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The Crisis: Gaza, Israel and Lebanon
 As the Israeli government attempts to recover its lost soldiers, strikes on civilian targets, including the strike against the Beirut international airport, are widely seen as a "disproportionate response" throughout the Arab world. The U.S. and other Israeli allies are taking a cautious approach in addressing the issue, supporting Israel's "right to defend itself" while simultaneously encouraging calm and restraint. MiddleEastWindow.com provides a series of articles (below) to explore the conflict and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Lebanon in greater depth:
From Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch has prepared a very important FAQ guide about which actions taken by Hizbollah and the Israeli government during the current crisis are illegal under international law. According to the report " The purpose is to provide analytic guidance for those who are examining the fighting as well as for the parties to the conflict and those with the capacity to influence them." by Mitchell Prothero On Wednesday, IDF strikes destroyed the bridges connecting south Lebanon to the rest of the country. By nightfall, Israeli fighters had blasted the major highways, essentially sealing off the southern third from the center of the country. Early morning Thursday, warplanes bombed Rafiq Hariri Beirut International Airport, knocking out the runways. Minutes later, an Israeli rocket struck Hezbollah's television station, al-Manar, wounding one person and sending local media into a frenzy over access to the scene that dispersed only when an IDF fighter screamed overhead and people ran for cover. And so it continued all day. by Arthur Neslen Neslen reports on the work done by Rabbi Menachem Froman to find a resolution to the most recent Gaza crisis through dialogue with Hamas representatives. The group "was to have made a collective call for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, the beginning of a process to release all Palestinian prisoners, and the immediate start of negotiations with Hamas on the framework for a peace deal based on 1967 borders." Unfortunately, hours before the announcement was to be made, two of the participants were detained by the Shin Bet and prevented from attending. by Yossi Alpher The worsening violent conflict in the Middle East is a blatant reflection of the weakness of the American partner. At the moment of truth, when Israel needs a powerful third party capable of moving things in the area, it turns out that little beyond the repetitive recitation of Bush's vision and of the dust-covered road map can be expected, which neither side intends to actually implement. |
