Hizbullah has 'precise' target list
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
By: ICEJ News

News in brief...

For the second time this week, a senior Hizbullah leader has warned that the Lebanese terror militia has a detailed list of Israeli targets it would attack in the event of renewed conflict between the neighboring countries. Hizbullah has a "large and precise bank of Israeli targets” to strike if a third Lebanon war breaks out, said the Shi’ite militia’s second-in-command, Naim Kassem, in an interview published Wednesday in the An-Nahar newspaper. "Israel will have to pay the price for any step it takes." Kassem added that, “we can safely say that in the past four years we have prepared ourselves far more than Israel has… [but ] that does not mean that war is near." Kassem also commented on the recent attacks by Lebanese villagers on UN peacekeeping forces in South Lebanon, insisting the attacks were in response to "mistakes" the UN soldiers had made by “moving into their villages at full force, as though they were in a state of war.”  On Sunday, Hizbullah sheik Nabil Kaouk, the Iranian-backed militia's commander in southern Lebanon, said that "Hizbullah has a target list ready." The comments have come in response to the release by Israel's military of classified maps and aerial photographs of the Islamist militia’s network of weapons depots and command centers in southern Lebanon.

Accounts vary over delay of Mubarak-Netanyahu meeting
There are conflicting accounts of why Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has postponed a scheduled meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, with officials in Jerusalem speculating it may be related to Mubarak’s failing health, while the Egyptian daily Al-Shorouq claimed on Wednesday that the delay was a protest against Israel's recent demolition of illegal Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem. Persistent reports in the Arab media place Mubarak in deteriorating health, with possible cancer. But a senior Egyptian official denied those reports today, instead saying the meeting was pushed back due to "provocative moves made by Israel." In March, the Egyptian president visited Germany to undergo an operation that both his office and the hospital described as "complicated," though neither offered further details. A Lebanese newspaper said yesterday that the most recent postponement was due to Mubarak’s plans to travel back to Germany for additional treatment. In nay event, an Israeli official said the meeting has been rescheduled for Sunday, when Mubarak is also expected to meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. In power since Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981, Mubarak has no designated successor and has left the seat of vice president open, likely in hopes his son Gamal can succeed him in a presidential election.

Greek activists block El Al counters in protest against Israel
An El Al flight from Greece to Tel Aviv was delayed for about two hours at Athens International Airport on Wednesday after anti-Israel activists protested the blockade of Gaza by blocking check-in counters. Members of a Communist-backed labor union said they blocked five El Al airline counters for two hours to protest the Jewish state's "oppressive policies.” A union spokesman said, “This was an action taken in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their effort to establish a Palestinian state.” He said police were present at the protest but did not intervene. El Al representatives decided to stop check-in efforts for the flight until the protest ended. The El Al plane eventually departed two hours late with 99 passengers safely on board.

Israeli report discloses most killed in flotilla clash wanted martyrdom
An information center closely linked to Israeli intelligence published a report on Tuesday which documents that seven out of the nine Turkish nationals killed in a clash with IDF troops aboard the Mavi Marmara passenger ferry on May 31 had expressed their desire to die as Islamic martyrs before setting sail. The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center – known as MALAM – concluded that most of those who died were also members of IHH and other radical Islamist groups in Turkey. “These are the last hours before I join the sweet experience of being a shahid. Is there anything more beautiful than this?” wrote 19-year-old Furqan Dogan in his diary shortly before boarding. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters Tuesday that he was pleased with the IDF’s recently concluded internal report by Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland into the Mavi Marmara incident, but Ankara will still pursue efforts to force an international inquiry on Israel. The Eiland probe concluded that flawed intelligence-gathering and planning led to “mistakes” in the naval operation, but not “failures.”

‘Iron Dome’ passes rigorous tests on way to deployment
Israel’s “Iron Dome” air defense system successfully completed a rigorous set of tests on Wednesday, bringing Israel closer to the goal of developing a comprehensive shield for defending the country against the threat of short, medium and long-range missiles like those used by Hizbullah against Israel during the 2006 Second Lebanon War. The Iron Dome system is scheduled to be deployed along the border with Gaza in the coming weeks, bringing badly needed relief to the western Negev region, which has absorbed over ten thousand rocket and mortar strikes over the past decade.

Jerusalem conference focuses on Iranian incitement to genocide
Former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler on Tuesday presented a conference in Jerusalem with a 200-page report outlining an 18-point plan to contain Iran, starting with trying Iranian leaders before the International Court of Justice at the Hague for their state-sanctioned incitement to genocide. Entitled “The Danger of a Nuclear, Genocidal and Rights-Violating Iran: The Responsibility to Prevent Petition,” the report also documents that the Islamic Republic is guilty of supporting international terrorism and “domestic repression.” Former Israeli High Court of Justice president Meir Shamgar agreed that, “In Iran there is a massive assault on human rights and the rule of law, while dangerous state-sanctioned incitement to genocide continues unabated.” Bassam Eid, head of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring group, also testified of Iran’s links to terrorist activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, saying it endangers regional stability and the security of the Palestinian people.

Knesset revokes privileges of Israeli Arab MK
The Knesset voted 34 to 16 on Tuesday to revoke some of Israeli Arab MK Haneen Zoabi’s parliamentary privileges in response to her joining the Mavi Marmara flotilla which attempted to run the IDF’s naval blockade of Gaza on May 31. The measure, which had been voted out of the Knesset’s House committee by a seven-to-one margin in June, denies Zoabi the right to a diplomatic passport, subsidized legal counsel and any other privileges MKs enjoy abroad. There was sharp division among several MKs during the debate. “The debate today helps us to explain to the entire world about the discriminatory and racist attitude toward the Arab public,” complained MK Jamal Zahalka, who chairs the Balad party to which Zoabi belongs. “She exercised her right and her obligation according to our party’s platform to oppose and to act against the criminal siege of Gaza. Denying Zoabi’s rights is tyranny of the majority, which is the complete opposite of democracy.”