26 juni 2011
Why is Israel conducting unprecedented drills?
Israel continues to implement a plan set up in 2004 by Ariel Sharon, to change the Israeli army from huge and heavily armed to a smaller and smarter one.
Sharon had learned lessons from the third Gulf war when the US army, thanks to long-range missiles, managed to destroy a huge Iraqi army counting up to five million soldiers in a blink of the eye.
Since that time, Israel has been seeking to completely outdo armies of the Arab countries, or “to remain the strongest country military wise 10 kilometers from Jerusalem as the crow flies,” to quote Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak.
In fact, Israel has become a dangerous military arsenal in the Middle East despite the small size of its army which counts not more than 125,000 troops. Israel is capable, though, of destroying and even exterminating states and complete peoples either by nuclear warheads, or internationally banned weapons such as biological, chemical, hydrogen, and atomic weapons.
Weirdly, the UN and the international human rights groups and committees pay very little attention to that if at all, despite all reports by people of expertise which explain that the Israeli nuclear reactor in Dimona, built in 1950s, is too old and might result in leakage.
Over the past few days, Israel has conducted unprecedented major military and home front drills. The immediate question that pops in is what exactly is Israel doing and why?
The drills are all about the home front, not the army, and Israel seeks to achieve three goals:
The first goal is to maintain a small and smart army instead of a large and heavily armed one. This army will operate in the future inside Arab cities rather than in the Negev desert, the Golan Heights, or the Jordan Valley. This is to keep the home front and the Jewish people steadfast. The battle inside the enemy’s land will be fought only by the air force, the navy, the submarines, and long-range missiles.
Secondly, Israel wants to train the home front and the different cities to remain steadfast and to stop complaining as they used to do. Previously, Israeli forces’ defeat started from the home front which exerted huge pressure only two weeks after any war crying and complaining, especially when the country was attacked by missiles. One goal of the recent drills was to train the public in Israel to tolerate a couple weeks more until the army can attack as much targets as possible from the air.
The last goal Israel sought to achieve was to prepare correspondents for the coming stage, given that current wars are being fought live, which means cameras and waves are sometimes more influential than ministers of defense and tanks.
Israel is still a big fan of what the US president did to the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, to a degree that Israel will attempt a similar adventure to satisfy the public.
The author is Ma'an News Agency's editor in chief.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=399700
30 oct 2012, 11:32 , Respect
Maria 27 juni 2011
Israel Threatens Invasion Of Southern Lebanon
The Israeli Radio reported that a number of Israeli security and military officials threatened that Israel could invade southern Lebanon should the security situation in villages there continue to deteriorate.
The officials claimed that the Lebanon-based Hezbollah party “transformed villages in southern Lebanon into explosive areas”, and that the party deployed combat materials and weapons in the villages and installed bases and headquarters.
Israeli paper, Haaretz, reported that Lieutenant Avi Kochavi, head of the Israeli Military Intelligence Division, recently visited the United States and held talks with American officials informing them that Syria intends to deliver advanced weaponry to Hezbollah should the popular protests against the regime of President Bashar Assad manage to topple him.
Haaretz said that Kochavi’s visit and talks with U.S. officials were discreetly held in Washington three weeks ago, and that he met with ambassadors of Security Council member countries in New York.
The talks focused on the situation in Syria and Lebanon, while Kochavi told the officials that Israel fears that the collapse of Al Assad regime could give Hezbollah the chance to obtain advanced Syrian army weapons.
Furthermore, Kochavi told UN officials in New York, and member countries of the Security Council that Syria helped in organizing protests, and was involved in the attempts to cross into the Golan Heights during the Nakba and Naksa commemoration. (Israel’s occupation of historic Palestine in 1948 and its occupation of the rest of the Arab and Palestinian territories in 1967.
Haaretz added that Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, had repeatedly warned that should Hezbollah obtain weaponry that “could break the security balance in the region”, Israel will likely carry out a military operation to prevent the transfer to weapons from Syria to Hezbollah.
http://fwd4.me/04xf
Why is Israel conducting unprecedented drills?
