Israeli planes hit targets in southern Lebanon on Monday after Hezbollah guerrillas blasted an Israeli tank and injured three Israeli soldiers, breaking a brief respite in 20 days of fighting.
Before the fighting resumed, pickup trucks and cars loaded with people streamed north as thousands of civilians trapped in south Lebanon's war zone for three weeks took advantage of the brief lull to escape.
Israel had said, in announcing the halt to air strikes earlier Monday, that it would suspend that pledge to end air strikes for 48-hours depending on "operational developments" in Lebanon. After Hezbollah guerrillas hit an Israeli tank near Taibeh with an anti-tank missile, Israel said it carried out the air strikes to protect its ground troops.
This new round of strikes was not without yet another incident sure to inflame the Lebanese:
In a second airstrike around the port city of Tyre, Israel accidentally killed a Lebanese soldier when it hit a car that it believed was carrying a senior Hezbollah official, the Israeli army said. Lebanese security officials said the soldier was killed by a rocket strike from a pilotless drone aircraft.
The Israeli army justified the action, saying the leader believed to have been in the car was a threat to Israel. Instead, the car was carrying a Lebanese army officer and soldiers.
"They were, of course, not the targets and we regret the incident," the army said.
The 48-hour standdown was clearly interpreted by Hezbo as a sign of weakness, which is why Israel is just going to have to ignore the outcries of dummies like Kofi Annan and his All-Girl UN Chorus and get the job done.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment