BY HAARETZ— Christian Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea retorted Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah Friday, saying the Lebanese army would defend alone any future oil installations put to risk by Israel, according to a report in the Lebanese Daily Star. “The Lebanese Army, not you, will deal with our oil installations in the event they were…
BY YAAKOV KATZ, JPOST— The bombing of a UNIFIL convoy in southern Lebanon on Tuesday night was likely aimed at sending a message to the peacekeeping force to scale back its operations against Hezbollah, Israeli defense officials said on Wednesday. UNIFIL’s mandate is up for renewal in mid-August and the attack is understood in Israel…
BY AP— Hezbollah’s leader is warning Israel against “stealing” Lebanon’s natural oil and gas resources. A dispute is building between the two arch enemies over their maritime border and huge natural gas and oil reserves beneath the sea. Lebanon has submitted its own sea boundary proposal to the UN, and Israel’s government earlier this month…
BY BARRY RUBIN— History has taught us that on security matters we can only trust ourselves. Israel is constantly urged to put its trust in the international community – an idea that hasn’t worked out too well in the past. Now the UN special envoy for Lebanon has given another reason Israel shouldn’t take risks…
BY CAROLINE GLICK— Five years ago this week, Iran’s Lebanese proxy opened war with Israel. The war lasted 34 days, during which Hezbollah launched more than 4,000 missiles against Israel. Now five years later, under US President Barack Obama, America is pushing a policy that drastically escalates the chance that a new war between Israel…
BY ISRAEL TODAY— Israel and Lebanon have become embroiled in a legal and diplomatic battle over rights to undersea natural gas fields that could potentially turn violent. Dispute over natural resources has long been a catalyst for war, and few would be surprised if Lebanon’s dominant Hizballah terrorist militia used this latest quarrel as justification…
BY CAROLINE GLICK, JPOST— Last Saturday Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah gave Hizbullah-backed Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati the political equivalent of a public thrashing. Last Thursday Mikati gave a speech in which he tried to project an image of a leader of a government that has not abandoned the Western world completely. Mikati gave the…
BY DEBKAFILE— After more than a year of strained relations, Turkey has decided to restore military and intelligence collaboration in the eastern Mediterranean with Israel as Ankara heads for a military showdown with Syria, according to debkafile’s exclusive military sources. The deal worked out between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also gives…
BY GIL RONEN, ARUTZ 7— The minority Alawite regime of Bashar Assad has brought in helicopter gunships and tanks to combat a citizens’ rebellion, according to eyewitness reports. The BBC quoted a Syrian refugee who had crossed the border into Turkey as saying that Assad’s tanks attacked a village near Jisr al-Shughour Saturday. About 120…
BY YAAKOV LAPPIN AND HERB KEINON— Hundreds of Palestinian rioters repeatedly tried to infiltrate Israel throughout Sunday in two locations on the Syrian border, but were rebuffed by an IDF determined to prevent a repeat of the “Nakba Day” scenes in which activists spilled into Israeli territory. Syrian television claimed 20 activists were killed, and…