Introduction:
The “Israeli” Army, stationed in South Lebanon, persisted in breaching the Lebanese airspace and shelling the liberated areas. In the meantime, the Islamic Resistance militants retaliated by staging several military operations inflicting a number of casualties among its ranks.
Meanwhile, the news reported that the exchange of detainees and bodily remains between Lebanon and “Israel” had become imminent.

“Israeli” Aggressions (1):
The Islamic Resistance issued a statement in which it mentioned the following “Israeli” aggressions:
2:45, an “Israeli” chopper hovered, at middle altitude, over Tiri village.
3:00, Mohaibib position shelled Haris valley with four 155mm missiles.
3:15, the helicopters soared over Tiri, Haddatha, Baraasheit and the nearby areas.
6:50, Sojod outpost combed its surroundings with 12.7mm heavy machine gun fire.
7:55, four 120mm shells emanating from Rihan area fell on the perimeters of Sojod village.
8:00, Sojod outpost raked its surroundings with Mag machine gun fire.
9:30, the warplanes flew in the airspace of Central Beqaa.
10:50, the helicopters and an M.K. reconnaissance plane hovered over Litani River bands.
10:55, an M.K. reconnaissance aircraft hovered low over Ghassanieh, Bablieh, Kaouthariat Siyad and Teffahta villages.
11:05, an M.K. reconnaissance aircraft soared in the airspace of Iqleem Al-Tuffah heights.
11:50, the M.K. reconnaissance planes flew, at middle altitude, over Iqleem Al-Tuffah regions.
11:55, ten 155mm missiles emanating from the outskirts of Meis El-Jabal village fell on the perimeters of Haddatha, whereas an M.K. reconnaissance aircraft hovered overhead.
12:00, the drone and M.K. reconnaissance planes flew over Iqleem Al-Tuffah region.
12:10, several 155mm missiles emanating from Meis El-Jabal area struck the perimeters of Haddatha village.
12:20, an M.K. reconnaissance aircraft flew very low over Teffahta, Bablieh, Ghassanieh and the neighboring areas.
12:25, an M.K. reconnaissance aircraft hovered low over Doueir village and the nearby areas.
12:30, an M.K. reconnaissance aircraft had been flying low over Ghandourieh, Qalaouieh and Borj Qalaouieh for more than one hour.
12:40, an M.K. reconnaissance aircraft flew, at middle altitude, over Khorbet Selem, Jmaijmeh, Qalaouieh, Borj Qalaouieh, Sreifa and the neighboring areas.
13:05, the warplanes flew in the airspace of Western Beqaa.
13:10, Rshaf outpost fired one 81mm smoke shell at the courtyard of Haris mosque where there were a lot of prayers but no casualties were reported.
13:25, the “Israeli” fighters and M.K. reconnaissance planes flew over Iqleem Al-Tuffah region.
13:50, the jet airplanes broke the sound barrier over Beirut and Iqleem Al-Tuffah regions.
13:55, the warplanes flew in the airspace of Jbeil region.
15:00, the “Israeli” jets flew in the airspace of Central Beqaa.
16:50, the warplanes flew over Northern Beqaa areas.
18:10, Sojod outpost combed its surroundings with a barrage of 12.7mm heavy machine gun rounds.
18:40, Zohaira position shelled west of Yater with five 155mm missiles.
19:25, one 120mm shell emanating from Rihan area fell on Tasseh Well.
19:50, Sojod Mountain exposed to four 120mm shells emanating from Rihan area.
20:00, six 120mm shells emanating from Rihan area struck Al-Rafih Mountain.
20:10, an M.K. reconnaissance aircraft hovered low over Jibsheit and its vicinity, whereas another one hovered, at middle altitude, over Habboush River.
21:35, the “Israeli” choppers flew over Al-Rafih Mountain.
22:00, the warplanes flew in the airspace of Northern Beqaa.
22:50, an M.K. reconnaissance aircraft soared in the airspace of Iqleem Al-Tuffah heights. Meanwhile, four 120mm shells struck near Bissri River.
23:00, two Apatchi choppers hovered, at low and middle altitudes, over Marjeyoun, Rihan, Abou Rashed and Maidoun areas but they had been driven off by the Lebanese Army anti-aircraft guns stationed at Maidoun, whereas an M.K. reconnaissance aircraft flew in the airspace of Iqleem Al-Tuffah region. At the same time, Soweida outpost raked its surroundings with 12.7mm heavy machine gun fire, while four 120mm shells struck near Bissri River.
23:10 and until 23:35, the “Israeli” helicopter gunships showered the areas of Mlikh, Arid Zennar and Loweizeh with heavy machine gun fire.
23:15, the helicopters flew, at middle altitude, over Aishieh village.
23:35, the “Israeli” choppers raided into the perimeters of Mlikh village firing one air-to-surface rocket.
23:40, Hmayed position targeted Srobbin valley with one 120mm shell.
23:45, Sojod outpost fired two 81mm shells and a barrage 12.7mm heavy machine gun rounds at its surroundings. Elsewhere, Srobbin valley came under three 120mm shells emanating from Hmayed position and three 155mm missiles emanating from Meis El-Jabal area.
23:50, Zohaira position unleashed two 155mm missiles at Srobbin valley, while Al-Rafih Mountain exposed to three 120mm shells emanating from Rihan area.
23:55, Bir Kallab outpost bombarded its surroundings with ten 81mm shells.

