No surprise here. In typical fashion any ceasefire is nothing but lip service:
Irish Examiner:
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=12554642&p=yz554688&n=12554730&x=
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/19/mideast.main/index.html
http://www.eitb24.com/portal/eitb24/noticia/en/international-news/mid-east-crisis-ceasefire-in-critical-situation?itemId=B24_5099&cl=%2Feitb24%2Finternacional&idioma=en
Irish Examiner:
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=12554642&p=yz554688&n=12554730&x=
CNN:19/08/2006 - 1:18:47 PM
Hezbollah battles commandos as ceasefire violated
Hezbollah fighters battled Israeli commandos who launched a raid near the militants' stronghold inside Lebanon early today, killing one soldier, in the first large-scale violation of the ceasefire.
The battle outside the eastern town of Baalbek sparked a Lebanese complaint to the United Nations over Israel's violation. Witnesses said Israeli missiles destroyed a bridge during the commando raid - the first such airstrike since the ceasefire began.
But there was no immediate escalation in the fighting, raising hopes for the six-day-old truce as the United Nations pleaded for nations to contribute to an international peacekeeping force due to patrol southern Lebanon.
The first small contingent of reinforcements for the peacekeeping force - 49 French soldiers - landed today at the southern Lebanese coastal town of Naqoura, with 200 more expected next week.
But Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said more countries need to step forward to fill out a vanguard of 3,500 troops that the UN wants on the ground by August 28 to help ensure the truce between Israel and Lebanon holds.
Under the ceasefire terms, Israel has said it will conduct defensive operations if its troops are threatened. But the pre-dawn raid today took place far from positions of Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said the assault aimed to disrupt arms smuggling to Hezbollah from Iran and Syria and that such operations would continue until "an effective monitoring unit" was in place to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its arsenal.
"If the Syrians and Iran continue to arm Hezbollah in violation of the (UN ceasefire) resolution, Israel is entitled to act to defend the principle of the arms embargo," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "Once the Lebanese army and the international forces are active... then such Israeli activity will become superfluous."
Such a bold operation, risking the ceasefire, suggested Israel was going after a major target near Baalbek - perhaps to rescue two Israeli soldiers snatched by Hezbollah on July 12, or to try to capture a senior guerrilla official to trade for the soldiers.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/19/mideast.main/index.html
eitb - Spain:Lebanon warns over Israeli raid
Saturday, August 19, 2006; Posted: 12:19 p.m. EDT (16:19 GMT)
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Lebanon's defense minister is threatening to halt the deployment of troops to the country's south after Israeli commandos carried out a raid deep inside the country on Saturday.
An adviser to Lebanon's Defense Minister Elias Murr told CNN the defense minister would consider the move if the United Nations did not ensure Israel was abiding by U.N. Resolution 1701.
Hezbollah was sticking by the cease-fire, he added.
The Israel Defense Forces, however, defended the operation, saying it was a successful move aimed at preventing and disrupting the transfer of weapons from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah.
This comes as a U.N. delegation on Saturday met with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and other senior Lebanese officials "to discuss the means of implementing Security Council resolution 1701 for a long-term cease-fire between Lebanon and Israel."
One Israeli officer was killed and two were wounded in the Saturday raid carried out by an elite unit in Bekaa Valley, the IDF said.
After successfully landing two vehicles by helicopter in Bouday, located in the Bekaa Valley, IDF forces reportedly clashed with Hezbollah forces, a Baalbeck Civil Defense official said.
The fighting resulted in Israeli airstrikes in the area, located about 15 miles from the Lebanese-Syrian border -- a long-time Hezbollah stronghold.
The official said the clashes did not result in any Lebanese army or Hezbollah casualties.
Cease-fire agreement
This latest development comes amid a U.N.-backed cease-fire agreement that outlines the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon's southern region -- the former stronghold of the militant group Hezbollah.
Israel says arms transfers to Hezbollah are a violation of 1701 and Israel is entitled to respond to them.
"The cease-fire is based on (U.N. resolution) 1701 which calls for an international arms embargo against Hezbollah," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Saturday.
Earlier, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora condemned the Israeli operation conducted in southern Lebanon, calling it a violation of the U.N.-sanctioned cease-fire, officials with the prime minister's office said.
Meanwhile, Hassan Hobballaha, a Hezbollah member of the Lebanese Parliament, called the move "proof that the Israeli enemy is still carrying on with its aggression...and that it doesn't care about the resolutions taken by the U.N. Security Council.
"As we have stressed before, it is attacking Lebanon and has greediness in this country," he said. "Therefore we do not consider what happened as new for the enemy, but the resistance is still insisting that it will fight against any Israeli attempt."
Lebanon approves deployment
The Lebanese Cabinet approved the deployment of 15,000 soldiers to the border between Lebanon and Israel, beginning Thursday.
The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon said on Saturday the process of troop transition in southern Lebanon continued.
"The Lebanese Armed Forces completed yesterday the process of deployment inside the territory vacated earlier by the IDF in the general areas of Cheeba, Hasbaiya, Kafer Chouba, Kafer Hamman, Rachaya, Hebbariye and Al Fradis.
"The Israeli Army withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese Army shall continue in the coming days in accordance with the plan and timeline agreed during a trilateral meeting of the Force Commander UNIFIL and the senior representatives of the Lebanese and Israeli Army. "
# In figures updated Saturday, Lebanese Internal Security Forces reported 1,069 people were killed in Lebanon during the 34-day conflict with Israel, with another 4,055 injured. Israel has put its death toll from fighting and rocket attacks at 159.
http://www.eitb24.com/portal/eitb24/noticia/en/international-news/mid-east-crisis-ceasefire-in-critical-situation?itemId=B24_5099&cl=%2Feitb24%2Finternacional&idioma=en
Ceasefire in critical situation
08/19/2006
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora accused Israel of a "flagrant violation of the cessation of hostilities announced by the Security Council," and said he would take the issue up with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Lebanon threatened on Saturday to halt troop deployments to the south of the country after Israeli commandos struck deep in the Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, putting the six-day cease-fire with Hezbollah guerrillas to a critical test .
Israel said the raid was launched to stop arms smuggling to the militant Shiite fighters, but Lebanon said the operation violated the U.N. truce agreement. One Israeli officer was killed fighting Hezbollah guerrillas, and two were wounded, one seriously.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora accused Israel of a "flagrant violation of the cessation of hostilities announced by the Security Council," and said he would take the issue up with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Defense Minister Elias Murr threatened to halt deployment of Lebanese troops if the United Nations did not intervene against Israel. "If there are no clear answers forthcoming on this issue, I might be forced to recommend to the Cabinet early next week the halt of the army deployment in the south," he told reporters after a meeting with U.N. representatives.
The Israeli military said the raid was launched "to prevent and interfere with terror activity against Israel, especially the smuggling of arms from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah."
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said such incursions may continue until the Lebanese army and the U.N. peacekeeping force was in control of the Syrian border to ensure against aid and arms reaching Hezbollah.
"But in the interim, of course, we can't have a situation where endless amounts of weaponry arrive for Hezbollah, so we are forced to act in response to this violation," he said. The broad outlines of the cease-fire called on Hezbollah to halt all military activity and for Israel to stop offensive operations. It gave Israel the right to respond if attacked. The commando raid took place far from Israeli troops in the deep south of Lebanon.
Israel did not give the name or rank of the officer who was killed in the raid. Hezbollah issued a terse statement in which it said guerrillas "ambushed" the commando force and none of the Hezbollah fighters was hurt.
Lebanese security officials said the commandos were landed by helicopter on a hill outside the village of Boudai west of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon.
