Israel decides to go to Lebanon.

[John Uskglass]

Godwin's Law. I win.

Yes, Johnny, that is discrimination. What 'destroyed' Lebanon was not the Palestinians, but the inability of people of both sides to work together and continue to live the way they did.

And they where not able to work together because the Palestinians did not want to do anything but take over, instead of sharing power with the previously co-Christian led Lebanese government.

 

[Lord 342]

I've never shared the view that Israel is anything more than another pissant, volatile middle-east nation waiting for a reason to hit someone with its hammer. They are no better, or worse, than any of their neighbors. But why attack Lebanon? Lebanon really seems to take a back burner in most middle-east conflicts, I don't seem to recall Lebanon moving militarily recently, and Israel has a history of jumping rabidly at any excuse to wave its millitary wanger at people and generally act like assholes.
I'm not saying Lebannon is innocent or anything, but if one Mafia family sends a hit team to another family's party, the first guy to get shot is NOT the accountant, it's the meanest, toughest soldier in the place, or maybe the Don. Israel shot the accountant. WTF?

 

[victor]

They probably have other motives they don't want to tell about.

 

[Neamos]

Lol short link

STRALSUND, Germany -
President Bush strongly defended
Israel's attacks in Lebanon on Thursday but worried they could weaken or topple the fragile government in Beirut. The Mideast violence exposed divisions between the United States and allies and raised fears of a widening war.

"Israel has a right to defend herself," Bush said at a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "Every nation must defend herself against terrorist attacks and the killing of innocent life."

Merkel appealed for restraint by all sides and said it was up to the militant group Hezbollah to defuse the situation, triggered by its cross-border raid from Lebanon into Israel and the capture of two Israeli soldiers. She called the violence a "very disturbing situation" that "fills us with concern."

The Mideast eruption came at an awkward time for Bush. His strong support of Israel put him at odds with
European Union allies two days before a summit of world leaders in Russia, where the United States is counting on a united stand against
Iran's nuclear ambitions and
North Korea's long-range missile test. The violence also presented Bush with yet another crisis in the Middle East, along with the
Iraq war and the Iran standoff.

Ten hours after Bush's statement, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice held a news conference and emphasized that Israel should exercise restraint to avoid civilian casualties and damage. She had spent much of the day in telephone diplomacy with Mideast leaders.

"The point about restraint, I think, has been taken by our Israeli colleagues," she said.

Rice declined to criticize Israel for its attacks on the Beirut airport and other targets. "I'm not going to try to judge every single act," she told reporters. She said there was considerable concern about the Mideast, with Israel fighting both in the Gaza and on the Lebanese border, but she refused to address fears of a wider war.

"It doesn't help to speculate on kind of apocalyptic scenarios," she said.

Rice and National Security Adviser
Stephen Hadley voiced concern that the violence would hurt Lebanon's fledgling, democratic government. Rice said that government presented the best opportunity in three decades for democracy and a reduction of Syrian influence.

"This is one more challenge they do not need," Hadley said. He said the United States was asking other nations in the Middle East — particularly Egypt — to put pressure on Hezbollah to free the Israeli captives.

"Ultimately the best chance for peace will be democracy in Lebanon and the Syrian forces are out and remain out," Rice said.

U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan was sending three officials to the Middle East to try to defuse what he described as a major crisis. "What we should all do right now," Rice said, "is to focus on how to make the secretary-general's efforts a success."

Earlier in the day, Bush was welcomed to Merkel's home district in what once was communist East Germany with a ceremonial barrel of pickled herring, a Baltic delicacy. Later at dinner, he cut several slices from the rib area of a wild boar that turned slowly on a spit when he arrived for a barbecue in nearby Trinwillershagen.

Anti-Bush demonstrators were kept far away, but one protester from the Greenpeace environmental group managed to climb high in the clock tower of St. Nicholas Church overlooking Old Market Square where the president was welcomed. The protester displayed a yellow "No War, No Nukes, No Bush" banner from a window but it was gone by the time Bush appeared minutes later.

With Iran delaying its answer to a Western offer of incentives to shelve its nuclear program, Bush said he wanted the summit to send Tehran a message "loud and clear: We're not kidding, it's a serious issue, the world is united in insisting that you not have a nuclear weapons program."

Bush and Merkel said it was not too late for Iran to avoid possible penalties as the
U.N. Security Council prepares to take up its case. "They can show up any time and say, wait a minute, now we'd like to go back and negotiate," Bush said. Merkel said: "The door has not been closed."

Among allies, there was disagreement with Bush about Israel's attacks, which included air strikes on Beirut's airport and two Lebanese army air bases near the Syrian border. The European Union criticized Israel for using "disproportionate" force and said Israel's naval blockade of supply routes to Lebanon was unjustified.

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the Israeli air campaign — its heaviest against Lebanon in 24 years — could "plunge Lebanon back into the worst years of the war with the flight of thousands of Lebanese who ... were in the process of rebuilding their country."

