As we reported yesterday, Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) fired at Israeli soldiers working along the Lebanese border in northern Israel Tuesday afternoon. Despite operating south of the internationally recognized “blue line” and thus in Israeli territory (which the United Nations confirmed today in the New York Times), Lebanese snipers shot and killed Lieutenant Colonel Dov Harari and injured Captain Ezra Lakia. It is certainly no coincidence that LAF forces targeted their fire at IDF commanding officers.

Said Captain Lakia, who is still hospitalized after being wounded by shrapnel in his chest, “the troops continued to fight though their commanding officers were absent, after Harari and I were wounded…they fought bravely.”

Captain Ezra Lakia Recovering in Haifa

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Earlier today, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) fired at Israeli soldiers working along the Lebanese border in northern Israel.  The force was in internationally recognized Israeli territory, carrying out routine maintenance which was coordinated with UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon). The soldiers were working on clearing trees near Israel’s security fence when they were struck by incoming fire from the other side of the border. As the pictures and map below show, the area between the security fence and the internationally recognized “Blue Line” (the border between Israel and Lebanon) is 115 meters, over a football field length. As the IDF were east of the Blue Line, they were clearing not in Lebanese territory and did not incite the Lebanese attack.

For Illustrative Purposes Only

Israeli soldier performing maintenance prior to LAF attack

Looking at the above 2 images, it is clear that the road in which the IDF was removing brush from is in fact east of the Lebanon border. The image of the cherrypicker above shows maintenance on Israel’s security fence, but the fence itself is not the internationally recognized “Blue Line.” The road pictured above corresponds to the road highlighted in purple on the map.

Following what Israel’s  Northern Command General called a “sniper ambush,” the IDF force immediately returned fire with light arms at a force of the LAF, and the IDF also made use of artillery fire. Several minutes later an Israel Air Force (IAF) helicopter fired at the LAF Battalion Command Center in Al-Taybeh, damaging several LAF armored combat vehicles.

In a statement, the Israeli government blamed Lebanon for provoking the clash, saying it took a particularly grave view of the action as IDF soldiers had been working in complete coordination with UN peacekeepers.

“Israel sees this incident as a violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701, one of a long line of violations, first of which is the massive arming of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon,” the statement read. “Israel views the government of Lebanon as responsible for this grave event and warns of possible consequences if these violations continue.”

Following this initial skirmish, Lebanese forces fired an RPG at an Israeli tank operating in Israeli territory. The tank returned fire. A ceasefire has been declared to avoid exacerbating tensions between the two sides in what has already been the most serious military engagement since 2006. Israel plans to file a formal complaint to the United Nations.

Dov Harari, IDF Lieutenant Colonel from Natanya, was killed in the attack. He was 45.

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Just last week we started our “Faces of the IDF” series on a positive note, highlighting the first female Arab-Israeli paratrooper. Our goal is to show that Israel truly is a “citizen’s army,” represented by men and women of great diversity.

Yesterday, July 26th, 2010, Israel lost six of its finest in a helicopter crash in Romania. The flight was part of an 11 day Israeli-Romanian joint training exercise held in a mountainous region of central Romania, designed to simulate a search and rescue operation in hostile regions. Working with Eastern European countries for training exercises is nothing new for Israel. In 2006, Israel and Romania signed a military exercise and cooperation deal which they had extended last year. The CH-53 helicopter, carrying 4 IAF personnel, 2 aerial engineers, and a Romanian Air Force Servicemen, crashed leaving no survivors.

For a country with such a small population, in which most spend years of their lives in the army, this tragedy hits especially close to home.

We would like to take this opportunity to offer our most heartfelt condolences to the Israeli and Romanian families of the victims. As part of our “Faces of the IDF” series, we honor the memories of those fallen. continue reading…

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(Communicated by the Foreign Ministry Spokesman)

Over the past few days, the State of Israel repeatedly called to the activists aboard the “Rachel Corrie” vessel, offering that they land at the port of Ashdod, where their cargo will be off-loaded, checked, and transferred to the crossing point into Gaza – accompanied by representatives of the activists and the Government of Ireland.
This offer was formulated in contacts between the Governments of Israel and Ireland. continue reading…

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Statement from COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), Policy of aid into Gaza:

The policy of transferring merchandise into the Gaza Strip is implemented in accordance with existing Israeli policy, as determined by the Cabinet’s decision of September 19, 2007, following Hamas’s hostile seizure of the Gaza Strip.

The ongoing transfer of goods into Gaza is aimed at providing for the basic needs of the residents of the territories while preventing strengthening Hamas, either militarily or governmentally. Hamas engages in hostile activity against the State of Israel and its citizens and holds an IDF soldier captive without reason or justification. continue reading…

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In Gaza, Hamas continues to govern along the extremes. Moderate voices are being drowned out by the few in power who wish to create a complete Islamic society. In a bizarre piece of legislation announced this week, men have been banned from working in women’s hair salons.

Instead of finding ways to move towards nonviolence and improve the lives of its people, they spend their time on petty measures that many would describe as an unnecessary infringement on human rights. Putting individuals out of work is the exact opposite of what Hamas was “elected” to do.

For the full story on the latest Hamas ruling, click here.

Photo provided by Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

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It was The Times that first reported the use of white phosphorus shells during Operation Cast Lead and now it is The Times that is telling the world that Israel has the ability and the morality to investigate itself and take necessary action, if required as “Israel is a nation both keen and able to hold itself to account.”

In an editorial dated February 2nd, The Times writes, “…unlike many of its neighbours, Israel has a strong domestic desire to hold itself to account. The second is that, in this most fraught and nuanced of regions, condemnatory megaphone diplomacy does not work.”

To read more, click here.

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On Wednesday, November 4, 2009 Israeli commandos seized a shipment of rockets, small arms, grenades, mortar shells, and missiles believe to be Hezbollah bound from Iran.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the IDF and the Navy for their successful operation to foil an attempt to “harm Israel’s cities.”

To take a look at the massive weapons cache discovered, click here.

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“Dear Judge Goldstone,

My name is Dr. David Zangen.  I am a consultant in Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem.  Over 50% of my patient population is Palestinian from Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.  I speak Arabic and initiated the first training program for Palestinian physicians in the field of Pediatric Endocrinology.  The trained physicians were fully respected and were included as first authors on our studies that we published in the world’s leading professional journals.

But, at the same time, I happened to be the Chief Medical Officer of my brigade during Operation Defensive Shield, in Jenin, 2002.  I was responsible for the medical treatment of our soldiers, but also for enabling the hospital in Jenin to provide full medical services to the civilian population, and I was personally involved in numerous medical treatments that Palestinians (including fighters) received from Israeli physicians. continue reading…

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Israel’s Secret War on Hezbollah

Iran’s proxy army in Lebanon will think twice before launching another round of missile attacks.

By Dr. Ronen Bergman

On Monday, a secret Hezbollah munitions bunker in South Lebanon blew up under mysterious circumstances, injuring a senior official in the organization. This is the second such incident in recent months. The first occurred on July 14, when an explosion destroyed a major Hezbollah munitions dump in the South Lebanese village of Hirbet Salim. Hezbollah immediately pointed fingers at the Mossad. Whether or not Israel was to blame, the explosion caused Hezbollah considerable discomfort by proving that it was in flagrant violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which forbids stockpiling weapons south of the Litani River. continue reading…

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