The Associated Press, in a July 13, 2006 article titled "Israeli Troops Raid Lebanon After Militants Capture Two Soldiers in Cross-border Raid," wrote the following:
"Israel bombed and shelled southern Lebanon and sent ground troops over the border for the first time in six years Wednesday after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers. The fighting killed eight Israeli soldiers and three Lebanese. Early Thursday morning, Israeli planes attacked the runways of Beirut International Airport, Israeli Army Radio reported, starting off a second day of attacks...
Hezbollah's brazen cross-border raid opened a second front for the Israeli army. The army is now fighting Islamic militants in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, where it is looking for another soldier who was captured more than two weeks ago by Hamas-linked militants.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the Hezbollah raid an 'act of war' by Lebanon and threatened 'very, very, very painful' retaliation. The Cabinet, meeting in the wake of the military's highest daily death toll in four years, decided to continue the army operation and call on the international community to disarm Hezbollah, according to participants. Israel's Army Radio reported the object of the attack on Beirut airport was to shut down air traffic in and out of the Lebanese capital. Residents of northern Israeli towns were ordered to seek cover in underground bomb shelters as Hezbollah, an anti-Israel guerrilla group that essentially runs southern Lebanon, launched rockets across the border throughout the day...
Two Lebanese civilians and a Hezbollah fighter also were killed in the border violence. Still, jubilant Hezbollah supporters and Palestinians in Lebanon fired guns in the air and set off firecrackers at the news of the soldiers' capture."
MidEastWeb for Coexistence, an Israeli-based non-governmental organization, posted the following on its website (accessed Jan. 16, 2008) under the section "Israel and Palestine: A Brief History":
"On the morning of July 12, Hezbollah... crossed the blue line border from Lebanon to Israel and attacked an Israeli army patrol, killing 3 and capturing 2 soldiers. An additional soldier died the following day and several were killed when a tank hit a mine, while pursuing the captors. At the same time, Hezbollah began a series of rocket and mortar attacks on northern Israel. This incident may have been timed to coincide with the meeting of the G-8, which was to examine the issue of the Iranian nuclear development program. It also occurred against the background of the earlier fighting in Gaza.
Subsequently, Israel carried out massive but selective bombing and artillery shelling of Lebanon, hitting rocket stores, Hezbollah headquarters in the Dahya quarter of Beirut and al-Manara television in Beirut, and killing an estimated 900 persons in total, many of them civilians. Hezbollah responded by launching thousands of rockets on Haifa, Tiberias, Safed and other towns deep in northern Israel, killing about 40 civilians. About 120 soldiers were killed in the fighting. A Hezbollah Iranian supplied C-802 missile hit an Israeli missile cruiser off the coast of Beirut, killing 4. Hezbollah rockets also sank a Cambodian ship and damaged an Egyptian one. The G-8 democratic industrial powers, meeting in St Petersburg, issued a statement calling for an end to violence, return of the soldiers and compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1559 UN Security Council Resolution 1680, which call for disarming militias.
After Israeli air-attacks proved ineffective at stopping Hezbollah rocket attacks or producing a satisfactory cease-fire resolution, Israel launched a limited ground invasion of Lebanon, making halting and indecisive moves coupled with aggressive rhetoric by Israeli public figures. Efforts continued to broker a cease fire that would be satisfactory to both sides. Key Israeli demands were implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 and 1680 - that is, disarming the Hezbollah, and moving the Lebanese army up to border, to take control of south Lebanon from the Hezbollah, as well as return of the kidnapped soldiers. Israel and the US also wanted a strong international force that would oversee disarmament of the Hezbollah. Key Lebanese demands were embodied in a seven point plan that included deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon, but did not include disarmament of Hezbollah. Lebanese also insisted on return of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel, and immediate Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory. Lebanon also demanded the Sheba farms territory from Israel. In 2000, the UN had ruled that Sheba farms, in the Golan Heights, is part of Syria. Syria, for its part, had refused to demarcate its border with Lebanon formally but said it supported the Lebanese demand.
The desultory Israeli offensive was stepped up on August 11 when efforts to broker a cease-fire appeared to be at an impasse, and Israeli troops began advancing in force toward the Litani river, 30 KM north of the Israel-Lebanon border. At the same time however, the UN Security Council met and approved Resolution 1701, calling for cessation of hostilities, and deployment of the Lebanese army in Southern Lebanon, but with ambiguous wording about the various issues."
