Mideast Crisis: Deadliest Day for Israel

August 3, 2006 -- 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

The events of the past few days have clearly demonstrated the depth of the Middle East crisis. A UN meeting to determine which countries might contribute troops to an international force was postponed. (The Times of London)

US Giving Aid - And Bombs

By Thalif Deen

As Israel's bombing of Lebanon continues unabated into its fourth consecutive week, the United States says it stands ready to provide food, medicine and humanitarian assistance to the thousands of internally displaced Lebanese caught in the crossfire. (Asia Times)

The Uneven Calculus of Mideast Victory

By Scott Peterson

Since Israeli forces withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, after an 18-year occupation, Hizbullah has been seen as the only Arab force to ever "defeat" Israel's sophisticated, US-supplied and funded military machine. (The Christian Science Monitor)

AFGHANISTAN

4 NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Four NATO soldiers died in Taliban attacks in southern Afghanistan Thursday and a suicide car bomb went off near Canadian military vehicles in a crowded market in the same province, killing 21 civilians. (AP)

IRAQ NEWS

Iraq Civil War Warning for Blair

Civil war is a more likely outcome in Iraq than democracy, Britain's outgoing ambassador in Baghdad has warned Tony Blair in a confidential memo. (BBC)

Report Outlines British Concerns on Iraq

A confidential report from Britain's outgoing ambassador to Iraq warned the country is sliding toward civil war and is likely to divide eventually along ethnic lines, according to a news report Thursday. (AP)

Ten Killed By Roadside Bomb in Baghdad: Police

At least 10 people were killed and 32 wounded by a roadside bomb that exploded among street vendors in central Baghdad on Thursday, a police source said. (Reuters)

HADITHA INVESTIGATION

Haditha Report 'Will Back Up US Execution Allegations'

A criminal investigation into the deaths of 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha last year is close to completion and will support allegations that they were deliberately killed by a group of US marines, it was reported yesterday. (Guardian)

PAKISTAN

Pak Executing Prisoners in a Hurry

Pakistan has resorted to hurried executions to reduce congestion of overcrowded jails holding death row inmates as also to deal with the spiralling crime rate in the country, a human rights body has claimed. (Times of India )

UGANDA

LRA Leaders Decline Talks Offer

The Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel movement has said it will not send its most senior leaders to peace talks with the government. (BBC)

UKRAINE

Ukraine Head Accepts Rival as PM

Mr Yushchenko (centre) wants his rival to back a pro-Western agenda Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has backed his arch-rival Viktor Yanukovych for prime minister, ending a four-month political stand-off. (BBC)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Ukraine: At Last, Yet Another Government

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko agreed to nominate his rival, Viktor Yanukovich of the Party of Regions, to be the country's next prime minister, almost four months after the parliamentary elections. Although the decision brings relative stability to the divided country, the staying power of the new government remains uncertain. (Stratfor)

Dishonorable Service

By New York Times Editorial

What happens to a general who turns a military detention camp into a center for the torment of prisoners, and then keeps exporting those vile practices to other U.S. prisons until their exposure sickens the world? (New York Times)

The Insider Daily Investigative Report (DIR) is a summary of major news articles and broadcasts relating to investigative news, including international terrorism and developments in Iraq. The DIR is edited daily from foreign and U.S. sources by Chris Isham, Hoda Osman and Elizabeth Sprague of the ABC News Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.