Hezbollah Stockpiling Drones In Anticipation of Israeli Strike
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth
by Ronen Bergman - April 27, 2012 - 12:00am


Hezbollah is preparing "surprises" for the event of an Israeli assault on Iran. The Hezbollah organization has recently been investing efforts in upgrading its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) unit, with the aim of using the UAVs to attack Israel in the event Israel decides to strike Iran's nuclear facilities.


Shadow of another war hangs over southern Lebanon border
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Michael Young - (Opinion) April 19, 2012 - 12:00am


The negotiations in Turkey over Iran's nuclear programme last weekend were not particularly high in the attentions of the Lebanese living along their country's southern frontier with Israel. And yet if Iran is one day attacked militarily because the talks have failed, the Marjayoun-Hasbayya district will probably again become a front line in a destructive confrontation between Hizbollah and the Israelis.


UNIFIL Commander: Isreali Occupation in Ghajar for Political Reasons
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 18, 2012 - 12:00am


BEIRUT, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFL) commander Maj.Gen. Paolo Serra said Wednesday that the continued Israeli occupation of the Lebanese side of the border village of Ghajar has political reasons. In remarks published in al-Joumhouria newspaper, General Serra said, "the problem of Ghajar is political more than military." But he added that it is the subject of continued discussions by UNIFIL with the Israeli side.


Israel endangers region by willfully courting trouble
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Linda Heard - (Opinion) April 10, 2012 - 12:00am


The Middle East is evolving into an ever more dangerous neighborhood largely due to Israel’s increasing belligerence and intransigence. Rather than attempt to mend diplomatic fences with its former “friends” Egypt and Turkey it is using its cash and US leverage to make new regional alliances. Israel is also flexing its muscles and openly making threats toward Iran, Lebanon and Egypt.


Israel's "tunnel rats" brace for new guerrilla war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Lianne Gross - March 8, 2012 - 1:00am


SIRKIN SPECIAL FORCES BASE, Israel, March 8 (Reuters) - Fearing a surge in tunnel and bunker construction by Lebanon's Hezbollah and Palestinian militants, Israel is training its troops to hunt below ground with robot probes and sniffer dogs. Such preparations reflect concerns that should Israel or the United States carry out attacks on Iran's disputed nuclear programme, Tehran may retaliate through its allies on the Jewish state's borders. "You can see a growing threat," said a major from the Israeli engineering corps' Yahalom ("Diamond") commando unit.


The Lessons of the Second Lebanon War
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Michael B. Oren - (Opinion) August 12, 2011 - 12:00am


South of Lebanon's Litani River, many villages lay in ruin. Others were deserted, their inhabitants having fled northward to Beirut. Across the border, Israeli civilians emerged from shelters to find their neighborhoods ravaged by thousands of Katyusha rockets. The surrounding forests were scorched. Israeli troops deployed throughout southern Lebanon, poised to deal a decisive blow to Hezbollah, but they did not. At that moment, 8 a.m. on Aug. 14, 2006—five years ago this weekend—the guns of the Second Lebanon War fell silent.


Lebanese, Israeli soldiers exchange fire over border
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 1, 2011 - 12:00am


BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese Army opened fire at a group of Israeli soldiers that crossed the border Blue Line into Lebanon in the Wazzani area early Monday, a security source told Xinhua. The source said the six Israeli soldiers, who had crossed into Lebanon, fired at the Lebanese army post in response. No casualties were reported. The Lebanese military sent reinforcement to the Wazzani area soon after the incident and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) circulated extensive patrols, said the source.


'Balance of terror' sustains tense calm between Hezbollah and Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Nicholas Blanford and Joshua Mitnick - July 12, 2011 - 12:00am


As Lebanon’s militant Shiite group Hezbollah and the Israeli army prepare to mark the fifth anniversary of the 2006 war on Tuesday, the tense calm along the traditionally volatile Lebanon-Israel border is being tested by recent regional developments. Still, analysts say, the calm should hold for now. The durability of the “balance of terror” that has helped deter another conflict is rooted in the reluctance of Hezbollah and Israel to embark upon another conflict that both appreciate will be of a far greater magnitude than that of 2006.


Amir Peretz makes bid for Labor chairmanship
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - April 12, 2011 - 12:00am


Former Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz announced that he intends to seek a second term as party chairman. Peretz, who lead Labor in 2006, called a press conference Tuesday and announced his plans. "It saddens me to see society today. Many of the important things have been eroded. I plan on submitting an extensive plan, a social Iron Dome, to protect three major things: society, democracy and peace.


Israel can't defeat Hezbollah - Israeli expert
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - December 16, 2010 - 1:00am


Israel cannot defeat Hezbollah in a direct engagement and the Lebanese guerrilla group would inflict heavy damage on the Israeli home front if war broke out, a former Israeli national security adviser said on Thursday. Though outnumbered and outgunned, Hezbollah held off Israel's advanced armed forces in a 2006 war and fired more than 4,000 rockets into Israeli territory. The group has a domestic political base and has since bolstered an arsenal that Israel describes as a strategic threat.



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