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ISRAELI OPHTHALMOLOGIST WHO STUDIED WITH ASSAD:
Dr. Rehani's department took a direct hit from a Katyusha rocket, sustaining a great deal of damage. "It is a shame that Assad cannot come and see what has happened here because of him. After all, he is an eye doctor too, no?" the doctor said. However, the department was empty, since all the patients had been transferred to a protected area in advance. The rocket that struck the ophthalmology department of the hospital in Nahariya was one of nearly 200 rockets that were fired at northern communities over the weekend. Two days ago, the Magen David Adom station in Safed was hit, and yesterday the Mizra psychiatric facility near Acre was struck as well. The patients were not harmed here either, since they had been taken to protected areas. In order to make their absorption easier, treatment teams were sent together with them. Half of the 300 patients were evacuated last night, and the rest will be evacuated this morning. Another rocket struck the security room of a home on Kibbutz Amir in the Galilee panhandle. Kibbutz member Tal Shani was seriously wounded and taken to the hospital by a Magen David Adom ambulance. "The shelter was a bit weaker than the reinforced rooms in the apartments," said a sapper who arrived at the site. "This was just a matter of luck. The fact that the safety room's window was open prevented a more severe injury to Tal, who was lying on the bed in the safety room. The shockwave and some shrapnel went outside through the window, saving his life," said one of the kibbutz's security personnel.
When NGO's Take Sides
Where the Israeli response to Iranian and Syrian-supported terror is viewed as justified, which is largely the case in the United States, support for Israel is high, allowing for the dispatch of weapons necessary to defeat Hizbullah. But in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, the dominant images are based on false allegations of "disproportionate force" and "war crimes," in which the Lebanese are portrayed as victims of Israeli aggression. The central role of Iran and Syria in this war is easy to hide, creating a further distortion in the picture reaching international eyes. Reporters and politicians posing for photo-ops on the bomb-scarred streets of Beirut do not see any sign of the weapons and training from Teheran and Damascus. Most avoid looking at the concrete slabs with air holes below their feet that protect the Hizbullah command centers. In a particularly surreal example, the BBC ran a program in which the presenter and Terje Roed-Larsen (the perpetual UN envoy remembered for promoting Jenin massacre myth in 2002) filled 30 minutes with meaningless UN-speak without mentioning Iran or Syria. This topic was only introduced when I joined the program and an Israeli voice was finally heard to counter the allegations about "collective punishment" of Lebanese civilians. In this battlefield of political warfare, a group of powerful NGOs play a central role, introducing and amplifying the demonization of Israeli self-defense. New York-based Human Rights Watch issued eight statements on the Lebanon conflict between July 13 and July 24, of which only one focuses on criticism of Hizbullah. HRW, which has been producing anti-Israel propaganda for many years (often providing a single exception as a fig leaf to mention in responses to critics), included a detailed "Q and A" report purporting to analyze violations of international law, primarily by Israel. In a detailed article written by Dr. Avi Bell and published by NGO Monitor, HRW's analysis was shown to be based on "distorted views of the underlying facts, selective omission of crucial legal issues . . . [that] mislead readers and betray the bias of the piece." HRW's campaign was joined by similar statements - some more balanced and honest than others - issued by Amnesty International, B'Tselem, Christian Aid, the International Commission of Jurists (based in Geneva), the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (based in Paris), Oxfam, Norwegian People's Aid, MIFTAH (run by Hanan Ashrawi), and others. THESE NGO superpowers have immediate access to the media and politicians. HRW and Amnesty have annual budgets of tens of millions of dollars, of which more seems to be used for promotion than for actual research. Enjoying what is know as the "halo effect," few if any journalists or diplomats bother to check the details, biases or credibility of NGO claims. When the details were examined by NGO Monitor's research staff, or Prof. Alan Dershowitz of Harvard University, the claims have often been shown to be false or unverifiable. The impact of these anti-Israel campaigns, disguised by the rhetoric of international law, are amplified by the European Union and the UN. On July 13, the EU's "Non-Governmental Platform," which is part of the massive Euromed framework, issued a "Declaration about the situation in Lebanon and Gaza." The only reference to the Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hamas and Hizbullah provides a classic example of facile moral equivalence. "Detainees and captured persons should be liberated, and we condemn and reject all acts of violence against civil populations." Having made a seemingly balanced statement, the declaration goes on to "strongly condemn . . . the Israeli aggressions which are a striking violation of International Law" and calls on the EU to "intervene quickly and firmly in order to stop the Israeli government's military operations which are threatening the entire region with its dangerous escalation." THE USE of EU funding and official frameworks under the cover of "civil society" for virulent anti-Israeli incitement is blatantly unethical. Under the guise of "peace partners" and "human rights" programs the EU, and the governments of Canada, Switzerland and Norway fund NGOs that promote the Durban strategy of painting Israel as a "racist apartheid state." The latest examples are a further step, and undermine the European desire to play a serious diplomatic role. The reduction of the role of NGOs in the political war against Israel would be an important step toward removing the justification of terror. The funders - private organizations, individuals and governments - in whose name the NGOs act need to take control to end this incitement, and halt the shameful distortion of the legitimate principles undergirding the pursuit of human rights and the advancement of international law. The writer directs the conflict management program at Bar-Ilan University and is the editor of NGO Monitor (www.ngo-monitor.org).