Islamic Resistance Operations (2):
In response to the “Israeli” aggressions, the Islamic Resistance launched several attacks mentioned in the following statement:
6:30, the group of two martyrs Fadi Ahmad Hmadi and Adham Nazih Hazimeh attacked vehemently Sojod outpost from several sides with various kinds of machine guns and rockets destroying two main fortifications and igniting several blazes.
2:00, as an “Israeli” force was in an exchange mission with another Lahdi one, the group of martyr Ibrahim Fakih rushed upon it inflicting a number of casualties among its ranks. The “Israeli” enemy admitted that one soldier was wounded.
23:20, the group of two martyrs Hussein Adnan Farhat and Hussein Mohammad Nasser targeted Haddatha position with the adequate arms scoring direct hits.
23:45, the group of both martyrs Youssef Ismail Mahdi and Abbas Ali Hijazi attacked Sojod outpost with the machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Mothers of the “Israeli” Soldiers (3):
On the sixth anniversary of invading Lebanon by the “Israeli” troops, the mothers of the “Israeli” soldiers serving in South Lebanon marched in a demonstration before the Defense Ministry building in Tel Aviv and acclaimed with the retreat from Lebanon.

The demonstrators, belonged to the Group of Peace Bells, dressed T-shirts upon which there were Hebrew writings.

“Stop the war” was one these writings. The demonstrators, also, bore models of peace dove.

The mothers had found that the war in Lebanon is fruitless, for it mounts the “Israeli” human losses.

Exchanging corpses and detainees (4):
Lebanese familiar sources maintained that a hard and condensed negotiations were going on during the few past days.

The negotiations were about a swap of exchanging about fifty Lebanese detainees and more than fourty corpses belonging to the resistance with the remains of one “Israeli” soldier killed at Insarieh in a bungled raid launched by an “Israeli” naval commando unit on September 1997.

The sources revealed that the contacts made during the last few hours resulted in an agreement through which ten detainees jailed in “Israel’s” prisons and thirty others detained in Khiam detention camp would be released in addition to delivering forty corpses to the resistance.

This file was stirred when “Israel” agreed to raise the number of detainees to forty, as Lebanon demanded.

Also, the sources disclosed that the efforts focused recently on releasing Soha Bshara, a Lebanese woman held prisoner since she tried to assassinate the “Israeli” agent Antoine Lahd in 1985. France is said to have asked “Israel” to release her, but “Israel” refused. Along with Sheikh Abdel-Karim Obeid and Hajj Mustafa Dirani, she is apparently intended to be used in another swap: for Ron Arad, the “Israeli” pilot shot down over Saida in air raid on the Palestinian camp of Ain El-Helwe.
The talks made by the Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri and Hizbullah with the International Committee for the Red Cross and the French mediator had been focused on releasing Bshara without trial. Benjamin Netanyahu, the “Israeli” Prime Minister, had refused reportedly the French President Jacques Chirac’s request over releasing her, the sources added.

Paris is expected to play as a sponsor state, while the International Committee for the Red Cross is said to carry out the bargaining. In this regard, the news talked about negotiations and contacts that had been made recently between the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and the President Jacques Chirac of France.

According to the same sources also, the final stage of the negotiations is about the names of the detainees. Several lists had been formed after “Israel” had rejected a list presented by Lebanon recently.

Elsewhere, “Israel’s” TV had reported yesterday that military sources said: “The exchange process is expected to happen within the coming few days and that “Israel” had paid a very precious price to restore the Sergeant Itamar Ilya’s body parts”.

The Lebanese sources said the bodies of resistance martyrs are now subjecting to the inspection on level of their physical descriptions and dates of martyrdom. Among them is Hadi Nassrallah body, the Secretary General of Hizbullah H.E. Sayed Hassan Nassrallah’s son.

At any way and during the negotiations, it should be emphasized that the “Israeli” sergeant Itamar Ilya was killed deep inside South Lebanon and particularly in Insarieh village in his capacity as an invader, while most of the Lebanese detainees were captured and taken to “Israel’s” detention camps from their houses, schools, shops and groves. As an example, Sheikh Abdel-Karim Obeid and Hajj Mustafa Dirani were kidnapped from their houses and before the eyes of their wives and children.

Press freedom is an “Israeli” hoax (5):
Sharq El-Awsat newspaper published an article in which it wondered about the press freedom in “Israel”. To answer this question,it is to be pointed out that there is an agreement between “Israel’s” media and the military censorship.

This agreement stated that the “Israeli” Press officials had become able to object, via the Supreme Court, the rules issued by the security apparatus.

It is worth noting that the censorship steps had been imposed for more than thirty years, but they are subjected now to certain amendments.

The “Israeli” authorities outlined the core of this mission as follows: “Any security issues that can really endanger state’s stability are forbidden”. The attracting point, in this regard, is about the nature and the flexibility of the restrictions imposed on all foreign journalists operating in “Israel” and the occupied territories.

One of these restrictions is that the reporter should sign a special commitment issued by the Official Press Office. “Any article or reportage that may endanger the state security should be exposed to the military censorship”, the commitment mentioned.

So, the commitment seems to involve several serious meanings, for it suggests that the reporter is perpetrating a crime or an offense upon presenting his press materials to the military censorship.
This situation raises the following question:

How would this decision be applied with its apparent flexibility while in its essence endangers the foreign journalists?

Finally, we can say it is so strange that the western press didn’t comment on these developments in a state which is still insisting that it is the only democratic one in the Middle East.