Lebanon Says Israeli Planes Circled Its Airspace for an Hour
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - October 7, 2012 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM — The morning after the Israeli Air Force shot down an unidentified drone in the Negev Desert, the Lebanese government said that four Israeli warplanes spent an hour on Sunday illegally circling in its airspace. The Israeli Defense Forces refused to confirm or deny the report from the Lebanese Army, which said the planes entered above the village of Kfar Kila at 10:10 a.m. and left above Naqoura an hour later.


Official: 30 years after camp massacre, justice still elusive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 17, 2012 - 12:00am


BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- On the 30th anniversary of the massacre of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon's Sabra and Shatila camp, a Palestinian official stressed that no one has been brought to justice. "Those responsible for slaughtering thousands have not been punished and Palestinian refugees continue to be denied their homeland," PLO official Saeb Erekat said in a statement Sunday.


A Preventable Massacre
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Seth Anziska - (Opinion) September 16, 2012 - 12:00am


ON the night of Sept. 16, 1982, the Israeli military allowed a right-wing Lebanese militia to enter two Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut. In the ensuing three-day rampage, the militia, linked to the Maronite Christian Phalange Party, raped, killed and dismembered at least 800 civilians, while Israeli flares illuminated the camps’ narrow and darkened alleyways.


The forgotten massacre
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Robert Fisk - (Opinion) September 15, 2012 - 12:00am


The memories remain, of course. The man who lost his family in an earlier massacre, only to watch the young men of Chatila lined up after the new killings and marched off to death. But – like the muck piled on the garbage tip amid the concrete hovels – the stench of injustice still pervades the camps where 1,700 Palestinians were butchered 30 years ago next week.


Tension rises on Israeli-Lebanese border
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 16, 2012 - 12:00am


Tension has clearly risen on the Lebanese-Israeli border, security sources told Xinhua Wednesday. The sources, who asked to remain anonymous, said the Israeli army had intensified its patrols and observation mission all along the border, while Hezbollah is on high alert and has also raised its readiness. The rise of tension came amid a war of words between the Israeli army commanders and the militant party officials.


A warning to Hezbollah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - (Analysis) July 5, 2012 - 12:00am


A few months ago, after the IDF began a concrete wall between Metulla and Lebanon, an Israeli observation post spotted a group of men gathered on a rooftop just over the northern border. A closer look identified one of the men as the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in southern Lebanon. Several of the other men were later identified as senior Hezbollah operatives, also from southern Lebanon.


Lebanon: Israel explodes its spy devices in south
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
July 3, 2012 - 12:00am


Israel has remotely detonated three spying devices in south Lebanon, the Lebanese army said Tuesday. The explosions occurred Monday evening in the village of Zrariye, north of the Litani river, which runs through southern Lebanon, the army said. The militant Hezbollah group said it discovered the devices before their detonation and hailed that as a major achievement, accusing Israel of violating Lebanese sovereignty.


Sabra and Shatila: Israel’s war of lies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) June 10, 2012 - 12:00am


Thirty years ago this week, the Israeli Army crossed into Lebanon and started the most stupid war in Israel’s history. It lasted for 18 years. About 1,500 Israeli soldiers and untold numbers of Lebanese and Palestinians were killed. Almost all wars are based on lies. Lies are considered legitimate instruments of war. Lebanon War I (as it was later called) was a shining example. From beginning to end (if it has ended yet) it was a war of deceit and deception, falsehoods and fabrications.


Syria set to become failed state-Israeli commander
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Douglas Hamilton - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am


TEL AVIV, May 31 (Reuters) - Syria is heading for collapse and will become a "warehouse of weapons" for Islamist militants as it descends into chaos, a senior Israeli army commander said. "Syria is in civil war, which will lead to a failed state, and terrorism will blossom in it," said Major-General Yair Golan, making a rare public appearance at a conference at Bar Ilan University on Wednesday. "Syria has a big arsenal."


Abbas: Palestinians in Lebanon should disarm
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 25, 2012 - 12:00am


BEIRUT (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that Palestinians in Lebanon should not arm themselves, as they are under the protection of the Lebanese state and its military, local media reported. “The weapons of Palestinians in Lebanon are illegitimate. We do not want them inside or outside camps. We respect the law and we are [under] the protection of the Lebanese state and army,” Abbas was quoted as saying.



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