Middle East War Report for Sunday, August 13

The latest death toll figures from Hurricane Katrina can be seen on this website here.

Updated November 30, 2008:

Israel suffered 183 casualties on Sunday, 10 killed and 173 wounded.

9 IDF troops were killed and 90 more were wounded. 9 soldiers were killed and 85 more were wounded in Lebanon in extremely heavy fighting. 5 Israeli soldiers were wounded inside Israel in a rocket attack on their outpost in a town in the Western Galilee.

1 Israeli civilian was killed and 83 more were wounded by Katyusha rockets in Israel.

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172 Israelis were killed in this war, 119 soldiers and 52 civilians. In addition, 1 Israeli was killed in the Diaspora as a result of the conflict.

At least 30 of Israel's famed "indestructible" Merkava tanks were destroyed, mostly by Italian MILAN and Russian M-13 METIS-M anti-tank missiles. AT-3 Saggers were also used to good effect. The version used was an upgraded version called the AT-3 Sagger-2. Hezbollah rained down 3,970 rockets on Israel.
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There is no information yet on how many Hezbollah fighters were killed Sunday, except that Hezbollah said that they lost 1 fighter. They probably lost a lot more than that. There is also no information on Lebanese civilian casualties today.

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Over 1,000 Lebanese were killed so far in this war. Precise figures are not available. At last count, about Hezbollah casualties were 200 KIA. There are no more recent figures for Hezbollah and no wounded figures for Hezbollah.

I feel that Hezbollah sustained some pretty serious losses in this war, maybe not the 525 claimed by Israel but surely more than 200. Let us say between 200-525 for now. The Lebanese military suffered about 30 killed.

A few other combatants were killed - for instance, the Lebanese Communist Party armed wing lost at least 2 fighters, the Amal militia lost at least 10 or so fighters and the PFLP-GC lost at least 1 fighter. Over 3,200 Lebanese were wounded.
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The IDF helicopter that was shot down near Yater on Saturday night still had not been recovered 24 hours later on Sunday night. The crash killed 5 Israeli soldiers, whose bodies had not been recovered yet either. There is very heavy fighting going on around the town that has made it impossible to recover the aircraft or the bodies. It was not until Monday that troops were able to reach the site.

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A UN-brokered cease-fire is due to go into effect early on Monday morning. This resolution has many problems. One is that Hezbollah has to hand over its POW's but Israel does not have to hand over theirs. Since when in wartime, do we demand that one side hand over its POW's without an exchange by the other side.

Also, the Lebanese army is to move into southern Lebanon and disarm Hezbollah. Why must Hezbollah be disarmed but not the IDF? Why are only states permitted to have a monopoly on the use of force? Is this not state imperialism saying that there will be no more rebellion anywhere on Earth?

Why do all state militaries automatically have legitimacy but all non-state forces automatically lack legitimacy? Does it say so somewhere in the UN Charter? The same Charter that insists that people have a right to resist military occupation by force?

All supplies to Hezbollah are to be cut off. Ok, but since when, in wartime, must one side by unilaterally disarmed and cut off from all supplies and the other side left armed and with its supply lines intact?

The major issues are unresolved.

Israel's criminal occupation of the Lebanese Shebaa Farms is not resolved. Crooked US negotiators allied with Israeli colonialism assured Israeli colonists that they would not be forced to surrender their colony in the Shebaa Farms.

The issue of land mines is not resolved. Israel says they will hand them over, but there is no mechanism to force this. Israel has always said they will hand over the land mine maps of the 300,000 land mines they scattered through the south of Lebanon. They never have.

The issue of the 19 Lebanese prisoners held by Israel is left unresolved.

There are some remaining issues, such as that Israel is allowed to engage in defensive warfare, while Hezbollah is order to halt all attacks. Since when, in war, is one side ordered to stop fighting while the other can still wage defensive attacks? Note that all of Israel's wars have been waged as defensive wars. I am not sure if this bit about allowing Israel to wage defensive attacks is still in there, but if it is, that is not good.

In short, plenty of problems, and I do not foresee an end to the fighting soon.
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When the IDF entered the Christian town of Marjayoun at 3:30 AM on Thursday, they were quickly attacked by members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. This party (description here) is popular in town and they have flyers up all over town on telephone polls and walls. Marjayoun is a mixed Druze, Sunni, Maronite and Greek Orthodox town.