Apocalypse Postponed: The Process of Weakening Iran
In an interview broadcast on July 23 on the Iranian News Channel, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared: "In my opinion, Lebanon is the scene of an historic test, which will determine the future of humanity. (…)Some (…) have buried their heads in the sand. (…) For them, this is 'the Day that all things secret will be tested'." APOCALYPTIC PRESIDENT Last November, the eccentric Iranian President startled the world when he announced that during his address to the UN Assembly he suddenly felt himself surrounded by light. It wasn't the stage lighting, he said, it was light from heaven. Ahmadinejad is said to believe that he is destined to bring about the "End Times" by paving the way for the return of the Shia Muslim messiah. That the leader of Iran believes that these are the last days is a matter of personal conviction. For him to possess a military arsenal including Shibab 3 missiles with a range of 1300 kilometers which could be equipped with chemical and biological warheads at the same time as developing his country's nuclear capacity and maintaining close ties with terrorist organizations is a concern for the whole world. In the last decade, Iran has gradually increased its influence in the Middle East by training and equipping terrorist organizations operating in different countries (including Hizballah in Lebanon) and forging a strategic military alliance with Syria. (Recently the Al-Quaeda terror network has also rallied behind Hizballah's war with Israel, making the regime even more dangerous.) here is a fear on the part of both America and its Western allies as well as Sunni Muslim states that with the strengthening of Iran the balance of power in the Middle East would be tilted in favor of fundamentalist regimes and terrorist entities. That is why Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and even the PLO have condemned Hizballah, which has acted as Iran's proxy in the recent confrontation with Israel. In an interview with the Saudi government daily Okaz, the chairman of the Lebanese Al-Mustaqbal party said: „The position of the /Saudi/ kingdom, Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf states was positive, and those hypocrites /i.e. Syria and Iran/ calling for battle, are in fact the people most distant from this struggle. They want to bring the region into an all-out war." THE PRICE OF FEAR The Lebanese and the Israelis are paying a high price for Iran's regional ambitions and their own toleration of the growth of a cancerous Nasrallah abscess on their mutual border. The lesson is clear: in the Middle East, the ostrich method does not work. The terror organization exploited the weakness of the Lebanese government and Israel's political preference to maintain the relative quiet on its northern border instead of uprooting the Hizballah terror infrastructure and risking war. Some 1,200 missiles from Hizballah militants in southern Lebanon have fallen on northern Israel since 12 July killing at least 41 Israelis. Given the negative results of the Lebanese withdrawal coupled with those of the Gaza disengagement, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert's plan for further unilateral disengagement in the West Bank will be permanently postponed. As the Arab League stated, the peace process is dead, perhaps for a decade or more. Israel's massive bombardments of Lebanon put more nails on the coffin of peace. So far around 390 Lebanese, primarily civilians, have died, which will have a terrible long-term impact on Israeli-Arab relations. The UN's aid chief January Egeland has accused Israel of using excessive force, yet he also accused Hezbollah of deliberately increasing the number of civilian casualties by "cowardly blending in among women and children". The UN has launched a $150m (£81m) aid appeal for Lebanon. Mr Egeland said the money was needed to help feed and shelter about 800,000 civilians caught up in the conflict. It is estimated that 70 percent of the inhabitants of South Lebanon and 50 percent of Northern Israelis are relocated. Prime Minister Fouad Saniora bitterly complained to Condoleeza Rice during her visit to Lebanon that Israel "is taking Lebanon backward 50 years and the result will be Lebanon's destruction". Other Lebanese, however, are blaming Hizballah and its Iranian and Syrian masters for their country's disaster. Saad al-Hariri, the son of the assassinated former Prime Minister said "These adventurers put us in a difficult situation." Clearly, Nasrallah and his Teheran masters have overplayed their card. Israel rightfully took advantage of the situation obliquely threatening to enlarge the conflict attempting to obtain the cessation of logistical, financial and military support by Iran and Syria to radical Islamic groups in Lebanon and in the Palestinian territories. "Israel is weary of Hizballah's role in supplying weapons to Palestinian terrorists, like the 'Karine