The Daily Star, a major English daily newspaper in Lebanon, on its website (accessed Jan. 16, 2008) posted a timeline of the conflict titled "Timeline of the July War 2006: Key Events in the Latest Crisis Between Israel and Lebanon," where the following was presented as an overview of the conflict:
"The Israeli offensive on Lebanon has left at least 1,287 people,
nearly all civilians, dead and 4,054 wounded, according to an AFP
[Agence France Press] count based on official figures on Saturday 19
August 2006:
At
least 1,140 civilians -- 30 percent of them children under 12 -- have
been killed along with 43 Lebanese army and police troops in the
month-long offensive that ended on Monday, the state High Relief
Committee said.The HRC tolls do not count people still believed to be
under the rubble in various locations across the country.
The Lebanese Shiite militant group
Hezbollah has announced the death in action of 74 combatants while the
allied Amal movement lost 17 militants.
The radical pro-Syrian Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) of
Ahmad Jibril said two of its militants were killed in Israeli raids.
Israeli strikes also killed four United Nations observers and one member of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Six people were killed and 13
others wounded by the explosion of Israeli bomblets since the cessation
of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on Monday,
police said."
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a July 12, 2007 article titled "Behind the Headlines: The Second Lebanon War - One year later" stating the following:
"Israel launched Operation Change of Direction after suffering an
unprovoked cross-border attack from Lebanese territory. The attack was
carried out against Israelis citizens - civilians and soldiers - while
on sovereign Israeli soil. Hizbullah violated an internationally
recognized border, kidnapped two Israelis (whom they are still holding
hostage) from Israeli territory, and opened fire with rockets and
missiles on Israel's northern villages...
In
the course of 34 days of fighting (12 July - 14 August 2006)
approximately one third of the population of the State of Israel -
about two million people - was placed within striking range of the
thousands of missiles launched indiscriminately by Hizbullah. Missile
attacks were launched against large cities such as Haifa, historic
towns containing religious sites and archeological sites, such as
Safed, Nazareth and Tiberias, farming communities such as Meron and
villages such as Majdal Krum.
Some
4,000 missiles landed in Israeli territory, all over northern Israel,
many in urban areas. In the course of the conflict, 43 Israeli
civilians - Arabs and Jews alike - were killed, including seven
children. Thousands of civilians required medical attention: 604
civilians were wounded (with various degrees of severity) and an
additional 1,210 were treated for shock. Hizbullah not only violated
humanitarian principles by deliberately targeting civilian areas, but
also by using Katyusha missiles loaded with lethal anti-personnel ball
bearings, intended to maximize civilian casualties.
The
number of displaced people was estimated at between 350,000-500,000
while about 1,000,000 people were confined to bomb shelters.
Damage
to property was also heavy: in total, some 12,000 civilian buildings
were damaged, among them about 400 public buildings, while
approximately 2,000 private homes and apartments were completely
destroyed. In addition, 23 schools, four kindergartens and two
community centers were damaged. During the conflict, hospitals were
damaged in Nahariya, Haifa, Safed and Mizra. One of them - a
psychiatric hospital - had to be evacuated.
Significant
damage was also inflicted on infrastructure: sewage plants were damaged
and, in some cases, sewage had to be released into the sea and
atmosphere (by burning). Over 50 km of roads were damaged and 40 km² of
natural woodland, as well as 2 km² of cultivated forest, were destroyed
by fires caused by the missiles."
Cable News Network (CNN) posted a resource on its website (accessed Jan. 16, 2008) titled "Crisis in the Middle East," that stated the following about the conclusion of the conflict:
"Friday, August 11
The U.N. Security Council unanimously approves a resolution aimed at
ending the war. The United Nations estimates the conflict has displaced
915,000 people inside Lebanon...
Saturday, August 12
The fighting between Israeli and Hezbollah forces continues, with a
U.N. cease-fire resolution set to go in effect in two days. The
Lebanese Cabinet unanimously approves the resolution. The Israeli
military expands its ground offensive the deepest into Lebanon yet.
Twenty-four Israeli soldiers die - the most killed in one day since
fighting began, the IDF says. At least 10 Hezbollah militants are
killed in fighting, the IDF says...
Sunday, August 13
Some 250 Hezbollah rockets slam into northern Israel, killing one
civilian, the Israeli military says. Safed, Shlomi and Haifa are among
the cities hit. Israel pounds the Lebanese towns of Ali al-Nahri and
Brital, killing at least 11, hospital officials say. Israel also
strikes targets in southern Beirut. An Israeli bombardment around Tyre
knocks out power in most of the city. The Israeli Cabinet approves the
U.N. Security Council resolution to end hostilities...
Monday, August 14
A cease-fire takes effect at 8 a.m. (1 a.m. ET). Israeli forces kill
four Hezbollah fighters during four clashes, one in Farun and another
near Hadata, the Israeli military says. About 10 rockets are fired
inside Lebanon, but land in Lebanese territory. Thousands of displaced
residents of southern Lebanon begin returning to their homes, jamming
roads and bridges with traffic, despite Israeli military warnings that
the region is not safe."
