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HNN.us said:Lebanon: How We Got Here
Yoav Gelber
Mr. Gelber is a professor of history at the University of Haifa. He is currently at UNC Chapel Hill.
wikipedia said:Precursor to the violence
As of June 8, 2006, a senior Palestinian security official close to the Hamas government, Jamal Abu Samhadana, was killed in an Israeli air strike, sparking angry demonstrations in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. For many months, the Israelis have regularly shelled open areas such as fields and orchards in an effort to prevent Palestinian militants using them to fire their missiles into nearby Israeli territory.
On June 9, 2006, eight civilians on a beach near Beit Lahiya - seven of whom belonged to the same family and three of whom were children - were killed and dozens of others wounded in an explosion on the beach of Beit Lahya in northern Gaza Strip. The Palestinians held Israel responsible for the incident, but Israel denied any involvement. Four other people were also killed in separate Israeli air strikes in northern Gaza Strip, Palestinians said.
The military wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas said it will no longer respect a self-imposed truce that had held since February 2005.[7]. In a statement on its website, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigade said Israeli "massacres" had spurred the decision. Hamas said it fired rockets at Israel for the first time since its truce 16 months ago, in response to the deaths. [8]. Israel, which has been shelling open areas of northern Gaza to prevent rocket attacks, promised to investigate the deaths. "If innocent civilians have been killed by an Israeli shell, that is totally unacceptable," said government spokesman Mark Regev. "If people have to pay a price with their careers because of negligence or some other factor, that will be done ..."
Jordan spoke of the killings as a crime which would further increase tensions, while Turkey said they were a severe blow to efforts to bring peace. Five Israeli human rights organisations demanded an urgent to end the killing of Palestinian civilians by Israeli security forces. A joint statement put out by the organisations says that since October 2000 at least 1,647 Palestinians - nearly half the number killed by Israeli troops - had been taking no part in fighting at the time of their deaths. The groups said 704 under-18s had been killed by Israeli troops and blamed "illegal expansion of Israel's open-fire regulations, double messages regarding the use of force... and failure to conduct independent investigations".
An Israeli army spokesman said chief of staff Dan Halutz had ordered an immediate stop to all artillery shelling of Gaza while an investigation was carried out into the incident. Speaking before the Hamas statement, Mr Abbas condemned the Israeli strikes in Gaza. "What the Israeli occupation forces are doing in the Gaza Strip constitutes a war of extermination and bloody massacres against our people," he said. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was "deeply disturbed" by the killings and called for a full investigation. The foreign ministers of Russia and the UK also condemned the strike [9].
On June 11, 2006, eleven Palestinians including nine civilians were killed in an Israeli missile attack on a vehicle carrying militants on their way to fire rockets [10].
On June 26, 2006, several Palestinian militias claimed responsibility for the attack of a Israeli military post, killing two soldiers and kidnapping the Corporal Gilad Shalit [11]. The kidnappers called for Israel to release hundreds of imprisoned Palestinians under the age of 18. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert denied any negotiations and alternatively, in response to the two killed soldiers and the one kidnapped, called for a military operation in Gaza to extract the kidnapped soldier.
Sunnic said:agressor? dont forget who stole who's land and who started the killing first, as you say for every action there is a reaction!
Wikipedia said:Operation Peace of the Galilee (מבצע שלום הגליל, Mivtsa Shalom HaGalil in Hebrew), began June 6, 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon. The Government of Israel gave a green light for the invasion as a response to the assassination attempt against Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov by Fatah - Revolutionary Council and to artillery attacks launched by the Palestine Liberation Organization against populated areas in northern Israel. See also Operation Litani.
After attacking PLO, Syrian and Muslim Lebanese forces, Israel occupied southern Lebanon. Surrounded in West Beirut and subject to heavy bombardment, the PLO and the Syrian forces negotiated passage from Lebanon with the aid of international peacekeepers.
chiskop said:On June 11, 2006, eleven Palestinians including nine civilians were killed in an Israeli missile attack on a vehicle carrying militants on their way to fire rockets