Yet the Greek Orthodox are the largest community here, and the town is described as predominantly Greek Orthodox.

The SSNP is a secular Leftist political party. The party fought against Israel alongside the Leftist, nationalist, and PLO forces during the Israeli invasion and later against the Phalangists in the Lebanese Civil War. The party actually engaged in many suicide bombings, proving that those who do such things are not all Islamist fanatics.

A party member assassinated Bachir Gemayal, the Phalangist President of Lebanon, in 1982. It is a member of the Resistance and Development Bloc in Lebanese Parliament alongside the Shia Hezbollah and Amal parties. The party has always been popular with Christians, and in Lebanon it is associated with Greek Orthodox Christians, and it is even said to represent "Greek Orthodox particularism".

The party's founder, Antun Saddeh, was a Greek Orthodox Christian. The party originally borrowed from the principles of fascist parties, as did many political parties formed in the 1920's and 1930's. However, the SSNP was always been ferociously secular - in fact, that has always been its one defining principle.

The party originally strongly opposed both Arab nationalism and Communism, although it was a nationalist and Leftist party. Its popularity amongst Greek Orthodox in Lebanon stemmed from their resentment over the Maronites' domination of the country.

By the time of the Lebanese Civil War, the party had toned down much of its opposition to Communism and Arab nationalism and was fighting alongside both Communists and Arab nationalists against Israel, the Phalangists, and later Israel's puppet South Lebanon Army.

Since Syria's entry into the Civil War, the SSNP has strongly supported Syria. In Syria, the party was legalized in 2000 and is now seen as an ally of the ruling Baath Party.

During the furor over Syria's role in Lebanon in recent years, the SSNP has strongly supported the Syrian role in Lebanon. A beautiful portrait of the town of Marjayoun by Washington Post writer Anthony Shadid is here. Note that even before the latest fighting, the town had lost 92% of its population and was considered to be dying. Most of the residents seem to be immigrating to the West.

After a short battle in Marjayoun, Israel seized the Lebanese Army barracks where 250 Lebanese police and soldiers promptly surrendered. A convoy out of town was later bombed by the IDF in the Bekaa Valley.
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In addition to the MILAN, TOW, AT-3, AT-4, AT-13 and AT-14 anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM's) that Hezbollah has been using, we have also learned that they are using an Iranian version of the Russian AT-5 Konkurs ATGM. This seems to be an improved version of the AT-3 and AT-4, although the AT-13 and AT-14 are probably better still.

In Abu Tawil, near Aita Al-Chaab, Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile at infantry forces, killing 4 soldiers and wounding 20 more. Abu Tawil could not be located on any map.

In Tel Nachs, just north of Metulla, Hezbollah fired a mortar that scored a direct hit on a Merkava tank, destroying it and killing 1 soldier while wounding 3 more. How does a mortar round destroy a tank anyway?

Night: Hezbollah fighters fired an anti-tank missile at at IDF infantry forces in Kantara, killing 2 soldiers and wounding 10 more. Kantara is 5 miles east of the border near Metulla.

10:42 PM: The IDF shot down 2 Hezbollah unmanned drones fired from Beirut , one over the town of Kabri in northern Israel near Nahariyah and the other over Lebanon.

9:06 PM: A Hezbollah rocket wounded a motorcyclist in Haifa.

7:34 PM: The son of famous Israeli leftwing author David Grossman was killed in the fighting in Lebanon. Grossman's work appears in the US leftwing magazine The Nation. Like many other leftwing authors, Grossman has drifted to the right with the latest Palestinian intifada.

8:06 PM: The IDF announced that its forces had reached the Litani River. Actually, this claim is somewhat dubious. They have reached the river in some parts but not in others.

7:49 PM: 2 more rockets landed in Nahariyah, bringing the total for today to over 250 rockets. 81 Israelis were wounded in the nightmarish, Hellish barrage.

7:32 PM: The IDF is pounding the Dahia District of southern Beirut once again.

7:29 PM: 230 Hezbollah rockets have slammed into northern Israel so far today. 6 rockets fell on Haifa, damaging a building and a number of vehicles. 14 Israelis were wounded in the attack. 7 vehicles are on fire and firefighters are working to put out the blaze.

