War and Conflict Journal

According to the BBC on Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Four Israelis killed in West Bank

Four Israelis have been shot dead in the West Bank, Israeli police say.

Their vehicle came under fire on a road between the settlement of Kiryat Arba and the Palestinian village of Bani Naim, near the city of Hebron.

The military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, said it had carried out the “heroic operation”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it showed there should be “no compromise” on Israeli security demands at the relaunched direct peace talks.

Hamas supporters in the Gaza Strip celebrated news of the West Bank attack
“The prime minister ordered the security forces to act without diplomatic limitations in order to catch the murderers,” his spokesman, Nir Hefetz, said on arrival in the US ahead of Thursday’s meeting between Mr Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington.

“Terror will not determine Israel’s borders or the future of the settlements,” Mr Hefetz added.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad also condemned the attack, saying it went “against Palestinian interests”.

The White House condemned the killings in the “strongest possible terms,” adding that all parties must “continue working to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region”.

US state department spokesman PJ Crowley said: “There may well be actors in the region who are deliberately making these kinds of attacks in order to try to sabotage the process.”

‘Grave incident’

The attack took place near Bani Naim after dark on Highway 60, a busy route used by both Palestinians and Jewish settlers.

The four victims – two men and two women, one of whom was pregnant – were reportedly shot at from a passing vehicle.

Video footage showed a white estate car standing at an angle on the side of the road, its windows shot out and its doors riddled with bullet holes. Officials said all four victims were from the Beit Haggai settlement.

“This was a terrorist attack and the army is treating it as a grave incident,” Israeli army spokeswoman Lt-Col Avital Leibovich told reporters.

It was the first fatal shooting in the West Bank since mid-June, when a police officer was killed, and the most lethal attack in the West Bank in four years, when a suicide bombing killed four people at a settlement.

“Security was stable for the past few years and we hope this will not cause any deterioration,” Col Leibovich said.

On its website, the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, declared “its full responsibility for the heroic operation in Hebron”.

Earlier, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri said the attack had been “a natural response to the crimes of the occupation”.

He said it was also proof of a “failure of security co-ordination” between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from the Fatah-dominated PA in June 2007.

Hebron, in which some 500 Jewish settlers live in fortified enclaves amid about 100,000 Palestinians, has long been a flashpoint for violence.

The BBC’s Wyre Davies in Jerusalem says there was no warning an attack like this would take place, and the incident is likely to strain negotiations this week.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Mr Netanyahu will attend a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Thursday in what will be their first direct talks in nearly two years.

Before leaving the West Bank, Mr Abbas urged “Israel not to miss this historic opportunity for peace,” saying that “if there is only a 1% chance of achieving peace we will strive for it”.

Mr Netanyahu meanwhile said he hoped for “a peace based on recognition, security, stability and economic prosperity between the two peoples that will endure for us and our children”.

Both sides have agreed to place a one-year time limit on the direct negotiations, but correspondents say prospects of a comprehensive deal are slim, as serious disagreements exist on the core issues.

A new article at Debka.com relates concerns that Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah may be preparing for a summer, 2010 war against Israel.  See the article at Debka.com’s site: http://www.debka.com/article/8745/

And the History Guy page at http://www.historyguy.com/iranwar.htm

The Israeli military launched an airstrike on Hamas-ruled Gaza early Wednesday, Nov. 5 after Israeli troops battled Hamas militants after Hamas fired mortars rounds into Israel. Six Palestinians were killed in the renewed fighting. This was the first battle since a June truce between Israel and Hamas brought relative peace to the region.

The Israeli army said the battles broke out late Tuesday, Nov. 4, after Israeli forces found a tunnel in central Gaza built by Hamas in order to abduct Israeli soldiers. A Israeli special army unit destroyed the tunnel. One Palestinian was killed in the gunbattles at the tunnel.

