pace of those attacks is located at the Anjar base of the Syrian Army's 10th Division opposite the Lebanese town of Az Zabdani. It is manned by Iranian and Hizbollah officers, who take their orders from a Syrian military intelligence center in Damascus to which Iranian Revolutionary Guards intelligence officers are attached. It is headed by a general from one of SyriaÂ’s surface missile brigades. This joint command is provided with the most up-to-date intelligence and electronic data available to Syria on targets in Israel and IDF movements. The timing and tempo of Hizbollah rocket strikes are set according to that information." And Israel still refuses to hold Syria accountable?!

In Lebanon, there is still heavy fighting in Bint Jabel. 14 terrorists were killed while at least one soldier has been killed.

Today's column picks: Diana West, Jeff Jacoby, Mark Steyn, Jack Kelly.

6:30 AM EST: Rocket attacks have resumed during the morning hours in Israel. There were injuries reported in Kiryat Shemona, Shlomi, and Safed. Several houses sustained direct hits, but there were no fatalities so far today. Meanwhile, major parts of Haifa's main hospital are moving to underground bomb shelters. Many smaller ones have already done this, as several hospitals have already been hit.

On the ground in Lebanon another soldier was killed in Bint Jabel and 4 more were wounded. This is what happens when they pull out of the villages that they fought so hard to capture. It appears that at least a part of it is under Hizbollah's control. There were also heavy battles in the eastern town of Khule where three soldiers were wounded and several terrorists were killed.

Monday 12:00 AM EST: Overnight, the IAF resumed airstrikes on the southern part of Beirut. As we have mentioned before, you really have to start wondering how much of this is just "loud noise" on the part of the IDF. If all of the reports of bombings over the past three weeks were true then there would be no infrastructure left. This doesn't even factor all of the cites that were "bombed" 10 times. Anyway, there were also reports of heavy explosions in the Bekaa valley city of Baalbek. There was also more heavy fighting in the eastern sector village of Khule. There are no specifics about that battle yet.

5:00 PM EST: The IDF has just announced that it does not plan to fight until the Latani river! This is being reported in the backdrop of the heaviest and most deadly rocket attacks since the beginning of the war. There is no doubt that this was the decision of the Olmert government and not the IDF. So what exactly is their plan to stop the rockets and destroy Hizbollah? Surrender?

In regard to the Haifa attack that killed 3 and wounded well over 100, it is now being reported that the rockets were launched from Qana. Yep, that Qana! The IAF just destroyed one of the launchers. So much for the peaceful city of civilians.

3:20 PM EST: The big news of the hour is the massive rocket attack on Haifa after a week of relative quiet for Haifa residents. Hizbollah fired about 6 rockets from the port city of Tyre, striking seven residential blocks in different parts of Israel's third largest city. One rocket scored a direct hit on an apartment building which caused the whole structure to collapse. 3 people were killed, 11 others were seriously or moderately hurt, and over 100 more were treated for shock and light injuries. Several people were trapped under the rubble before the rescue workers arrived on the scene and cleared the area of any casualties. There were several large fires that broke out around the building and are now under control. This is more proof of the fact that there are not enough troops on the ground in Lebanon to seriously mitigate Hizbollah's rocket launching capabilities.

The attack on Haifa was the second major casualty incident today. Earlier this morning over 40 rockets struck the Kiryat Shemona area, killing 12 army reserves in an nearby village. These soldiers were just called up for duty and were gathering to participate in an army exercise. 15 more people were injured in the area. Over 170 rockets were fired into northern Israel, continuing the steady flow of Hizbollah attacks of the past five days. 58 soldiers and 36 civilians have been killed since the beginning of the war.

On the ground in Lebanon, it appears that most of the fighting is taking place in the eastern and western sectors with the center remaining relatively quiet. In the west, special forces operated south of Tyre. The troops destroyed 3 rocket launchers, a bunker, three weapons warehouses, and three cars used to transport rockets. IDF aircraft also fired missiles at a vehicle south of Tyre. The magnitude of the blast and consequent explosion indicate the presence of rockets in the car. Two soldiers were wounded, one seriously and one moderately, in the fighting south of Tyre. 3 mid level Hizbollah terrorists were captured during the raid with one of them confirmed to have been part of the Hizbollah unit that captured the two soldiers several weeks ago.

In the east, five more Golani soldiers were wounded in the city of Mabeeb during a raid on a terrorist safe house. One is in serious condition. In other news, the Syrian Foreign Minister visited Lebanon today and announced that he is prepared for a war with Israel if they are attacked. While meeting with the Lebanese FM, he also rejected calls from the French to end hostilities and agree to a cease fire. This is yet another proof of the unbelievably blatant collaboration between Syria, Lebanon, and Hizbollah. The central strategic failure of Olmert at this point is his refusal to declare war on the Lebanese government and completely stop Syria from transporting weapons. Syria (and Iran) have already declared war on Israel but their hostilities are not reciprocated.

In other news, here is a great video that won't be shown on the liberal news, which shows Hizbollah's cowardly tactics of firing out of civilian homes. The liberals are too busy creating false pictures of Israel's destruction of Lebanon. I'm sure that most people have already heard about the Reuters photographer that doctored a picture of Beirut after an IAF strike, depicting two columns of smoke billowing from the groung in perfect symmetry. The fraud was detected by the great conservative blog Little Green Footballs, along with some others. This is just one more lie exposed, along with hundreds of others from their Qana reporting. Reuters has pulled those photographs from their news site and has suspended the photographer. Here is an article that has a full roundup of this latest media lie.