IDF fears Hizbullah tunneling under northern border
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
By: ICEJ News

News in brief...

The Israeli military is increasingly concerned that Hizbullah may be digging cross-border tunnels from south Lebanon into Israel to attack a border community or IDF outpost or to take hostages. The Jerusalem Post reports that IDF commanders are worried these tunnels will be used to plant explosives underneath IDF posts, as occurred in the south Lebanon security zone in the 1990s and more recently with Hamas tunnels under the border with Gaza. Hizbullah terrorists could also use the tunnels to enter a border community like Shlomi and barricade themselves inside civilian homes. Army commanders deployed along the border fear such tactics would be employed in tandem with massive rocket and mortar barrages, seriously hindering their immediate response options. Palestinian terror militias learned to dig tunnels in the soft soil of Gaza from the Viet Cong in the 1960s, but the capability to burrow through the rockier ground along the Lebanon border has probably been provided to Hizbullah by North Korea, which is known to have created an extensive network of cross-border tunnels under the demilitarized zone with South Korea.

Israel bracing for ‘barrage’ of international probes
Israeli military and diplomatic officials are conferring this week for confronting what is being described as a "barrage" of international investigations against the Jewish state, including a second Goldstone inquiry into Israel’s judiciary system. An inquiry into the credibility of the Israeli court system was launched at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March as part of its continuing effort to monitor Israel's response to the Goldstone report. Two other international probes are soon set to begin over the May 31st Gaza flotilla incident - one appointed by the UN secretary general and the other by the Human Rights Council. In addition, a group of lawyers in Morocco filed a legal case on Monday to have senior Israeli figures arrested over Israel's 2009 Gaza operation if they ever set foot in Morocco. The complaint targets former premier Ehud Olmert, ex-foreign minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Lebanon embroiled in debate over fate of Palestinian refugees
Lebanon’s government has become embroiled in a heated debate over whether some 400,000 Palestinian refugees inside the country should be granted more rights under Lebanese law or continue to kept in a virtual state of communal house arrest. With Israeli-Palestinian peace talks showing little promise of making any serious headway soon, Druze community leader Walid Jumblatt recently set off the debate by criticizing the inhumane treatment Palestinian refugees have received in Lebanon over the past six decades. On Thursday, the Lebanese parliament will vote on whether or not to grant Palestinian refugees the right to unrestricted employment, social security and medical care, and ownership of property. Currently, the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon are outside government control, while corruption, crime and armed gangs are rampant within the refugee camps. Meantime, Palestinians are not given access to Lebanese society outside the camps. Christian political parties are generally opposed to granting the Palestinians citizenship in Lebanon as it would drastically tilt the demographic balance in the country in favor of the Muslim majority. In public, however, they are mainly arguing that such a move would undermine the Palestinians’ claim to a “right of return” to Israel. A similar debate is also flaring up in Jordan, which last year begun confiscating citizenship papers once granted to Palestinian refugees, who make up 60% of the desert kingdom’s population.

Jerusalem named best tourist city in Africa/Mideast
Jerusalem was named as the "world's best city" in Africa and the Middle East by the leading tourism magazine Travel and Leisure on Tuesday. Mayor Nir Barkat welcomed the announcement, using it to again promote his plan to boost tourism and the city's image abroad. Barkat has set a goal of bringing 10 million tourists a year to Jerusalem within a decade, up from the current 2 million annually. This would create over 100,000 new jobs to help Jerusalem's economy, Barkat estimates, while also creating millions of goodwill “ambassadors” for the city all around the world. The last time Jerusalem received the "world's best city" ranking for the region was in 2000. The new top five of Travel and Leisure's list of world's best African and Middle Eastern cities was rounded out by Cape Town, Tel Aviv, Marrakesh and Cairo.

Israeli plan aims to cut electrical use by 20%
Israeli officials on Monday unveiled an energy efficiency plan that would cut the country’s electricity usage by 20% within the next 10 years. The new plan sets stricter import requirements for electronics, intensifies enforcement, and aims to teach citizens the importance of saving energy, which will hopefully help Israel hold off on building new power plants. During a Tel Aviv press conference, National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau said the plan would amount to Israel building “a virtual power plant,” due to the energy savings involved. His ministry wants to pass appropriate legislation and create a NIS 200 million annual budget that will implement the plan, with funds coming from a 1% tax on electricity bills. Additional plans would rely more on wind turbines to supply Israel's growing electrical needs.

Israeli doctors first to treat victims of Congo tanker blast
A team of Israeli doctors specializing in burn treatments were the first foreign medical volunteers to arrive in Congo to care for dozens of burn victims who survived an oil tanker explosion last Friday that also killed over 200 people. The Israeli delegation was thanked via telephone by the Congolese President Joseph Kabila after they arrived on Monday night. The team of four doctors and a nurse from Sheba Medical Center was sent by a special department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which oversees aid and development assistance abroad. The explosion took place in the eastern Congo village of Sange when a truck carrying hundreds of kilotons of fuel blew up.