2000: Year of change in Lebanon…(1)

Lebanon achieved victory over Middle East’s strongest military force, “Israel”.

“The year 2000 saw Lebanon, the smallest Arab state, declare victory over the Middle East's strongest military force, “Israel”. The Jewish state finally ended its occupation of southern Lebanon, but the conflict did not end. A dispute over the Shibaa Farms, which “Israel” continues to occupy drew Lebanon, Syria and “Israel” to the verge of war.

In southern Lebanon, tensions continued to mount between “Israel” and Hizbullah resistance fighters. “Israeli” war jets raided Lebanon's infrastructure and electricity stations in February, exacerbating an economic crisis. Arab foreign ministers met in Beirut to express sympathy and support for Lebanon in the face of “Israeli” attacks. May 2000: “Israel” began its final withdrawal from occupied southern Lebanon. Reinforcements were sent in to help with the withdrawal but it mostly passed off peacefully. The sudden disintegration of “Israel’s” backed and controlled militia in the occupied zone under the repeated attacks of Hizbullah accelerated the withdrawal process and the “Israeli” army's three-day pullout-completed on May 24, looked more like an escape. Beirut and the resistance declared the Arab world's first ever victory in ending an “Israeli” occupation without relinquishing land or making concessions. Some 6,500 “Israeli”-backed militiamen and their families fled with retreating troops and the outburst of violence many feared did not happen. The country was gripped by jubilation. But the end of “Israeli” occupation did not bring peace back to the border. “Israel” refused to withdraw from the Shibaa Farms, a chain of strategic hills and farms that have been under occupation since 1967. Hizbullah vowed to keep up its resistance activities until Lebanon regains sovereignty over the region, which “Israel”, backed by the UN, claimed was occupied from Syria and can only be returned as part of a peace deal with Damascus. “Israel’s” failure to withdraw from the Shibaa Farms, its continued detention of Lebanese, and the absence of any accord were cited by Beirut as reasons not to send army troops to protect the international border. A token of Lebanese Army soldiers and police were sent to the former occupied zone, but along with UN peacekeepers, they were not deployed along the frontier. In October Hizbullah captured three “Israeli” soldiers in the Shibaa Farms to swap them for at least 19 Lebanese detainees and dozens of Arabs detained in “Israeli” prisons. “Israel” had been refusing to release the Lebanese, almost all held without trial or charge. Hizbullah also captured an “Israeli” army colonel, it said was on a Mossad mission to Beirut. A month later Hizbullah resistance fighters killed an “Israeli” soldier and injured three more in the Shibaa Farms, resulting in the first “Israeli” air raids on southern Lebanon since the pullout. “Israel” issued warnings against Lebanon and Syria which it held responsible for Hizbullah attacks. US diplomats warned of an imminent regional war if tensions remained high along the “Israeli”-Lebanese border. Despite “Israel’s” pullout, its war jets continue to violate Lebanon's airspace and “Israeli” border guards have killed at least 12 Lebanese and other Arab demonstrators along the border fence. “Israel’s” pullout did not bring about a reconstruction of the former occupied zone. International donors stayed away and cash-strapped Beirut accused Western powers of indefinitely postponing a donors conference, to pressure the government to deploy troops along the border with “Israel”.

34 wounded in Netanya car bombing…(2)

