Mideast Crisis: Deadliest Day for Israel
MIDEAST CRISIS:NEWS UPDATES
Israel Resumes Strikes in Beirut Suburbs
Israel renewed airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs Thursday and an Israeli missile killed three people in a border village, a day after Hezbollah launched its biggest rocket attacks yet on Israel. (AP)
Hizbollah Kills 11 on Israel's Deadliest Day
Hizbollah guerrillas killed eight people in a rocket barrage on Israel and three Israeli soldiers in fighting in Lebanon on Thursday, the deadliest day of the war for Israel. (Reuters)
Hezbollah Leader Threatens Tel Aviv
By Sam F. Ghattas
Hezbollah's leader offered Thursday to stop rocket attacks on northern Israel in return for an end to airstrikes throughout Lebanon. (AP)
Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei:
-'America Can Expect a Resounding Slap and a Devastating Fist-Blow From the Muslim Nation'
-Hizbullah is the Muslim Nation's 'Front Line of Defense'
-'There is No Way to Confront... the Zionists... and the 'Great Satan' Except Through Martyrdom'
On August 2, 2006, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued a communiqué to the Islamic nation, which was published by the conservative Iranian news agency Fars. The following are excerpts. (MEMRI)
Beirut Hospital: Oil Still Out of Reach
As the American University Hospital in Beirut uses the last of its oil, the best chance for more sits on an oil tanker called the Aphrodite waiting off the Lebanese coast halted by an Israeli blockade (ABC News)
Gas, Medicine in Short Supply in Lebanon
Lines stretch for blocks at Beirut gas stations, supermarkets have run out of fresh milk and drugstores are low on essential medicines. (Washington Post)
MIDEAST CRISIS-ANALYSIS & OPINION
For Israel, Innocent Civilians are Fair Game
By Peter Bouckaert
The voice of Mohammed Shalhoub, 61, a farmer from Qana, still quivers with shock and exhaustion. He was in a basement shelter with more than 60 relatives when two Israeli bombs hit, killing at least 28, including 16 children. As I interview him in hospital, relatives arrive with more news of the victims. A woman starts screaming as she looks at the pictures of the dead and Mohammed's eyes well up with tears. (International Herald Tribune)
Ground to a Halt
By Robert Pape
Israel has finally conceded that air power alone will not defeat Hezbollah. Over the coming weeks, it will learn that ground power won't work either. The problem is not that the Israelis have insufficient military might, but that they misunderstand the nature of the enemy. (New York Times)
The Israeli-Hezbollah War and the Threat to U.S. Interests
The U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria, issued a Warden Message this week warning U.S. citizens of possible anti-U.S. protests in the country. The action, which comes amid similar warnings for several locations in the Middle East and North Africa, stems from the decided anti-Israel and anti-U.S. theme of many of the current protests over the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Events in Lebanon, however, could inspire some to take more direct -- and violent -- action against U.S. interests. (Stratfor)
The Story Behind a New Middle East
By Sayyed Wild Abah
In her latest visit to the region, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brandished the slogan "A New Middle East" and indicated that a ceasefire in Lebanon would be futile, unless it was part of a sustainable long-term solution that will bring peace to the region. (Asharq Alawsat)
Getting a Grip in Lebanon
By William Hague