A' story, as well as organizing suicide attacks and attacks on Israeli border towns. It also tries to push the US and Western countries to be harder on Iran, especially with regards to its nuclear program." – says Brig. Gen. (Res.) Shalom Harari. CONTAINMENT Clearly, the West and the Sunni Arab governments are expecting that Israel's destruction or at least weakening of the Hizballah would strike a major blow against one of the most important elements of the Iranian war machine. After this step is completed, they would be in a better position to tackle the problem of the nuclear program of Iran. With attempts first to persuade Russia and China stop the flow of unsafeguarded technologies and expertise into Iran and later Europe's promise to give advanced technologies without the fuel cycle failing, there remains little else than to execute a preventive attack to stop Iran from attaining nuclear capacity. In such an event, however, the Western world would have to neutralize and weaken Iran's capacity to strike back (which includes crippling its capacity to mobilize its terror networks). Ironically, Iran and Syria might have assumed at first that by bullying Israel into a military confrontation with Hizballah they would be able to divert international attention from Iran's nuclear development, which was at the forefront of the upcoming G8 talks. Walid Jumblatt, the Lebanese Druze leader is reported to have remarked: "It is an Iranian war. Iran is telling to the United States: You want to fight me in the Gulf and destroy my nuclear program? I will hit you at home, in Israel." However, Iran and Syria have made a mistake, since, according to Prof. Gerald Steinberg from the Bar Ilan University in Israel, "The current conflict increases the attention on Iran's nuclear weapons program. Europe, seeing the attitude of Iran and Syria, is beginning to understand that the diplomatic option to evade the completion of their nuclear program is coming to a dead end." This piece ran in the last week of July in the Hugarian Business Weekly
Judgment Day, Iranian Style With the international community focused on Iran's quest to develop nuclear weapons, little attention has been paid to Tehran's preparations for a possible showdown with America and its allies. For more than a year, Iran has been preparing, together with terror organizations it controls and finances, for a confrontation code-named "Al-Qiyamah," which is Arabic for "Judgment Day." Hezbollah's unprovoked war against Israel may well be the first step in this Iranian-inspired conflict. Leading this war effort is Brigadier General, Qassam Sulaymani, who heads the Al-Quds "Jerusalem" Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Based in Tehran, the Al-Quds Force is considered responsible for having trained thousands of operatives from Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. Now Sulaymani has been tasked with coordinating and providing logistical support to the terror organizations that will execute Iran's plans for a confrontation. The plan reportedly includes suicide bombing attacks on America and British targets in the Middle East as well as on Arab and Muslim countries allied with the West. Participants in Iran's "Judgment Day" plans include Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hezbollah cells in Europe, North America, the Persian Gulf region, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the leaders of Iraq's insurgency, and the Mahdi Army of Iraq's Muqtada Al-Sadr. Iran's Revolutionary Guards also have reportedly invited operatives from the Mahdi Army to be trained in Iran and have increased its funding to Al-Sadr to over $20 million. Although Hezbollah is identified as a Lebanese terrorist organization, it was originally created in Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Representatives of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were sent to create Hezbollah cells in Lebanon and other countries with large Shi'a populations, including Western countries. Mojtaba Bigdeli, a spokesman for Hezbollah in Iran, recently threatened to carry out attacks globally. "We have 2,000 volunteers who have registered since last year. They have been trained and they can become fully armed. We are ready to dispatch them to every corner of the world to jeopardize Israel and America's interests," said Bigdeli. "We are only waiting for the Supreme Leader's green light to take action. If America wants to ignite World War Three . we welcome it." Meanwhile, Iran has accelerated its supply of arms to Hezbollah during the past few months, sending rockets, missiles, explosives, and guided missiles to the terror group's bases in Lebanon. Hezbollah's arsenal of artillery today ranges from the relatively small Katyusha rockets which carry an 18-pound warhead packed with high explosives, Arash rockets which carry 40 pounds of explosives, to the Fajr 3 "Dawn" missile which carries 100 pounds of explosives, the Fajr 5 missile, which