Israel at War Watch: Israel Agrees to 48 Hour Suspension Of Aerial Activity
Lebanese Shiite children holding anti Israel signs demonstrate in front of United Nations building in downtown Beirut, Sunday, July 30, 2006. Protesters were angry over the deaths of 56 people, more than half of them children, who were killed Sunday in an Israeli airstrike that crushed a building, the deadliest attack yet of the campaign against Hezbollah.
AP: Israel OKs suspension of aerial activity
Israel has agreed to a 48-hour suspension of aerial activity in south Lebanon while it investigates an attack on a Lebanese village that killed a number of children, U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Sunday.
The airstrike killed at least 56 Lebanese, mostly women and children, when it leveled a building where they had taken shelter. The deadliest attack in nearly three weeks of warfare forced Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to cut short a Mideast mission and increased world pressure on the United States to back an end to the fighting.
Ok, lets take a look at why Qana Village was attacked by Israel in the first place.
Cities on which rockets were fired from Qana.
Israel apologized for the deaths but blamed Hezbollah guerrillas, saying they had fired rockets into northern Israel from near the building. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the campaign to crush Hezbollah would continue, telling Rice it could last another two weeks.
“We will not stop this battle, despite the difficult incidents this morning,” he told his Cabinet after the strike, according to a participant. “If necessary, it will be broadened without hesitation.”
The fact is the Israeli Defense Forces bombing of Qana Village resulted from the continuing Hezbollah rocket barrage into northern Israeli cities. These rocket attacks originated from the region around Qana.
The Israeli Defense Force reiterates “All the villages in the area, including Qana, were warned in advance against staying in areas from which rockets are fired.”
It is regrettable that Lebanese civilians, including children are paying Hezbollah’s price for an “assymetric” war with Israel. Hopefully, during this 48 hour pause additional civilians can be escorted out of the battle zone, if Hezbollah allows them to leave.
The Israeli campaign MUST continue and with more ground troops to clear out Hezbollah strongholds – to disarm Hezbollah.
Any cease-fire without meeting this objective is a defeat for Israel.
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Israel at War Watch: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Calls For An Immediate Cease-Fire in Lebanon
Israel at War Watch: Hezbollah Cowardly Civilian Blending Questioned?
Israel at War Watch: Iran – “This War is Our Warâ€
Michael Ramirez on the Cowardice of Hezbollah
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