About that Hezbullah 'weapons cache' (with explosive video)
Earlier, I noted that Israeli sources report that UNIFIL had long been aware of the 'weapons cache' that exploded last week in southern Lebanon, and had done nothing about it. Over the weekend, more interesting facts about the 'weapons cache' came out.On Saturday, UNIFIL troops weren't just prevented from reaching the building in which the cache had been located. The troops were stoned. And apparently there were enough stones there and enough Lebanese Hezbullah sympathizers throwing them that 14 UNIFIL troops were hurt.
Saturday's clash occurred when U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanese army troops were less than a mile from the site of Tuesday's explosion "to verify some elements related to" the accident, Bouziane told The Associated Press.On Saturday, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported that the explosion site was not a weapons depot, but rather a 'secret military outpost' and that several Hezbullah terrorists were killed in the explosions.
About 100 people gathered and attempted to hamper their activity by throwing stones, and additional troops were deployed as the crowd grew, said Bouziane.
Kuwaiti's A-Siyassa newspaper reported on Saturday that last week's explosion killed a number of Hizbullah gunmen at a secret military outpost, and did not destroy a hidden weapons cache as was initially believed.Now, I know you all want to see that IDF video, and I have it for you (I would have had it on Thursday, but that was the day I was horizontal nearly all day long). We'll come to it at the end, but there's one more thing I want you to know first.
"The geographical layout of the area where the outpost was situated, as well as its relative proximity to the border proves that it could not be an arms depot, but rather an outpost on the front lines," a military source defined as "credible" told the paper.
On Wednesday, the army released video footage taken from an IAF aircraft, showing a home that was destroyed in Tuesday's blast in Khirbat a-Silm. The roof has dozens of holes, which IDF ballistic experts said were the size of 122-mm. Katyusha rockets.
However, the Kuwaiti paper said the weapons that exploded in the area included short-range anti-tank missiles, and anti-tank mines. It did not mention longer range rockets.
One of the results of this sorry story is that the IDF is (three years after the fact) trying to get UNIFIL more authority to enter Lebanese buildings. You may recall that one of the problems with UNIFIL and UN Security Council Resolution 1701 is that UNIFIL has to be called in by the Lebanese Army and the Lebanese Army is in cahoots with Hezbullah. So the IDF would like to fix that three years after the fact.
Good luck with that. Yet another tribute to Tzipi Livni's 'great achievement.'
And now the IDF video.
The IDF video is actually two clips put together in one video.
Here's what you're about to see.
These two IDF aerial videos show how Hezbollah has been violating UN Reoslution 1701 in southern Lebanon:Let's go to the videotape.
Clip 1: This burnt-out building located in Hirbet Salim in Southern Lebanon, approximately 7 km from the Israeli border, exploded on 14 July 2009 at 0730 exposing the large quantity of munitions stored in the building. The many holes on the roof and walls attest to the destructive power of the weapons being stored and accumulated by the Iran-backed Hizbullah in Southern Lebanon. This is a clear and blatant violation of UN Resolution 1701, which prohibits the use and storage of weaponry south of the Litani River in Lebanon.
Clip 2: Footage from seven months ago shows Hizbullah militants enter and exit an underground facility used for terror activity in direct violation of UN Resolution 1701 in Southern Lebanon. Facilities similar to this were used by the Iran-backed terror organization during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Hizbullah continues to rearm itself and build its military capacity despite a UN resolution explicitly forbidding such.
And how that plane just happened to be over the building in Hirbet Salim right after it exploded? Heh.
For those who have forgotten, the picture is from the Second Lebanon War, and features Hezbullah terrorists (distinctive from other Lebanese by... absolutely nothing) operating a Katyusha launcher in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:05 PM
2 Comments:
They look like ants from up there.
....say, I wonder if instead of expensive weapons, we could sometimes just open a flying magnifying glass, with lazer tracking, and fry the little buggers? And it would be reusable, so no multi thousands of dollars with every use. Of course, it might not be as reliable, but maybe reliable enough to test it, if of course it would be feasable.
The point is UNIFIL's authority is very limited. At best it can be a buffer between the two sides but that is also the practical extent of its authority. What it can't do is disarm Hezbollah.
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