Bush, at the news conference, voiced fears about the survival of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora's government. "The concern is that any activities by Israel to protect herself will weaken that government ... or topple that government. And we've made it clear in our discussions.

"Having said all that," Bush continued, "people need to protect themselves. There are terrorists who will blow up innocent people in order to achieve tactical objectives."

Bush arrives in Moscow on Friday and will have dinner with President
Vladimir Putin. The two leaders also will meet Saturday before the opening of the eight-nation summit of industrial powers.

Bush and Merkel said they would raise concerns with Putin that Russia is backsliding on democracy and human rights. But the president laughed off Putin's slap at Vice President
Dick Cheney for his criticism of Russia's behavior. Putin, in an interview broadcast Wednesday, called Cheney's remark "an unsuccessful hunting shot" — referring to Cheney's accidental wounding of a hunting companion in February.

"It was pretty clever," Bush said of Putin. "It was quite humorous — not to dis my friend the vice president."

Double standards and hypocrisy make baby Jesus cry.



Another interesting link http://www.ifamericansknew.org/

 

[welsh]

This is all actually a very clever ploy by both Hamas and Hezbollah, but it has been done before. The game is simple- to get domestic support you engineer a confict with the badguy everyone hates. In this case it is Israel.

This is also a lesson about why its bad to have heavily armed political groups inside a democracy, especially if those heavily armed groups have an agenda that's not in sync with the rest of the country.

Hamas has problems with domestic support because they have not been very successful in building popular support within the Palestinian population. Why? Because Hamas was elected because of wide spread corruption of the prior Palestinian government, but since being in power had redistributed what wealth, favor and political privs that exist to its own faction.

Hezbollah, a Syrian ally in Lebanon, is in the very unusual place of being a minority holder and losing support because it was opposed to the "cedar revolution" that led to more democratic governance in Lebanon and Syria's withdraw.

(Let's not forget that Syria ended the civil war in Lebanon by intervening).

Hezbollah and the "Cedar Revolution"

After the assassination of Rafik Hariri in February 2005, Hezbollah strongly supported Syria through demonstrations. It is claimed that Hezbollah is "opposed" to the cedar revolution which resulted in Syria's withdrawal. Hezbollah, however, won the biggest number of representatives in its history during the national parliamentary elections of May 2005 and was asked to join the government in July 2005 in the name of national unity. Hezbollah still holds on to its weapons and the subject remains extremely controversial in Lebanon.
[edit]

Hezbollah activities following the "Cedar Revolution"

During the months following Syria's (Hezbollah's main backer) April 2005 withdrawal from Lebanon, international and domestic pressure has mounted on Hezbollah to dismantle its military wing and become solely a political party. On November 21, 2005 Hezbollah launched a heavy attack along the entire border with Israel which was supposed to provide tactical cover for an attempt by a squad of Hezbollah special forces to abduct Israeli troops in the Israeli side of the village of Al-Ghajar[36]. The attacked failed when an ambush by the IDF Paratroopers killed 4 Hezbollah members and scattered the rest[37]. The IDF then responded with a heavy attack which destroyed Hezbollah's front line outposts and communication centers. The scope of the attack forced a rare request by Lebanon (whose army does not control southern Lebanon) for a cease-fire. Following the attack the UN Security Council denounced Hezbollah[38]. Commentators have speculated that the attack was an attempt to draw Israel into renewed conflict in Lebanon, alleviating diplomatic pressure on its backers Syria (which is under investigation for the assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri) and Iran (which is under UN investigation regarding alleged violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty)[39].

On December 27, 2005 Grad rockets fired from Hezbollah territory smashed into houses in the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona wounding three people[40]. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on the Lebanese Government "to extend its control over all its territory, to exert its monopoly on the use of force, and to put an end to all such attacks"[41]. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora denounced the attack as "aimed at destabilizing security and diverting attention from efforts exerted to solve the internal issues prevailing in the country"[42].
[edit]

Post-Lebanese election

After the 2005 elections, Hezbollah held 23 seats (up from eight previously) in the 128-member Lebanese Parliament. It also participated for the first time in the Lebanese government that was formed in July 2005. Hezbollah has two ministers in the government, and a third is Hezbollah-endorsed. It is primarily active in the Bekaa Valley, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and southern Lebanon. The group is headed by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and is financed largely by Iran and Syria, though it also raises funds itself through charities and commercial activities.

In spite of having a foot inside the government, Hezbollah has been frequently at odds with certain members of Fouad Siniora's cabinet and in early 2006 formed an alliance with Michel Aoun (a former critic of both Hezbollah and Syria) and the Free Patriotic Movement. This new Shiite-Christian alliance aims at creating a new majority outside the 14 March forces and is likely to provide the basis for Aoun's presidency when Emile Lahoud's term expires in 2007

More http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah

Hezbollah wants to shore up support. It does so by initiating conflict.

This conflict is a bit different than past ones as Hezbollah has escalated the conflict out of the infromal bounds that had defined Israeli- Hezbollah low-intensity fighting. The alliance with Hamas to make Israel feel it is being hit from two sides, is part of that escalation- and Hamas is a willing partner.

