Daily Report

Introduction
Two Lebanese, one military officer and one civilian, were injured when a sniper from the “Israeli” proxy militia opened fire on a Lebanese Army checkpoint in South Lebanon and Kfar Tibnite came under the artillery shells unleashed by the “Israeli” occupation forces.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese security forces said that one of the “Israeli” occupation’s militia member has deserted his base and surrendered himself to the Lebanese Army.

However, the resistance command allowed the reporters a unique opportunity to witness military exercises conducted by members of the multi-faith Lebanese Resistance Brigades (LRB).

Two wounded, houses damaged in fresh “Israeli” violations of understanding…(1)
“The “Israeli” occupation forces once again violated the April Understanding when its artillery today (yesterday) targeted the residential areas in the town of Kfar Tibneet, seriously wounding Toufeiq Salam, 30, and Lebanese army sergeant Hassan Hijazi, 37.

“The family of Hussein Hanjoul in Arabsalim miraculously escaped death when an “Israeli” round landed on their house while the family was inside.  No casualties were reported.

“The ground aggressions were accompanied by heavy circling of the “Israeli” warplanes that haunted the southern skies.

“Earlier, enemy warplanes staged 3 successive raids on the outskirts of Arabsalim and the Litani River gorge firing a number of air-to-ground missiles.

“The nightly bombardment by the enemy's artillery against the Iqleem al-Toffah Hilltops set woods and wadis ablaze. Civil defense men extinguished the fires”.

For its part, the Islamic Resistance (IR) reported in its statement following “Israeli” aggressions (2):
1:05, the surroundings of Sojod outpost came under several 81mm rounds and a barrage of 12.7mm heavy machine gun bullets whereas the area between Jarjoua and Houmine El-Fawqa exposed to 12.7mm heavy machine gun fire only.
14:50, three 81mm rounds landed south of Mothallath position.
15:05, Mount Sojod was bombarded by six 120mm shells and three 155mm missiles, while at the same time, the surroundings of Sojod outpost exposed to heavy machine gun fire.

Desertion of another militiaman create more confusion among collaborators…(3)
“Lebanese security forces said one of the “Israeli” occupation's militia members, Mohammed Ismail Qassab, has deserted his base and surrendered himself to the Lebanese army.

Reports from the occupied area of Hasbaya said detention campaigns followed the desertion as the militia's officials tried to conceal the desertion news.

The collaborators' officials questioned Qassab's colleagues to find out whether there was a "collective desertion attempt".

The militiamen who knew Qassab were asked about the way he had fled, whether his friends at the outpost knew what he was doing, and how he managed to leave the outpost without the guards' knowing what was going on.

The investigations have deepened the uneasiness and confusion in the militia's ranks, especially as the outpost's commander and militiamen clearly told the militia commander in the area Nabih Abu Rafeh that "Mohammed Ismail Qassab recovered his future when he deserted and surrendered himself to the Lebanese army," adding that "the maximum legal measure that would be taken against him is a week of investigations after which he will be released and living just like any Lebanese citizen."

Resistance lifts veil of secrecy on training…(4)
“The resistance briefly drew aside the veil of secrecy over its training methods on Friday, allowing reporters a unique opportunity to witness a noisy and smoke-filled military exercise conducted by members of the multi-faith Lebanese Resistance Brigades.

“Reporters were packed into vans with blacked-out windows for the 20-minute drive from Baalback to meet the fighters among the remote rock-strewn heights of the Anti-Lebanon mountains.

“Carefully observed by seasoned Hizbullah instructors, the 24 fighters, clad in green uniforms, helmets and with faces hidden beneath smears of camouflage paint, took turns to dismember cardboard targets at the end of a makeshift range with an assortment of small arms.

Other combatants fired rocket-propelled grenades at distant targets further up the hillside: a deafening blast, a tiny ball of light flitting up the barren slope, a puff of gray smoke and an instant later the report of the exploding round.

“Tires were set alight and the fighters ran through dense clouds of black smoke and crawled beneath barbed wire as the instructors fired live rounds above their heads.

The Brigades were conceived by Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in September 1997 to allow non-Shiites the opportunity to participate in the resistance. The group launched its first operation in March 1998 and since then has chalked up 175 attacks.

“We have people from all over Lebanon: Sunnis, Christians, Shiites, Druze even Armenians,” said “Maher,” a veteran resistance fighter who chaperoned the reporters.

One of the fighters, a 23-year-old university student who sported a pony tail hairstyle, said he had joined “to defend the nation.” He said he had served with the Brigades since its inception two years ago and had been involved in 10 operations against the occupation forces.

But when asked his religion, he paused.

“I’m Lebanese,” he said.

Cutting an unlikely figure among his comrades was a 44-year-old Maronite surgeon.

“I was concerned by what I was seeing in the south and I wanted to make an example. If I can do it at my age then so can others,” he said.

He admitted that his family was unaware of his part-time activities with the resistance.

“I tell them I’m going to France on business when I’m called up for service,” he said.

“Rami,” the commander of the Brigades, said that his fighters would soon begin staging more audacious attacks in the south.
“There’s an effort to move them forward, when chances allow it, deeper inside the occupation zone to fight the “Israelis” directly,” he said.

