Syria warns Israel

"DAMASCUS (AFP) -

Syria has warned it would respond directly and by all means necessary to any Israeli attack on its territory, in its first official reaction to Israel's offensive on neighboring Lebanon. "

Syria has joined Iran in warning Israel.

Israel's efforts to route out kidnappings and rocket attacks threatens to escalate into spiraling violence. We do not know where this will end, but it can end badly, with Syria and Iran, supported by militant organizations world wide, and who knows how many supporting nations, and Israel supported by the US and possibly Europe, meaning NATO, being drawn into a general conflagration.

This process began with Palestinian militants kidnapping Cpl Shalit, continuing to fire rockets into Israel, with Hizbollah militants kidnapping Israeli soldiers and now firing rockets into Israel.

What is Israel to do? These militant organizations are provocateurs of the worst kind. One solution would be to run a continued bombing campaign similar to what was done in Yugoslavia...

At the same time, the loss of life, the continuing resentment and hatred will continue for generations.

Now is the time for the G8, and the international community to stop the violence immediately, with an established process to somehow build up a trust building process for all parties.

1. mutual release of prisoners except for prisoners who will be a security threat.
2. negotiations for a border agreeable to all parties.
3. economic development of depressed areas, but no funds for organizations which continue to call for the destruction of Israel.

I am sure that there could be other means of achieving peace in the middle east, besides the continuing state of warfare, death, anxiety and poverty.

CNN:Israel declares a state of emergency;Hizbollah fire more rockets

"BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- After a night of attacks, Israeli warplanes blasted the southern suburbs of Beirut early Sunday in an attempt to destroy Hezbollah strongholds.

Some of the bombs were dropped only 10 minutes apart and were aimed at targets in the center of the capital, CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson said.

A Hezbollah stronghold in Dahiya, in Beirut's southern suburbs, was also hit, Israel Defense Forces said. The day before, the IDF said soldiers conducted an aerial attack on the group's main headquarters in Beirut.

Israel also struck northern Lebanon near its border with Syria.

A power station south of Beirut was on fire early Sunday morning after an Israeli airstrike, The Associated Press reported. Firefighters in Jiyeh said they didn't have enough water to put out the flames.

At least 93 Lebanese and 13 Israelis had been killed as the region entered its fifth day of violence triggered by the capture of two Israeli soldiers Wednesday. Israel has vowed to free the soldiers.

Targeting radar stations
In response to a Hezbollah attack on an Israeli warship off the coast of Lebanon, the Israeli military launched airstrikes Saturday targeting Lebanon's military radar stations along its coast, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The IDF blamed "cooperation between Hezbollah and the Lebanese military" for the missile attack Friday night, which killed at least one sailor. Three other Israeli sailors are still missing.

The IDF said that it "has no intention" of targeting the Lebanese military, but "will continue to act with determination to eliminate the threat of terror by terror organizations operating from Lebanon at Israel and to return the abducted soldiers."

The IDF initially said the warship was struck by an unmanned aircraft packed with explosives. But Daniel Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to the United States, said Saturday that it was a Chinese-made C-802 missile.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had claimed responsibility for the attack on the Israeli warship and called it "just the beginning." He also threatened "open war" with Israel. (Watch Nasrallah say Hezbollah is ready for war -- 2:14)

Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel. The group holds 23 of the 128 seats in Lebanon's parliament. (What is Hezbollah?)

'War machine'
Lebanon Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Saturday called Israel's military a "war machine" and said attacks had turned his country into a "disaster zone."

Israel later declared a state of emergency in the northern Galilee region, Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

The declaration allows the Israeli government to close public institutions such as schools, shopping malls and restaurants in northern Israel, where Hezbollah has been aiming its rockets since the crisis began, Regev said.

Hezbollah again on Saturday launched scores of rockets from Lebanon into Israel.

Siniora called for an immediate U.N.-backed cease-fire and international help to stop Israel's attacks.

A cease-fire, he said, will allow Lebanon to "establish its sovereignty over all its lands" based on the 1949 armistice agreement.

"We are pained as well as angry yet determined and patient," Siniora said, adding that "these are hours for unity, not for division."