carries 200 pounds of explosives, and the Zilzal 2 "Earthquake" missile, with a warhead of more than 1300 pounds. Hezbollah also has been equipped with four types of surface-to-surface missiles. More than 3,000 Hezbollah operatives went to Iran to be trained in military tactics, including guerrilla warfare, firing missiles, and artillery, the operation of unmanned aerial drones, conventional warfare, and marine warfare. Iran's outfitting of Hezbollah with military grade weapons over the past six years has transformed it into a militarized terror organization with offensive capabilities resembling that of a state. In tandem with its continued efforts to push for the legitimacy of its nuclear weapons program on the diplomatic front, Iran has been open about its support for Hezbollah. In a recent interview with the Arabic daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, an Iranian official stated: "Hezbollah is part of us and does not need guarantees to be certain the Islamic Republic is with it. We are standing with the Party, in spirit and physically, militarily and financially." Iran has bluntly expressed its intentions toward America and Israel. In a military parade held in September 2005, during "Sacred Defense Week," Iran flaunted the latest versions of ballistic missiles produced by its military including the Zilzal 1 and 2. The namesake of this missile is a verse in the Qur'an that tells of the final earthquake that precipitates Judgment Day. The missiles were emblazoned with the slogans: "We will trample America under our feet," "Israel should be wiped off the map," "Death to America," and "Death to Israel." Based on Iran's public statements and Hezbollah's opening salvo of rockets and missiles over Israel's northern border, this appears to be only the beginning of Iran's "Judgment Day" plans. We would be wise to take them at their word.
Apocalypse Postponed: The Process of Weakening Iran
In an interview broadcast on July 23 on the Iranian News Channel, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared: "In my opinion, Lebanon is the scene of an historic test, which will determine the future of humanity. (…)Some (…) have buried their heads in the sand. (…) For them, this is 'the Day that all things secret will be tested'." APOCALYPTIC PRESIDENT Last November, the eccentric Iranian President startled the world when he announced that during his address to the UN Assembly he suddenly felt himself surrounded by light. It wasn't the stage lighting, he said, it was light from heaven. Ahmadinejad is said to believe that he is destined to bring about the "End Times" by paving the way for the return of the Shia Muslim messiah. That the leader of Iran believes that these are the last days is a matter of personal conviction. For him to possess a military arsenal including Shibab 3 missiles with a range of 1300 kilometers which could be equipped with chemical and biological warheads at the same time as developing his country's nuclear capacity and maintaining close ties with terrorist organizations is a concern for the whole world. In the last decade, Iran has gradually increased its influence in the Middle East by training and equipping terrorist organizations operating in different countries (including Hizballah in Lebanon) and forging a strategic military alliance with Syria. (Recently the Al-Quaeda terror network has also rallied behind Hizballah's war with Israel, making the regime even more dangerous.) here is a fear on the part of both America and its Western allies as well as Sunni Muslim states that with the strengthening of Iran the balance of power in the Middle East would be tilted in favor of fundamentalist regimes and terrorist entities. That is why Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and even the PLO have condemned Hizballah, which has acted as Iran's proxy in the recent confrontation with Israel. In an interview with the Saudi government daily Okaz, the chairman of the Lebanese Al-Mustaqbal party said: „The position of the /Saudi/ kingdom, Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf states was positive, and those hypocrites /i.e. Syria and Iran/ calling for battle, are in fact the people most distant from this struggle. They want to bring the region into an all-out war." THE PRICE OF FEAR The Lebanese and the Israelis are paying a high price for Iran's regional ambitions and their own toleration of the growth of a cancerous Nasrallah abscess on their mutual border. The lesson is clear: in the Middle East, the ostrich method does not work. The terror organization exploited the weakness of the Lebanese government and Israel's political preference to maintain the relative quiet on its northern border instead of uprooting the Hizballah terror infrastructure and risking war. Some 1,200 missiles from Hizballah militants in southern Lebanon have fallen on northern Israel since 12 July killing at least 41 Israelis. Given the negative results of the Lebanese