What happened in Southern Lebanon (update)

Further to my earlier piece I see that the BBC's bias in reporting is not the only aspect to this story to concern me. YNet report that:

'UNIFIL forces who toured the site of Tuesday's deadly exchanges of fire on the northern border said the IDF's activity did not warrant the attack launched by Lebanese Army soldiers, Israeli army officials who spoke to UNIFIL representatives said.

According to the IDF, soldiers were performing routine operations in a border-area enclave within Israeli territory when they were ambushed by Lebanese troops.

During the incident, which took place mid-day Tuesday, Lebanese soldiers ambushed an Israeli Engineering Corps force operating on the Israeli side of the border. The Israeli soldiers were clearing bushes along the border fence. According to the army, such activity has become routine since the conclusion of the Second Lebanon War.

Lieutenant Colonel Dov Harari, 45, who commanded the IDF force, was killed in the skirmish, and 30-year-old reservist Captain Ezra Lakia was seriously injured. Two Lebanese soldiers and a local reporter were also killed.

Israeli army officials believe the Lebanese force was operating under a company commander whose decision to open fire on the IDF troops was supported by higher-ranking Lebanese officers.

The Lebanese Army claimed it had opened fire on Israeli soldiers who infiltrated Lebanese territory. The IDF retaliated with artillery and tank fire, and the Air Force attacked Lebanese Army positions in the village of al-Taibeh.

A senior IDF officer called the border incident a "painful and significant milestone in the fragile relations along the northern border between the IDF, UNIFIL and the Lebanese army."

The army estimates that the Lebanese officer in charge of the attack was an extremist.

Another officer said, "We do not have the luxury of suspending our activity (along the border). There is an enemy here who is following our every step. If you don’t act – someone acts against you."'

The JPost reports that:

'A UNIFIL official in southern Lebanon confirmed Wednesday that the IDF informed the organization of its intention to conduct routine maintenance work Tuesday in the area between Israel's border fence and the international border where Lebanese Army forces opened fire on IDF soldiers, killing Lt.-Col. (res) Dov Harari, Army Radio reported.

"I can confirm that we received notification from the IDF about the work and we passed the information on to the Lebanese Army," said the Hungarian diplomat who is part of the UNIFIL force in southern Lebanon.

He added that UNIFIL does not believe IDF soldiers crossed the international border during the maintenance work, but a UNIFIL technical team will investigate Wednesday where the IDF forces were exactly in relation to the border when the Lebanese Army snipers opened fire. '

The Gloria Centre reports what actually happened:

'Along Israel's border with Lebanon, east of Metulla, some bushes were pushing in on the border fence. The fence is set in slightly from the border precisely so that Israeli soldiers can work on it. The IDF called UNIFIL and informed the UN that this work was going to be done today so that they could tell the Lebanese army that there was no aggression going on but just routine maintenance. Soldiers from UNIFIL came to observe and can be seen standing next to Israeli soldiers in the photos. Photographers were also standing by to film the operation.

But Lebanese soldiers opened fire on the Israelis who were working and in no way acting aggressively. The fact that journalists were standing next to the Lebanese soldiers shows that they knew Israel was going to do this maintenance and were observing. After the Israeli soldiers were ambushed, they returned fire. One Israeli officer was killed, another seriously wounded; three Lebanese soldiers, and a Lebanese (?) journalist were killed.'

And also the media outlets anti-Israel biased reporting.


Finally the excellent Honest Reporting analyses this story very well and here are some important extracts: 'It is vital to note that the UN demarcated Blue Line that marks the official border between Israel and Lebanon does not always follow the route of the security fence. While the IDF was operating over the fence, it was still within Israeli territory as seen on the map below.'

Honest Reporting also wonder why/how so many journalists were there to record the 'incident':

'An AP report on the incident places Ronith Daher, a Lebanese journalist and photographer... at the scene. Evidently, someone from Reuters was also there to take the... image. But why were they there in the first place taking photographs before the incident even occurred?

After all, pruning foliage is hardly headline news on an ordinary day unless something out of the ordinary was expected. UNIFIL and through it, the Lebanese Army, had been notified of the IDF's routine maintenance and even UNIFIL now admits that the Lebanese fire was unwarranted.

Also according to AP, a Lebanese journalist with the daily Al-Akhbar newspaper, Assaf Abu Rahhal, was killed when an Israeli shell landed next to him in the border village of Adeisseh. Al-Akhbar is reportedly associated with Hezbollah and has been denounced by Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt as being funded by Syria and Iran. So what was Abu Rahhal doing in the area exposing himself to IDF counter-fire?

A Reuters photographer was also on the scene in Adeisseh capturing the moments in the immediate aftermath of the IDF retaliation that led to the deaths of Abu Rahhal and three Lebanese soldiers.

...

It is an open secret that parts of the Lebanese Army have been infiltrated by Hezbollah sympathisers and operatives. So information shared by Israel with UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army invariably finds its way to Hezbollah.

Was this incident a staged and pre-planned ambush as evidenced by the presence of photographers and journalists even before the exchange of fire? Were these journalists there precisely because they had advance notice of a potential flashpoint?'

Oddly enough Honest Reporting's conclusion is one that the BBC will not like or report: 'Many media outlets, including the BBC, have given equal or more weight to Lebanese claims surrounding the nature of the incident despite the overwhelming evidence. CNN stated that "Two separate narratives emerged about the incident." Commenting on the media coverage, particularly from the New York Times, Barry Rubin says:

The truth, however, is easy to ascertain--did Israel announce the maintenance, permit the photographers and UN people to watch and then cross deliberately into Lebanon?--but Israel is being portrayed as an aggressor that caused the outbreak of fighting. So millions of people will either believe that Israel was at fault or that the event is in question.

The narrative, however, is simple: In an unprovoked attack, Lebanese soldiers fired on Israelis and murdered one soldier.'

So come on BBC how about reporting the unbiased truth about Israel for once...