Israel Matzav

Israel building prison for Lebanese captives

YNet is reporting this morning that Israel has started to construct a massive prison near Rosh Pina to hold Hezbullah captives that it may take over the coming weeks.

According to YNet, a truck convoy carrying barbed-wire fences, containers, and mobile showers and toilets started unloading equipment at the Filon military base near Rosh Pina Friday, and construction works there are already underway. According to plans, the structure should be able to hold hundreds of Hezbullah prisoners at any given time.

According to the officials, the initial plan was to erect the compound near the Koach Junction using an old structure which dates back to the days of the British Mandate and which is currently in use by the Border Guard police. However, as the place is limited in size, the army later decided to locate the new prison at the larger Filon base.

The detention center will be based on the model of previous prisons built in Israel such as Ktziot in the south and the Ofer base in Jerusalem. [Ofer isn't quite in Jerusalem. It's on the edge of Ramallah. For those of you who travel Route 443 out of Jerusalem towards Tel Aviv, if you look at the fenced-in area to your right at the second traffic light, that's Ofer. CiJ]

During the Lebanon War, thousands of Lebanese detainees were incarcerated at the al-Hiyam prison located in Lebanese territory [I believe I saw somewhere that the IDF bombed al-Hiyam last week. CiJ]. Defense officials explained to Ynet that setting up a detention center on such a scale is proof of the Israeli government's plans for an extensive operation that may last for months.

This is the first time I have seen "months" used as a possible period for the current war. As of now, I am guessing it will be over sometime in September (despite the use of the term "months," which would seemingly imply a longer period). HaAretz is reporting this morning that with Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice due here tomorrow, Israel anticipates being given "at least another week" to complete the military offensive in Lebanon. But the YNet article I quoted above and other things the IDF has done (like the massive reserve callup on Friday that I noted in the previous post) indicate that the IDF expects to have a lot more than a week to continue this job.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:08 AM