News Brief – August 3, 2006
Three Israeli soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, the army said as losses mounted on both sides.
Israeli Army Radio said that one soldier was killed by a sniper while the other two were killed when an anti-tank missile hit the house they were occupying in the town of Aita al-Shaab."
The army spokeswoman said 25 soldiers were also wounded from gunfire or shrapnel in clashes in Lebanon the same day.
Moreover, Israeli news reports indicated that a
further three Israeli soldiers were killed the following Wednesday when their Merkeva tank was hit by missiles 4km inside the Lebanon border.
If true it means that the Israeli advance has made little headway into Lebanon and that another Merkeva tank has been lost in the ongoing campaign.
The Israeli soldiers were killed in what is proving to be the Zionist states toughest military challenge yet in its brief but bloody history.
Already Israel has announced the deaths of a further 4 soldiers killed in action in southern Lebanon this Thursday. Although Israel also announced that 4 Hezbollahs fighters were also killed, the deaths of the Israeli soldiers represent yet more casualties in what is becoming a brutal showdown with Hezbollah.
Earlier this week Israel’s premier Ehud Olmert announced that Hezbollah’s infrastructure had been “completely destroyed". In respose, Hezbollah fired over two hundred rockets into Israel immediately after Olmert’s threat.
Despite Olmert’s claim, another 6 Israeli civilians have been killed this Thursday due to Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel.
Meanwhile, as the conflict intensifies there has been a sharp escalation in the war of words between the two sides.
On the one hand Nasrallah threatened to hit Tel Aviv on Thursday. And so far Nasrallah has been as good as his word on all his threats to Israel.
"If you bomb our capital Beirut, we will bomb the capital of your usurping entity... We will bomb Tel Aviv," he said in a taped televised speech.
However his threat was accompanied by an offer to stop rocket attacks on northern Israel in return for an end to Israeli airstrikes throughout Lebanon.
Observers see it as highly unlikely that Israel will take up Nasrallah’s offer.
On the other hand, Israel has threatened to widen its campaign. Although it did not specify where it would take further offensive action, Israel is known to view Syria and Iran as being behind Hezbollah.
For Israel to take on Iran and Syria however, it would require direct US military intervention. An unlikely development at this moment, according to most observers, but not totally beyond the bounds of possibility, particularly if US interests or lives were directly threatened by Hezbollah.
One way or another, don't be surprised if America and/or its allies find themselves getting sucked into this maelstrom and and ultimately end fighting on Israel's behalf.
Last updated 05/08/2006
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