Israel continues to implement a plan set up in 2004 by Ariel Sharon, to change the Israeli army from huge and heavily armed to a smaller and smarter one.
Sharon had learned lessons from the third Gulf war when the US army, thanks to long-range missiles, managed to destroy a huge Iraqi army counting up to five million soldiers in a blink of the eye.
Since that time, Israel has been seeking to completely outdo armies of the Arab countries, or “to remain the strongest country military wise 10 kilometers from Jerusalem as the crow flies,” to quote Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak.
In fact, Israel has become a dangerous military arsenal in the Middle East despite the small size of its army which counts not more than 125,000 troops. Israel is capable, though, of destroying and even exterminating states and complete peoples either by nuclear warheads, or internationally banned weapons such as biological, chemical, hydrogen, and atomic weapons.
Weirdly, the UN and the international human rights groups and committees pay very little attention to that if at all, despite all reports by people of expertise which explain that the Israeli nuclear reactor in Dimona, built in 1950s, is too old and might result in leakage.
Over the past few days, Israel has conducted unprecedented major military and home front drills. The immediate question that pops in is what exactly is Israel doing and why?
The drills are all about the home front, not the army, and Israel seeks to achieve three goals:
The first goal is to maintain a small and smart army instead of a large and heavily armed one. This army will operate in the future inside Arab cities rather than in the Negev desert, the Golan Heights, or the Jordan Valley. This is to keep the home front and the Jewish people steadfast. The battle inside the enemy’s land will be fought only by the air force, the navy, the submarines, and long-range missiles.
Secondly, Israel wants to train the home front and the different cities to remain steadfast and to stop complaining as they used to do. Previously, Israeli forces’ defeat started from the home front which exerted huge pressure only two weeks after any war crying and complaining, especially when the country was attacked by missiles. One goal of the recent drills was to train the public in Israel to tolerate a couple weeks more until the army can attack as much targets as possible from the air.
The last goal Israel sought to achieve was to prepare correspondents for the coming stage, given that current wars are being fought live, which means cameras and waves are sometimes more influential than ministers of defense and tanks.
Israel is still a big fan of what the US president did to the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, to a degree that Israel will attempt a similar adventure to satisfy the public.
The author is Ma'an News Agency's editor in chief.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=399700
30 oct 2012, 11:32 , Respect
Maria 27 juni 2011
Israel Threatens Invasion Of Southern Lebanon
The Israeli Radio reported that a number of Israeli security and military officials threatened that Israel could invade southern Lebanon should the security situation in villages there continue to deteriorate.
The officials claimed that the Lebanon-based Hezbollah party “transformed villages in southern Lebanon into explosive areas”, and that the party deployed combat materials and weapons in the villages and installed bases and headquarters.
Israeli paper, Haaretz, reported that Lieutenant Avi Kochavi, head of the Israeli Military Intelligence Division, recently visited the United States and held talks with American officials informing them that Syria intends to deliver advanced weaponry to Hezbollah should the popular protests against the regime of President Bashar Assad manage to topple him.
Haaretz said that Kochavi’s visit and talks with U.S. officials were discreetly held in Washington three weeks ago, and that he met with ambassadors of Security Council member countries in New York.
The talks focused on the situation in Syria and Lebanon, while Kochavi told the officials that Israel fears that the collapse of Al Assad regime could give Hezbollah the chance to obtain advanced Syrian army weapons.
Furthermore, Kochavi told UN officials in New York, and member countries of the Security Council that Syria helped in organizing protests, and was involved in the attempts to cross into the Golan Heights during the Nakba and Naksa commemoration. (Israel’s occupation of historic Palestine in 1948 and its occupation of the rest of the Arab and Palestinian territories in 1967.
Haaretz added that Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, had repeatedly warned that should Hezbollah obtain weaponry that “could break the security balance in the region”, Israel will likely carry out a military operation to prevent the transfer to weapons from Syria to Hezbollah.
http://fwd4.me/04xf
- 17 juni 2011
Israeli troops cross into Lebanon
Israeli troops have once again crossed into Lebanon in a failed kidnapping operation inside the country in clear defiance of a UN Security Council resolution.
