I'm sure that if you've turned on the news in the news in the past few weeks you've heard about the horrific conflict between Lebanon and Israel. In this weeks Y-Connect I'm here to give you the scoop on this.
Lebanon is a small independent country in the Middle East. Israel is about twice the size of it.The fighting is between Hezbollah's (a political party in Lebanon) armed wing and the Israeli Defence Forces.
The conflict started on the 12th of July, 2006. Hezbollah fired a rocket at the militairy and into villages in Northern Israel. After this, they fired more rockets at the Israeli village of Zar'it, killing 8. During this they sent land squads in and captured 2 Israeli soldiers. In response, the IDF sent tanks into Lebanon. One tank rolled over a bomb, killing all four crew members instantly. In an effort to retrieve the crew members, another Israeli soldier was killed.
The capture of these two soldiers was meant to engage a promise by their leader to kidnap Israeli soldiers in exchange for several captured Lebanese soldiers. The leader of Hezbollah, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, made a statement saying that
"No military operation will return them??? The prisoners will not be returned except through one way: indirect negotiations and a trade of prisoners.
The Israeli govenrment responded to the kidnapping of these two soldiers by saying that it was an "act of war" and that it would use all menas necessary to give a painful and far reaching retaliation.
On July 13th, the IDF sent jets to bomb the Lebanon International Airport. Hezbollah then fired rockets at the Israeli towns Safed and Nahariya as well as the villages nearby. This killed 2 civillians and wounded 29. The IDF then attempted to halt supplies coming to Lebanon by air and sea and bombed one of the major highways.
On the 14th July, Israel led bombing raids on Lebanese towns, killing 60 civillians. Hassan Nasrallah then made a statement saying that they were heading for open war and that Hezbollah was ready for it. 10 days later, the US began the process of supplying Israel with "bunker buster" bombs which would be used to target the leader of Hezbollah.
Israel has been accused of instigating disproportionate attacks against Lebanon due to their vast and experienced militairy. To date, approximately 350-600 Lebanese have been killed and 52 Israelis have been killed.
The government of Lebanon has stated that it does not condone Hezbollah and it's actions and calls for an immediate ceasefire backed by the United Nations. On the 14th July, the Israeli Prime Minister issued a statement saying that there would only be ceasefire if Hezbollah released the two Israeli prisoners and moved their troops back. Hexbollah rejected this, calling for an unconditional ceasefire. On the 26th of July, many countries from Europe, the United States and the Middle East met in Rome saying that a ceasefire must be met urgently. The Bush Administration in US has said that an immediate ceasefire can not be met until the conditions have been met. A ceasefire has yet to be made.
So far there are mixed international reactions condoning and supporting both parties but most people agree that these are terrible circumstances which must be resolved. I urge you to stick by your computers, newspapers and t.v screens and watch out for more news.
This is Cobd . . . With thoughts going out to everyone affected on all sides.