withdrawal coupled with those of the Gaza disengagement, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert's plan for further unilateral disengagement in the West Bank will be permanently postponed. As the Arab League stated, the peace process is dead, perhaps for a decade or more. Israel's massive bombardments of Lebanon put more nails on the coffin of peace. So far around 390 Lebanese, primarily civilians, have died, which will have a terrible long-term impact on Israeli-Arab relations. The UN's aid chief January Egeland has accused Israel of using excessive force, yet he also accused Hezbollah of deliberately increasing the number of civilian casualties by "cowardly blending in among women and children". The UN has launched a $150m (£81m) aid appeal for Lebanon. Mr Egeland said the money was needed to help feed and shelter about 800,000 civilians caught up in the conflict. It is estimated that 70 percent of the inhabitants of South Lebanon and 50 percent of Northern Israelis are relocated. Prime Minister Fouad Saniora bitterly complained to Condoleeza Rice during her visit to Lebanon that Israel "is taking Lebanon backward 50 years and the result will be Lebanon's destruction". Other Lebanese, however, are blaming Hizballah and its Iranian and Syrian masters for their country's disaster. Saad al-Hariri, the son of the assassinated former Prime Minister said "These adventurers put us in a difficult situation." Clearly, Nasrallah and his Teheran masters have overplayed their card. Israel rightfully took advantage of the situation obliquely threatening to enlarge the conflict attempting to obtain the cessation of logistical, financial and military support by Iran and Syria to radical Islamic groups in Lebanon and in the Palestinian territories. "Israel is weary of Hizballah's role in supplying weapons to Palestinian terrorists, like the 'Karine A' story, as well as organizing suicide attacks and attacks on Israeli border towns. It also tries to push the US and Western countries to be harder on Iran, especially with regards to its nuclear program." – says Brig. Gen. (Res.) Shalom Harari. CONTAINMENT Clearly, the West and the Sunni Arab governments are expecting that Israel's destruction or at least weakening of the Hizballah would strike a major blow against one of the most important elements of the Iranian war machine. After this step is completed, they would be in a better position to tackle the problem of the nuclear program of Iran. With attempts first to persuade Russia and China stop the flow of unsafeguarded technologies and expertise into Iran and later Europe's promise to give advanced technologies without the fuel cycle failing, there remains little else than to execute a preventive attack to stop Iran from attaining nuclear capacity. In such an event, however, the Western world would have to neutralize and weaken Iran's capacity to strike back (which includes crippling its capacity to mobilize its terror networks). Ironically, Iran and Syria might have assumed at first that by bullying Israel into a military confrontation with Hizballah they would be able to divert international attention from Iran's nuclear development, which was at the forefront of the upcoming G8 talks. Walid Jumblatt, the Lebanese Druze leader is reported to have remarked: "It is an Iranian war. Iran is telling to the United States: You want to fight me in the Gulf and destroy my nuclear program? I will hit you at home, in Israel." However, Iran and Syria have made a mistake, since, according to Prof. Gerald Steinberg from the Bar Ilan University in Israel, "The current conflict increases the attention on Iran's nuclear weapons program. Europe, seeing the attitude of Iran and Syria, is beginning to understand that the diplomatic option to evade the completion of their nuclear program is coming to a dead end." This piece ran in the last week of July in the Hugarian Business Weekly
Judgment Day, Iranian Style With the international community focused on Iran's quest to develop nuclear weapons, little attention has been paid to Tehran's preparations for a possible showdown with America and its allies. For more than a year, Iran has been preparing, together with terror organizations it controls and finances, for a confrontation code-named "Al-Qiyamah," which is Arabic for "Judgment Day." Hezbollah's unprovoked war against Israel may well be the first step in this Iranian-inspired conflict. Leading this war effort is Brigadier General, Qassam Sulaymani, who heads the Al-Quds "Jerusalem" Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Based in Tehran, the Al-Quds Force is considered responsible for having trained thousands of operatives from Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. Now Sulaymani has been tasked with coordinating and providing logistical support to the terror organizations that will execute Iran's plans for a confrontation. The plan reportedly includes suicide bombing attacks on America and