Calling Reserves
Israel is calling up three reserve battalions, infantry and engineers, to take the place of regular troops in several areas. The regulars will then move to assist in operations against Hezbollah.
Defense Minister Amir Peretz approved Monday night the draft of three reserve battalions – infantry and engineers. The forces will be drafted starting Tuesday morning and will replace regular forces in Judea and Samaria. The regular forces will help in the northern array.
As of today, infantry and engineer corps are operating to destroy Hizbullah outposts in the line of fire. Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky, revealed, in a Monday press conference at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, that in recent days, forces were operating in a ground offensive against Hizbullah outposts in Rajar village.
There were several exchanges of fire during the operation, which took place east of the Lebanese border. The forces entered the village and destroyed two of the organization's outposts. The outposts, in the northern part of Rajar (in Lebanese sovereign territory), constituted a constant threat to IDF forces in the southern part of Rajar, which is in sovereign Israeli territory. Rajar is a weak point in terms of security and has been the focus of many difficult confrontations. For example, in November 2005, a kidnapping attempt took place, which was foiled at the last minute by an Israeli sniper.
In the press conference, Kaplinsky also mentioned the IDF's hits on Hizbullah strongholds in the Dahiya neighborhood in Beirut. "This stroke was a destructive one, and this region, which was a symbol of Hizbullah, turned into an island of abandoned swords. Very few terrorists are still in the neighborhood."
This sounds like Israel is planning to hit Hezbollah even harder than they have been. Sending in Infantry is usually a sign that ground is to be held.
By Donna, Tuesday, 18 July , 2006 @ 6:18 am
Some being called up are engineers. Sounds a bit like Israel wants to take the ‘opportunity’ to assure that the Lebanese do not get to use any of the Wazzani River waters as had been planned a few years ago and which situation at that time alarmed Israelis who don’t want to have to share those border waters.
By Gaius, Tuesday, 18 July , 2006 @ 6:23 am
You just drop by to make an assertion with no proof?
By PoliticalCritic, Tuesday, 18 July , 2006 @ 7:07 am
It’s too bad Israel isn’t actually hitting Hezbollah. They are destroying the infrastructure of Beirut and are killing innocent people. 200+ dead civilians already. Very few Hezbollah guerillas have been killed.
By Donna, Tuesday, 18 July , 2006 @ 11:49 am
Oops, sorry, Gaius….I will try to find the article [it is from, I think, before the Iraq war] and, if I can figure out how, do a link. But, it may be awhile as I have to travel out of town for the rest of today.
By Donna, Wednesday, 19 July , 2006 @ 11:16 am
Ok, Gaius…I did not find the article I first read, but I have some links that might suffice. Fingers crossed that I can do the links properly. If they don’t work, you can do what I did, which was to google ‘Wazzani river water dispute Israel lebanon’
http://www.earthisland.org/eijournal/new_articles.cfm?articleID=802&journalID=73
or: http://www.cbc.co/story/news/national/2002/09/27/water020927.html
or [the most succinct history]: http://www.merip.org/mero/mero093002.html
By Gaius, Wednesday, 19 July , 2006 @ 11:51 am
First, it sounds like this has been going on, well, about for forever. I don’t think it’s got anything to do with the war as it stands now.
By Donna, Wednesday, 19 July , 2006 @ 6:08 pm
The ‘proof will be in the pudding’, won’t it? We will see if post-conflict, Israel ends up with a new stance or newly occupied territory which ‘incidently’ denies the riparian rights of southern Lebanon villagers.
By Gaius, Wednesday, 19 July , 2006 @ 6:13 pm
You did notice the part where Israel is already supplying a number of Lebanese villages with water?