Israeli troops crossed the border and entered the village of Kfar Shouba on Friday to abduct Lebanese Shepherd Ala Nabaa, a Press TV correspondent reported, adding that the Lebanese national; however, managed to escape.
Meanwhile, four Israeli warplanes violated Lebanese airspace, flying over different parts of the country for more than two hours, a statement released by the Lebanese military read on Friday.
The latest intrusion comes one day after an Israeli reconnaissance plane entered Lebanon's southern airspace and remained in Lebanese territory for almost 24 hours.
Israel violates Lebanon's airspace on an almost daily basis, claiming the flights serve surveillance purposes.
The Lebanese government, the Hezbollah resistance movement, and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, have repeatedly cited Israel's air surveillance flights over Lebanon as flagrant violations of UN resolution 1701 and the country's sovereignty.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended Israel's war against Lebanon in 2006, calls on Israel to respect Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/185160.html
30 oct 2012, 11:31 , Respect -
Maria 30 oct 2012, 11:31 , Respect -
Maria 18 juni 2011
Army raids West Bank village
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- Israel's army raided Bil’in, west of Ramallah, and fired tear gas, said Rateb Abu Rahmah, spokesman of the popular committee against the wall in the village.
Abu Rahmah said troops intensively fired gas canisters and many of the residents were hurt after inhaling gas while wide areas of farmlands near the houses were set on fire.
The activist denounced the raid, saying it amounted to a violation of basic rights. It also comes within the context of repeated Israeli provocations carried out against the village, he added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=397758
30 oct 2012, 11:31 , Respect -
Maria 30 oct 2012, 11:31 , Respect -
Maria 19 juni 2011
Israeli forces enter Tulkarem
TULKAREM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces entered the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem Sunday and searched students at the Kadoorie Technical University.
At least four jeeps were stationed at the entrance to the university and Israeli officers inspected students' ID cards around the campus, witnesses said.
A Ma'an cameraman was among those stopped. He said some students were detained for more than 30 minutes and subjected to body searches.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said that Israeli police forces were operating in the area.
An Israeli police spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces were seen heading towards Shweika in northern Tulkarem.
No detentions were reported.
http://fwd4.me/04H7
30 oct 2012, 11:31 , Respect -
Maria 19 juni 2011
Israeli forces shoot, injure man near Qalqiliya
QALQILIYA (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shot and injured a young man near a military base east of Qalqiliya on Sunday afternoon, accusing the man of running at soldiers with a knife.
Eyewitnesses said the man was shot and detained by soldiers.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the man, identified by Palestinian officials as 22-year-old Mahdi Abdul-Lateef Muhammad Amir, ran towards the DCO, District Coordination Office, holding a knife.
"He was yelling 'Allahu Akbar' [God is Great]," she said.
According to the spokeswoman warning shots were fired, then shots to the lower legs, as Amir breached the cordon around the military base.
She said he was evacuated to a hospital in Israel.
http://fwd4.me/04Hs
30 oct 2012, 11:31 , Respect -
Maria 30 oct 2012, 11:31 , Respect -
Maria 30 oct 2012, 11:31 , Respect -
Maria 30 oct 2012, 11:31 , Respect -
Maria 20 juni 2011
Israeli tanks invade south of Gaza, destroy farms
Al Qassam website- Gaza- Israeli occupation forces supported with number of tanks and military bulldozers have invaded into the Palestinian farmlands south of Al Maghazi refugee camp at the Central area of Gaza Strip on Monday June 20, 2011.
Eyewitnesses said that more than 6 military bulldozers, four “Mirkava” tanks and one troop carrier have invaded the area suddenly, moving from Abu Safia military Gate south of the refugee camp under heavy gunfire at the Palestinian residents’ homes, no injuries reported.