He said Israel was "punishing all Lebanese collectively, with their actions lacking any moral or legal legitimacy."

In remarks Saturday, Siniora reiterated that the Lebanese government had no knowledge of Hezbollah's plans.

Israel blames Lebanon
In response, Regev said Lebanon had triggered the crisis by failing to disarm Hezbollah. He further called Israel's offensive "surgical" and Hezbollah's "indiscriminate."

"This whole crisis was initiated by aggression by Lebanon into Israel," Regev said.

If Siniora "had done his job correctly," followed relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and disarmed Hezbollah, "this crisis would have been averted," Regev added.

Israel is willing to implement a cease-fire in accordance with those resolutions, he said.

Israel intensified its attacks from air, sea and land Saturday on targets such as Beirut and the ports of Tripoli, Amchit and Junieh, according to Lebanese media.

Israeli warplanes hit Hezbollah's main headquarters in Beirut, which was struck Friday as well, according to Lebanese interior ministry officials. No casualties were reported from those strikes, the officials said.

The IDF confirmed the aerial attack, saying, "The state of Israel warned the Lebanese population who are present at the compound or around it, using leaflets and different means of communication, to stay clear from the site for their own safety."

Al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language TV channel, reported that the headquarters of Hezbollah's spiritual leader, Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, was targeted.

Israel also said it had attacked the Beirut headquarters of Hamas, the Palestinian movement that dominates the Palestinian Authority government. (Watch the ties between Hezbollah and Hamas -- 2:25)

Minibus hit
Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli airstrike near Tyre hit a minibus carrying 20 civilians, killing at least 15 of them, Lebanese internal security sources said.

The IDF said it was making "every effort" to avoid civilian casualties, adding: "Responsibility for endangering civilian population rests on the Hezbollah terror organization, which operates and launches missiles at Israel from populated civilian areas."

More than 75 rockets were fired at Israeli towns on Saturday, the IDF said.

Other developments:

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa called the Middle East peace process "dead." Speaking at a news conference after a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo, he said the peace process failed "because certain powers have given Israel every capacity to do whatever it wishes."


On Saturday in St. Petersburg, Russia, U.S. President Bush called on Syria to urge Hezbollah to lay down its arms and placed the blame for the violence on Hezbollah and its backers in Damascus. (Full story)


The U.S. State Department on Saturday is fine-tuning plans to evacuate Americans in Lebanon, estimated to number around 25,000, to nearby Cyprus. (Full story)


The Mideast violence has been blamed for surging oil prices, and Wall Street has been pummeled in the process. (Watch how the Mideast crisis is hitting your wallet -- 2:07)"

What is to stop this from escalating into a war with Syria and Iran?

BBC: Israel has rejected a call for a ceasefire

"Israel has rejected a call by the head of the Hamas-led Palestinian government for a ceasefire to end several days of fierce fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Ismail Haniya had said the only way out of the current crisis was for all parties to restore calm through a mutual cessation of hostilities.

Officials in the Israeli PM's office said there would be no truce until a captured Israeli soldier was free.

Earlier Israel said its troops had left their positions in northern Gaza.

...
Officials in Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said he would not agree to a truce unless Hamas first released Cpl Shalit.




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"We do not hold negotiations with terrorists," an unnamed official told AFP news agency.

"They must first return the kidnapped soldier unharmed and cease their fire.

"We will decide on our next moves according to the steps taken by the Palestinian government."

Mr Haniya said he was still committed to the proposal despite the rejection.

"We presented it out of conviction... and we hope the leaders of the occupation will show reason and logic," he said, quoted by AFP.

His Hamas-led government has also urged Israel to open negotiations over the fate of Cpl Shalit.

The Israeli army says all of the forces that entered northern Gaza late on Wednesday have left the town of Beit Lahiya and are now back in Israel.

The BBC's Wyre Davies in Gaza City says the withdrawal is significant, because the areas has been the scene of heavy fighting.

Our correspondent adds that it is not clear why Israel has decided to leave now, but that it should ease tensions.

This leaves Israeli forces in the southern Gaza strip, as well east of Gaza City. "

"Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" Matthew 20:30