”Security measures are being beefed up throughout the country following a car-bomb attack in Netanya last night in which 34 people were wounded, one of them seriously.
 Police launched a widespread search for a car that was seen leaving the scene at high speed.
Indications were that the attack was perpetrated by members of the Islamic Jihad or Hamas, given the similarity between the incident and the recent bombings in Tel Aviv and Hadera.
Nevertheless, security sources did not rule out the possibility of involvement by the PLO's mainstream Fatah organization, which yesterday marked the anniversary of its establishment, or one of its offshoots.
In an early response to the attack, “Israel” last night closed the Palestinian Authority's Gaza International Airport at Dahaniya in the Gaza Strip, and the border crossings to Jordan and Egypt. The “Israeli” Army further tightened the existing closure of Gaza Strip and West Bank by blockading all cities and towns - except for humanitarian emergencies - and denying Palestinian VIPs freedom of movement. Other undefined measures have been implemented as well.
The attack occurred around 7 p.m. in the heart of Netanya near the junction of Herzl and Dizengoff, when hundreds of people were on the streets and in shops, restaurants, and cafes. Witnesses said they heard a series of three explosions, which caused widespread damage to shop fronts and flung objects, including garbage bins, through the air.
Police said that more than 10 kilograms of explosive had been packed in the rear of a Mitsubishi sedan that had been reported stolen from the center of the country three months ago.
Shortly before the explosion, a municipal traffic warden had even stuck a ticket on the empty car's windshield, because the vehicle was parked illegally, partly on the sidewalk.
"I had just parked my car and had walked about 50 meters and suddenly I heard the first blast and I ran between the shops for cover," bystander Yoav Yitzhak told reporters.
He said there was another blast afterwards and people started shouting and running around. Yitzhak also maintained that he had seen a man leaving the parked car where the explosions occurred.
Another man, who was lightly hurt in the attack, said he heard more than two explosions and threw himself over his young son to protect him.
The seriously wounded man was reported to be conscious after the blast and was being treated by police as a potential suspect.
Teams of Magen David Adom paramedics arrived at the scene and treated the wounded, who were rushed by ambulances to three hospitals: Hillel Yaffe in Hadera, Meir in Kfar Sava, and Laniado in Netanya. Most of the victims were said to be suffering from light to moderate injuries.
Upon arriving at the scene, “Israel” Police Insp.-Gen. Shlomo Aharonishky, who earlier in the day officially took command of the force, acknowledged that the police cannot prevent every attack, but stressed that the security forces are doing a great deal to prevent attacks.
"It is not a secret that this is a difficult period and many attacks are being planned. We, the police, are taking a variety of preventive measures, such as putting up roadblocks... to minimize these attacks and their effects," he said.
Police sources said security measures would be beefed up even more after the latest attack and urged the public to immediately report anyone acting in a suspicious manner or any suspicious objects.

Five Palestinian martyrs, 10 “Israelis” injured…(3)

The New Year in occupied Palestine was as bloody as the past weeks. The “Israeli” occupation forces proved once more the extent of its barbarism against Palestinians.

In one of its savage acts, “Israeli” troops assassinated two senior Fatah security officials after arresting them in Tulkarm where they were manning their outpost.

Three Palestinians were also martyred by “Israeli” soldiers' bullets during various confrontations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, while intifadah fighters carried out a series of operations against “Israeli” occupation outposts and patrols.

T.V. stations broadcasted a horrific scene which took place in the West Bank town of al-Khalil (Hebron). A Palestinian man was lying on the ground screaming and holding his cut off bleeding leg while “Israeli” soldiers indifferently looked at him.

In the Gaza Strip town of Deir al-Balah “Israeli” forces and a group of Jewish Settlers demolished three houses belonging to Palestinian families.

Witnesses said the house of Fatimah Abu Bakra was destroyed while she was inside. The Palestinian woman as a result suffers from broken bones in the chest and legs, hospital sources reported.

The “Israeli” troops demolished the houses to pave a road linking two settlements.

Moreover, Palestinian security sources said that occupation forces shelled several Palestinian houses in Gaza causing severe damages.

Palestinians arrests a collaborator with “Israel”…(4)

Palestinian intelligence in the West Bank arrested a Palestinian, Mohammed al-Khatib (28), who confessed to have collaborated with the “Israeli” intelligence.

Palestinian intelligence sources said al-Khatib gave “Israel” information on the movements of Hussein Abayat, the leader of Fatah members in the Beit Lahm (Bethlehem) area who was assassinated in an “Israeli” helicopter missile strike in November.

Khatib, who will stand trial for "collaborating with the enemy", also gave information to the “Israelis” about Palestinian gunmen, the activities of Islamic factions and the transfer of weapons in Beit Lahm area, the sources added.

Footnotes:

1-      Future TV, 1-1-2001.

2-      Same source.

3-      Al-Quds Post, 2-1-2001.

4-      Manar TV, 1-1-2001.

5-      Same source.