6:22 PM: Hezbollah rockets landed in open fields near Accra. There were no injuries.

5:40 PM: The IDF destroyed 20 Hezbollah weapons caches in Aita al-Chaab and Taybe. Aita Al-Chaab is right on the border. The IDF is still right on the border?

5:46 PM: 75 IDF troops have been wounded so far today in extremely heavy fighting in Southern Lebanon.

5:30 PM: Over 200 Hezbollah rockets have rained down on Israel so far today. In the past hour, rockets hit Haifa, Krayot, the Jezreel Valley and the Western Galilee.

5:17 PM: 2 Khaibar-1 302mm long range missiles landed in Mishmar Ha Emek, in the Jezreel Valley south of Haifa. The rockets landed in open areas and there was only minor damage.

4:32 PM: A rocket barrage hit Krayot, north of Haifa. 2 Israelis were wounded in the attack.

4:22 PM: A Hezbollah rocket wounded 1 Israeli in Accra.

3:16 PM: Several Israelis were wounded in Kiryat Shemona following the last Hezbollah Katyusha attack.

3:15 PM: An idiot from the US died in custody when he went on a hunger strike. The man, apparently Jewish, declared that he was King David. He was arrested after making a nuisance of himself around Jerusalem in recent days. Thereupon, he went on a hunger strike that killed him.

2:45 PM: There were large rock-throwing attacks against Jewish settlers' vehicles southwest of Hebron. Glad to hear it. Unfortunately, there were no injuries.

2:06 PM: A rocket hit a power line in Safad, resulting in a power outage. Good, now they know what it feels like.

1:53 PM: A suspicious Arab male was arrested after trying to enter the Prime Minister's office. Authorities feel that there is something suspicious on his shoes. This later turned out to be a false alarm.

1:49 PM: Over 150 rockets have slammed into Israel so far today - 75 of them in less than 2 hours since noon.

1:47 PM: A large wave of Hezbollah rockets landed in northern Israel, but caused no damage or casualties.

1:14 PM: There is very heavy fighting north of Metulla right now.

1:13 PM: 40 IDF soldiers have been wounded so far in extremely heavy fighting in Lebanon.

12:11 PM: There were 3 more wounded civilians from the latest Katyusha barrage from Kiryat Shemona. 19 rocket attacks in northern Israel have killed 1 person and wounded 21 others so far. 77 rockets have been fired so far, 35 in Kiryat Shemona, 11 around Maalot, 15 around Nahariya, 10 around Safad and others hitting in the Golan Heights (Yaay for rockets in the Golan).

12:08 PM: Large fires were burning in the Western Galilee after the latest Hezbollah rocket barrage it.

11:48 AM: A number of people were wounded by the rocket barrage that hit Shlomi a little while ago.

11:42 AM: Palestinian guerrillas opened fire on IDF forces near the Central Gate in Gaza, but there were no casualties.

11:28 AM: A Hezbollah rocket landed near Shlomi and wounded 1 Israeli civilian. A Galilee panhandle community was damaged by another rocket. The civilian, a man, later died of his wounds.

11:26 AM: A Katyusha rocket slammed into a home in Kiryat Shemona and set it on fire.

11:22 AM: A Katyusha rocket hit a military base in northern Israel. It landed in the parking lot and damaged dozens of vehicles.

11:13 AM: A huge rocket attack is raining down rockets on the entire north of Israel. Explosions were heard around Zichron Yaacov, which is south of Haifa. This is one of the farthest south the rockets have hit so far.

10:55 AM: A number of wounded have been reported in the rocket attack on Safad .

10:45 AM: A Katyusha rocket slammed into a building in Safad. There appear to be injuries.

10:25 AM: A Hezbollah rocket hit a home in Misgav Am, damaging it.

8:56 AM: Hezbollah fired a number of rockets that landed in open areas in northern Israel.

8:08 AM: Guerrillas threw a large number of firebombs at IDF forces in the Jenin area during the night.

7:18 PM: The IDF arrested a Fatah guerrilla Nablus..

2:22 AM: 3 Arabs were wounded in Hebron when a bomb they were making in their home went off.

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