The climax of the live maneuvers was a simulated ambush against an “Israeli” patrol. Four cardboard cut-out figures were placed to one side of a track beneath a towering hill that, from a distance, bore a resemblance to the “Israeli”-manned Beaufort Castle.

One of the instructors laid roadside bombs beside the track as the fighters, clutching their weapons, moved into position.

“This is a typical sort of attack we stage against the “Israelis”,” explained Maher. He indicated two groups of fighters to the rear manning 82mm recoilless rifles and heavy machine guns. “They will provide the back-up for the infantry,” he said.

With the fighters in position, nestled behind rocks in the hillside, the order to launch the attack was given.

The roadside bomb exploded in a huge ball of fire, the heat of which swept over the reporters sited just 70 meters away. As the appalling din of the blast died away, the fighters opened up with their machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The cardboard targets were shredded in seconds as squads of fighters surged toward the track firing guns and hurling hand grenades.

To the rear, the fire support teams sent recoilless rifle rounds streaking across the wadi, hitting “Beaufort Castle” high above in bursts of chipped rock and dust, while the hills echoed to the rhythmic drumming of the heavy machine guns”.

Mofaz forgot the militia yesterday, tries to reassure it today…(5)
“The “Israeli” enemy's chief of staff Shaul Mofaz yesterday (two days ago) forgot to talk about the occupation militia's fate as he announced presenting a withdrawal plan to the “Israeli” cabinet for examination and endorsement.

Today (yesterday), it seems, Mofaz remembered that the militia exists and talked about withdrawal again and the militia's position in it.

“He said the perils that may result from the withdrawal plan are still there, stating that the pullout decision did not take into account the collaborator militia's opposition because the issue is related to what will be decided in Tel Aviv.

“Mofaz claimed that the collaborators' fate will be included in any final accord signed by Lebanon and "“Israel”".

“Enemy prime minister Ehud Barak and senior officials in the occupation's entity stressed that the withdrawal (from south Lebanon and western Beqaa) will take place with or without an agreement with Syria.

“In the meantime, reports from embassies in Beirut indicated that the occupation army's withdrawal will not be complete, but will include pulling back from the villages and towns while maintaining a narrow strip (between 5 and 7 Kms) along the armistice line”.

Military Operations…(6)
The IR team of martyrs Ibrahim Khalil and Mahmoud Rida Awada attacked, at 00:00, an “Israeli” armored force as it was moving on Rihan hilltops. Using the rocket-propelled grenades, the militants were able to score direct hits.

Also, the IR unit of martyrs Said Farran and Ahmad Sbeiti targeted, at 15:00, Sojod outpost with the machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades striking its northern fortification.

Keep up the good work…(7)
“Lebanon celebrates Independence Day on Monday, and few people deserve more thanks for guarding that independence than the men who risk everything by confronting our oppressors each and every day.

Shaul Mofaz can beat his chest all he likes, but the Lebanese resistance has shattered the myth of “Israeli” military invincibility like no other force ever confronted by the Jewish state.

“Somehow, a relatively small but highly devoted group of fighters has managed to keep the vaunted “Israeli” soldier holed up in concrete bunkers, his nervous leaders cowed into confusion and inaction by their increasingly obvious inability to solve the riddle posed by what may be the world’s most effective guerrilla force.

“Mofaz is the chief of staff of “Israel’s” military, so he more than most is well aware of his side’s embarrassing failure to achieve victory despite its easy access to some of the best weapons in America’s arsenal ­ and massive US aid to help pay for them. There is little that anyone in Lebanon can do when the “Israelis” use their high-tech warplanes

to lash out, but even these episodes have utterly failed to weaken the resolve of Hizbullah and other groups.

“Apart from the transitory successes of the past few days, the “Israelis” have several problems that can only get worse with time.

“Domestic public opinion is increasingly against the occupation in south Lebanon, and every “Israeli” casualty only heightens that opposition.

“There is also the matter of international perceptions: despite their admitted expertise at public relations, the “Israelis” are steadily losing this battle as well because more and more people around the world ­ and their governments ­ are discovering the despicable nature of the occupation.

On the ground, things are even worse.

“Morale in the ranks of the South Lebanon Army* militia has never been great, and everyone from Antoine Lahd on down has got to realize that its difficulties today, although legion, are nothing compared to what awaits it in the future.

“Even “Israel’s” own soldiers have got to be asking themselves the kinds of questions that undermine the cohesiveness of any fighting force. Why are they here? What benefit does the occupation serve for the Jewish state? Who wants to be the last “Israeli” soldier to die in south Lebanon before the inevitable withdrawal?

“Our side may not have the resources to force the invaders out militarily, but it can and has created conditions in which the political costs of staying here are approaching prohibitive levels.

Unlike previous wars, when “Israeli” leaders had little trouble convincing their people that the military was acting solely in self-defense, the long misadventure in Lebanon has been far more difficult to pass off as anything but an exercise in bullying, especially over the past few years.

“Mofaz has little choice but to display the kind of bravado he feigned this week by alleging “stinging” reversals for the resistance. The need for “Israeli” military leaders to claim untouchable superiority on the battlefield is almost as deeply ingrained as the obsession with dressing up aggression under the guise of legitimate self-defense ­ and just as fatuous.