Lebanese "village" where the Attack Took Place Is a Shooting Platform

UPDATING 10-4-2010

Uri Flam, who has escorted and lectured to groups visiting Israel's northern border at Kibbutz Misgav Am points out that the Lebanese "village" of Adeissa across the valley, across the border from Misgav Am is not a populated village but a military stronghold of the Hizbullah. Here is what Uri Flam observed:

"I have taken dozens of groups to look over at the Lebanese border from kibbutz Misgav Am, which has been the the target of many terror attacks, and most recently of rocket attacks from Lebanon. Across the valley is the Lebanese village of Addaiseh. From a lookout at the edge of the kibbutz it is easy to spot the Hezbollah flags, bunkers and personnel, even a big poster featuring the Iranian Ayatollah alongside Ahmedinejad. It is also clear that the village is not really a village at all, but an elaborate system of bunkers and shooting platforms designed to look like houses. There are no villagers, tractors, or agricultural activities. No fires burning, kids going to school or trucks unloading goods at a local store."[here]
. . . . . .

"The soldiers were clearing trees and bushes that were obscuring the technical fence. While the Israelis crossed the fence, they. . . stayed well south of the Lebanese border (Blue line) inside Israel. And prior to the operation, the IDF updated UNIFIL (United Nations) forces and the Lebanese army. This is why the Lebanese knew in advance to invite the media.

"From one of those roof top platforms the Lebanese opened accurate sniper fire on the Israelis, killing 45-year-old Dov Harari, a reservist battalion commander. It was supposed to be his last reserve tour of duty. In the Israeli response three Lebanese soldiers and a reporter were killed.

"As the preparations for the attack took place, the UNIFIL forces stood waving blue UN flags. Pictures show they were literally centimetres away from Lebanese army soldiers carrying RPGs, machine guns and other weapons. They saw and witnessed the attack unfolding within arms length.

"And what did UNFIL do?

"They stood, shouted and waved flags.

A UNIFIL peacekeeper, right, waves as a Lebanese soldier, center, carries an RPG in front of Israeli troops patrolling the border fence in the southern border village of Adaisseh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Lutfallah Daher)

"Addaiseh is a Hezbollah stronghold. Could the press have been invited without Hezbollah's approval? No. The Lebanese battalion involved in this incident is Shiite. Hezbollah is the Shiite arm of the Iranian Shiite regime. Is there a connection?"
- - - - - - -end of Uri Flam's observations- - - - - -

Everyone will reach his own conclusion. Note however that our previous post pointed out that one of the Lebanese killed in the Israeli retaliation was a reporter for a Hizbullah newspaper, al-Akhbar. Also note that one of the Lebanese wounded was a journalist with al-Manar, the Hizbullah TV broadcasting network.

Uri Flam is an Israeli educational tour guide and lecturer on history. His biography is here.

UPDATING 8-8-2010 Melanie Phillips has commented on this situation [here]
--More recent reports from Lebanon assert that only two --not three-- Lebanese soldiers were killed in the skirmish.
8-9-2010 A video on the Hizbullah Potemkin village [here]
Jonathan Tobin [here] & Michael Rosen [here] on what US policy should be toward the Lebanese army, especially stopping US aid to it.
Carlo Panella reports that the violent attack by Lebanon's presidnet, Michel Suleiman on the pro-Hizbullah UNIFIL [UN interim force in Lebanon] as being pro-Israel & on the international tribunal investigating the Hariri murder indicate that Hizbullah now "exercises full political hegemony over Lebanon's armed forces and institutions," that Lebanon is now aligned with the extremist positions of Teheran & Damascus, and that war with Israel may be imminent. He adds that these developments "confirm the total failure of the opening to Syria by the USA, France & the EU. . . " [qui -- in Il Foglio, 9-30-2010]. Panella concludes that the way is now open for more attacks and provocations against Israel from Lebanese territory.