British targets in the Middle East as well as on Arab and Muslim countries allied with the West. Participants in Iran's "Judgment Day" plans include Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hezbollah cells in Europe, North America, the Persian Gulf region, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the leaders of Iraq's insurgency, and the Mahdi Army of Iraq's Muqtada Al-Sadr. Iran's Revolutionary Guards also have reportedly invited operatives from the Mahdi Army to be trained in Iran and have increased its funding to Al-Sadr to over $20 million. Although Hezbollah is identified as a Lebanese terrorist organization, it was originally created in Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Representatives of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were sent to create Hezbollah cells in Lebanon and other countries with large Shi'a populations, including Western countries. Mojtaba Bigdeli, a spokesman for Hezbollah in Iran, recently threatened to carry out attacks globally. "We have 2,000 volunteers who have registered since last year. They have been trained and they can become fully armed. We are ready to dispatch them to every corner of the world to jeopardize Israel and America's interests," said Bigdeli. "We are only waiting for the Supreme Leader's green light to take action. If America wants to ignite World War Three . we welcome it." Meanwhile, Iran has accelerated its supply of arms to Hezbollah during the past few months, sending rockets, missiles, explosives, and guided missiles to the terror group's bases in Lebanon. Hezbollah's arsenal of artillery today ranges from the relatively small Katyusha rockets which carry an 18-pound warhead packed with high explosives, Arash rockets which carry 40 pounds of explosives, to the Fajr 3 "Dawn" missile which carries 100 pounds of explosives, the Fajr 5 missile, which carries 200 pounds of explosives, and the Zilzal 2 "Earthquake" missile, with a warhead of more than 1300 pounds. Hezbollah also has been equipped with four types of surface-to-surface missiles. More than 3,000 Hezbollah operatives went to Iran to be trained in military tactics, including guerrilla warfare, firing missiles, and artillery, the operation of unmanned aerial drones, conventional warfare, and marine warfare. Iran's outfitting of Hezbollah with military grade weapons over the past six years has transformed it into a militarized terror organization with offensive capabilities resembling that of a state. In tandem with its continued efforts to push for the legitimacy of its nuclear weapons program on the diplomatic front, Iran has been open about its support for Hezbollah. In a recent interview with the Arabic daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, an Iranian official stated: "Hezbollah is part of us and does not need guarantees to be certain the Islamic Republic is with it. We are standing with the Party, in spirit and physically, militarily and financially." Iran has bluntly expressed its intentions toward America and Israel. In a military parade held in September 2005, during "Sacred Defense Week," Iran flaunted the latest versions of ballistic missiles produced by its military including the Zilzal 1 and 2. The namesake of this missile is a verse in the Qur'an that tells of the final earthquake that precipitates Judgment Day. The missiles were emblazoned with the slogans: "We will trample America under our feet," "Israel should be wiped off the map," "Death to America," and "Death to Israel." Based on Iran's public statements and Hezbollah's opening salvo of rockets and missiles over Israel's northern border, this appears to be only the beginning of Iran's "Judgment Day" plans. We would be wise to take them at their word.
Israel agrees to halt Israel Air Force activity for 48 hrs As the US Secretary of State left Israel, the Israeli government agreed to suspend air force activity in Lebanon for the next 48 hours. The agreement is meant to allow Lebanese to leave their homes and to allow investigations into the deaths that followed IAF bombing in Qana. Meanwhile, the US State Department official said in his announcement that the Israeli government has agreed that the IAF will only act in the case of a target that is actively preparing to launch an attack against Israel. In the words of news analyst Dr. Aaron Lerner, "Israel has not only agreed to grant Hezbollah 48 hours to rearm from Syria but also has graciously agreed that Israeli forces currently operating inside Lebanon will be denied air support - even if air support is a matter of life or death for the IDF ground forces…Simply put: the currently serving Olmert Administration, in the wake of an incident that was a scenario that was well within the realm of probability may have sacrificed today the lives of countless Israeli civilians and soldiers on the altar of satisfying Secretary of State Rice and President Bush."
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