The timing may be coincidental, but it is interesting that this clash took place on the same night that the American Presidential campaign concluded with a victory by Democrat Barack Obama.  Many people worry about a possible Israeli-American strike at the Hamas/Hezbollah/Syria/Iran alliance in the waning days of Republican control of the White House.  Might this small battle lead to more clashes on other borders, with a possible Iranian and/or Syrian response?

This situation bears watching…

Palestinians Die in Hamas-Fatah Battles

Once again, Palestinian factions battled it out in the Gaza Strip,
as the two main factions, Hamas and Fatah, wrestle for control of the
Palestinian non-state known as the Palestinian Authority. (Hamas
controls the Gaza Strip, from which Hamas continues to fire hundreds
of rockets at Israel), while Fatah controls the West Bank.

5
Palestinians Killed in Hamas-Fatah Clashes in Gaza–By VOA News,
December 31, 2007

Weekly Update–Week of November 25, 2007

Iraq War Casualties (U.S.)–As of Nov. 25, 2007

U.S. Military Casualties:

    Total Fatalities–3,875

    Fatalities due to Hostile Action–3,157

    Total Wounded–28,350

    U.S. Civilian Fatalities–158  (Contractors killed in Iraq)

Total Allied Fatalities:  300

Malaysia’s ethnic Indian community staged its largest anti-government protest on Sunday, November 25, 2007, with more than 10,000 protesters taking to the streets to complain about racial discrimination. Police fired tear gas and used water cannons to break up the protests. At least 20 were arrested.

Israel-Palestinian Conflict:

The upcoming peace conference at Annapolis, Maryland will host not only leaders from the U.S., Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but it will also feature representatives from the governments of Syria and Saudi Arabia. Diplomats from the Arab League, the European Union, Russia, and China are also expected to attend.

Fighting broke out November 25 between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters of Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Three Palestinian militants were killed, and seven others were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during armed clashes with Israeli soldiers. Over 35 people were arrested in the West Bank. Dozens of Israeli soldiers with armored vehicles entered the Marba’ at Hanoun neighborhood of Ramallah on the West Bank and exchanged shots with Fatah’s military wing. Also on Nov. 25, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian militants from the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in the area east of al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza Strip.

South America:

Venezuela and Colombia moved toward a diplomatic crisis on Sunday Nov. 25, following an an exchange of insults between Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez and the Colombian President, Álvaro Uribe. The two South American nations are neighbors, but Chavez is a major critic of American policies in Latin America, while Uribe is supported by the Bush Administration. Columbia is fighting a leftist insurgency and in the past, Colombia has expressed concern over large Venezuelan arms purchases; fearing that some of the small-arms purchased with Chavez’ oil money may end up in the hands of Colombian rebels. Look for the Bush Administration to support Colombia in any dispute with Chavez.

Thailand:

The Thai Army captured the eight Muslim insurgents arrested in a raid November 24, 2007 on an insurgent hideout in the troubled southern province of Narathiwat, Thailand.

Since January 2004, more than 2,600 people have died in fighting and terrorism in the Muslim-majority southern provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala where Muslim insurgents are fighting for independence from Thailand.

Sri Lanka:

Sri Lankan air force jets attacked a satellite communications center operated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in an attempt to reduce the Tamil rebels’ intelligence gathering-capability. The military attacked a Tamil base at Dharmapuram, near the LTTE’s headquarters at Kilinochchi in northern Sri Lanka, on November 25. The LTTE claimed the attack was on a civilian settlement, killing four people.

In a separate clash, the Sri Lankan army repulsed an attack by the Tamil Tigers Nov. 25 near Mannar in the northwest, killing at least five rebels.

Nepal:

Nepal’s former rebel leader, Prachanda, threatened to renew the long-standing civil war if his demands for immediate abolition of the monarchy are not met. Prachanda and his Maoist followers, while giving up the armed struggle for now, have been arguing with mainstream political parties over their demands for Nepal to be immediately declared a republic. The Maoists ended their decade-long insurgency in November of 2006. The Nepal Civil War claimed over 13,000 lives.