Locals in the area reported that the invading vehicles stationed at the west of the Abu Safia military site, meanwhile, the Israeli occupation forces conducted a destructive campaign targeting the farmlands and properties of the Palestinian farmers what pushed them to leave their farms and homes in the area.
http://fwd4.me/04KV
30 oct 2012, 11:31 , Respect -
Maria 30 oct 2012, 11:32 , Respect -
Maria 30 oct 2012, 11:32 , Respect -
Maria 22 juni 2011
Air strike hits central Gaza overnight
TEL AVIV (Ma'an) -- The Israeli military reported Wednesday morning the launch of an air strike on the central Gaza Strip overnight.
According to a statement, the airforce targeted a "terror tunnel," which it said could have been used "to infiltrate into Israel and execute terror attacks."
Medics have not reported injuries.
The military said that the strike - the first since early April - was "in response to two Qassam rockets that hit the Eshkol regional council" overnight.
Eshkol borders Gaza from the center to the south. The military did not specify where the projectiles landed, and no group in Gaza has claimed to have launched any attack against Israeli military or civilian target as of press time.
Concluding its statement, the Israeli military said it "holds the Hamas terrorist organization solely responsible for maintaining the calm in the Gaza Strip and for any terrorist activity emanating from it. The [army] will also continue to respond harshly to any attempt to use terror against the State of Israel."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=398733
Israeli warplanes raid central Gaza
DEIR AL-BALAH, (PIC)-- Israeli warplanes raided Palestinian farmland to the east of the central Gaza Strip town of Deir Al-Balah at dawn Wednesday with no casualties reported.
The PIC reporter said that Israeli F-16s fired a missiles at the agricultural land causing vast destruction and a big hole.
The Israeli army claimed that the strike targeted a tunnel that was being built for resistance fighters to infiltrate into military positions and carry out a commando operation.
http://fwd4.me/04Vh
Israeli cabinet replicates war situation
The Israeli security cabinet has been relocated to practice emergency situations in preparation for a possible war during the annual “Turning Point” maneuvers.
The five-day exercises began on Sunday and will end on Thursday, Israeli media reported.
The Israeli cabinet will hold the drill in an underground base that has been recently built in al-Quds (Jerusalem) mountains.
Israel's Homeland Security Minister Matan Vilnai said earlier this week that the drill is mainly designed for the cabinet ministers “so that we might coordinate among ourselves.”
The Israeli finance ministry has also been relocated to another place to continue its job in the simulated war situation.
On Tuesday, the national economic forum for times of emergency was held in the presence of Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, as part of the weeklong drill.
Some 80 municipalities will participate in the exercises, along with military, police, firefighters and emergency services.
On Wednesday, there will be two sirens during which Israelis will be asked to enter their pre-selected protected spaces.
For the first three days this week, various government bodies and emergency services practiced their readiness.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/185761.html
30 oct 2012, 11:32 , Respect -
Maria 22 juni 2011
Night clashes in Silwan
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces fired rubber bullets and gas canisters at Palestinian young men in Silwan town, south of the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, who responded throwing stones at the soldiers.
The clashes on Tuesday night started when an Israeli patrol got near to the sit-in tent in the Bustan suburb and the young men threw stones and empty bottles on it, local sources said, adding that the soldiers summoned reinforcements and fired stun grenades and gas bombs at the youth.
The sources said that an Israeli special unit tried to sneak into the Bustan suburb through the northern entrance but was forced to retreat because of the violent confrontations.
They said that a number of citizens were treated for breathing problems as a result of the extensive use of teargas on the part of the Israeli soldiers.
http://fwd4.me/04Vr
30 oct 2012, 11:32 , Respect -
Maria 22 juni 2011
IOF soldiers destroy coal installations in Jenin
JENIN, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) destroyed on Wednesday 20 installations for the production of coal in Barta’a al-Sharqiya village located behind the separation wall to the southwest of Jenin.
Eyewitnesses said that IOF soldiers stormed the village and razed the installations owned by nine citizens without prior notice.
The village is 30 kilometers away from Jenin and is surrounded by the racist wall on its southern and eastern areas that link it to the West Bank.
The IOF is threatening to demolish 180 installations in the village and is constantly harassing the inhabitants in a bid to push them into leaving it.
http://fwd4.me/04XC