North Lebanon Conflict—(May 20, 2007- September 2, 2007):

This conflict began in May, 2007, when the Lebanese Army began a siege of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in order to drive out a militant Islamic milita called Fatah Islam. The resulting combat killed 158 Lebanese soldiers, 120 Fatah al-Islam militants and 42 civilians.
This conflict, which came a year after the destructive Israel-Hezbollah War, tested the capacity of the Lebanese government to bring violent militias under control. Most of the fighting took place in the port city of Tripoli and in the nearby Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, which is home to thousands of Palestinian refugees.
Lebanon received military support from the United States in the form of military equipment and ammunition. As such, this conflict can be considered a part of the larger War on Terror led by the U.S. The Fatah al-Islam group is an al-Qaida inspired armed militia which openly challenged the authority of the Lebanese government.
Fatah al-Islam ("Conquest of Islam") formed in November, 2006 in northern Lebanon, drawing members from the largely Sunni Muslim Palestinian refugee community, as well as from veteran foreign fighters from the War in Iraq. Fatah al-Islam’s leader, Shaker Abssi, is a Palestinian who fought with jihadist forces in Iraq, and who had connections to the late al-Qaida in Iraq leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.Shaker Abbsi was sentenced to death by a Jordanian military court in 2004 for his alleged involvement in the 2002 murder of the American diplomat, Laurence Foley, who was assassinated in Amman, Jordan. The rise of Fatah al-Islam and other Muslim Jihadist groups among the Palestinian refugee community is indicative of the continuing problems the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), has experienced since the formation of the Palestinian Authority, the rise of Hamas, a rival political organization opposed to Fatah, the primary Palestinian party. In the decades prior to the Oslo Peace Accords with Israel, Fatah and the PLO claimed the support of the majority of Palestinians. However, in the process of changing from a liberation army to a governing political party, Fatah (founded by the late Yasser Arafat), lost the allegiance of many young Palestinians, who looked to groups like Hamas and (to a lesser extent), Fatah al-Islam for meaning and leaderhip of a more fundamentalist religous nature. Also, these fundamentalist Islamic groups advocate continued war with Israel, which Fatah is moving away from.
The violence began on May 20, 2007, when Lebanese authorities raided a Fatah al-Islam safe-house in Tripoli, sparking a gunbattle. The fighting spread to the nearby Nahr al-Bared camp, where Fatah al-Islam was based. The Lebanese Army quickly cordoned off the camp and began a siege which ended in September, 2007, as the defeated remnants of Fatah al-Islam attempted to break out of the camp and were destroyed in firefights with the Lebanese military.

Links:

2007 Lebanon Conflict–Wikipedia article
A new face of Al Qaeda emerges in Lebanon –International Herald Tribune
Profile: Fatah al-Islam–al-Jazeera article
Lebanon’s New War(s)–From Mobile Newsweek
Lebanon: Fatah Islam Fighters Caught–From the Associated Press

This War and Conflict Post is taken from the original page on the Historyguy.com website:

  Please cite this source when appropriate:
Lee, R. "The History Guy: North Lebanon Conflict (2007)"
http://www.historyguy.com/north_lebanon_conflict_2007.htm

More fighting in Lebanon as the government and the Islamist Palestinian factions continue to fight.

By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer – July 17, 2007

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Army troops are making "significant" gains in their
long-running battle against al-Qaida-inspired fighters barricaded
inside a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, security
officials said Tuesday.

But a senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said four soldiers
were killed in fighting Monday. The body of a missing soldier also has
been found, he said.

The latest deaths raise to 103 the army’s death toll since the fighting broke out nearly two months ago.

See the full story at:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070717/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_violence;_ylt=AkeXY0SXx3yQZ5IheMabYJILewgF