In the process Israel has little choice but to respond. It's doctrine is overwhelming response against its enemies. It does so as a means of deterrence. If it does not, than it invites further attacks. Failure to respond is domestically unacceptable (which is good for the hardliners).

The problem is that much of this counterviolence is being aimed at compelling Lebanon to repress Hezbollah by issuing a clear signal- if you don't contain the Hezbollah militant wing, than we will hurt you.

Problem here is that it will alienate the other Lebanese parties that would be willing to discipline Hezbollah. In the process it gives hardliners in Lebanon (and in Palestine) greater political support.

Of course this is a dangerous game. Argentina played this game during the Falklands and led to a regime change for the military junta. If Israel and the US played their cards right they could turn this around- delegitimize Hezbollah and Hamas by pointing out that these groups are willing to initiate wars that their countries can't win in order to gain domestic political advantage.

But to do so the US and Israel would have to undertake a measured response- signal their concern and then be willing to restrain themselves to allow Lebanese and Palestinian groups to deliver the punishments.

But measured response is not typical Israeli behavior.

 

[aegis]

But measured response is not typical Israeli behavior.

you mean before the 50 years of trying to sign peace treates with palastenians, the same treaties that were blasted away by bombings?

or maybe before the 650 rockets that fell on tiberia tzfat , naharia hatzor etc?
or the thousands of kassam rockets that fell after the seperation that gaza wanted so much?

you mean to say that extermists such as hamas and hizballa can be "talked out of it"?


i guess your country would do nothing when rockets rain your cities and soldiers being abducted from routine borders inspection?

israle shoudl say sorry to the world for being existed, and the world should say thank you that we are there between all those arab nations controlled by extremists mad with power.

 

[MrBumble]

I guess that you're, however, aware of the fact that bombing a country which didn't attack you, destroying its airports, destroying entire districts, killing innocent people for the lives of two soldiers who are already dead imo is NOT the best thing to do if you want hatred towards Isreal in arab nations to cease, aren't you ?

 

[SimpleMinded]

Agreed MrBumble

From the Guardian

Eight railway workers were today killed in a Hizbullah rocket attack on Haifa and Israeli jets responded with a fresh wave of airstrikes on the group's south Beirut stronghold.

Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed 130 people, almost all of them civilians.

The Haifa rocket attack threatens the sharpest escalation since fighting began last Wednesday after Hizbullah raid into northern Israel killed eight soldiers and captured another two.

Looking at the numbers, seems an exaggerated response by the Israelis. God knows what they'll do now following the Hizbullah's latest attack.

 

[aegis]

I guess that you're, however, aware of the fact that bombing a country which didn't attack you,

tell me, from who do you get this information?

no doubt from el jazira. the arabs have thier prpaganda well established in your country for sure, and you bite it like candy.

a country that didnt attack ???
you mean bombing with rockets the cities of israel, killing soldiers and abducting 2, is not a provacation?israel left lebanon to stop this massacre from both sides. and what does lebanon do? they help put hizballa rockets in the south border of lebanon-without provacation from israel, and the rest is history.

not to mention israel is attacked by kassams from the south by gazza-also after leaving gazza.

how would your country would react, if it was bombed without any provacation?

Looking at the numbers, seems an exaggerated response by the Israelis. God knows what they'll do now following the Hizbullah's latest attack.

again, how would your country destroy the very rockets that are hidden inside civilians buildings?hizballa is using innocent people as shield, again what would your country do?

those poor civilians, which are so innocent, are hiding hizballa and helping them against israel, so how inncoent are they?

 

[PhredBean]

I guess that you're, however, aware of the fact that bombing a country which didn't attack you,

tell me, from who do you get this information?

no doubt from el jazira. the arabs have thier prpaganda well established in your country for sure, and you bite it like candy.

a country that didnt attack ???
you mean bombing with rockets the cities of israel, killing soldiers and abducting 2, is not a provacation?israel left lebanon to stop this massacre from both sides. and what does lebanon do? they help put hizballa rockets in the south border of lebanon-without provacation from israel, and the rest is history.

While I absolutely dispise AFP and it's blatant anti-americanism and its perpetuation of stereotypes against americans, its still less biased than our sources on the Isreali-Pakistani issues. CNN sucks up to Isreal harder than our government.

how would your country would react, if it was bombed without any provacation?

His location tag says France, you know the answer. They surrender.

 

[victor]

What's provacation? Is it that time where you're getting ready to go on vacation and you have to finish all the things you're working on?

 

[SimpleMinded]

In summits today, Tony Blair said peace won't come just by passing a treaty, we need peacekeeping forces in place. What do you guys think?

 

[SuAside]

In summits today, Tony Blair said peace won't come just by passing a treaty, we need peacekeeping forces in place.

i'm quite amazed he had the balls to say it. i think he's going to have to listen to Bush raving at him tonight on the phone. bad dog, bad!

What do you guys think?

we should've had peacekeepers all over that area AGES ago, but each time the smallest hint of such a proposition came to the surface, the USA veto's it.

 

[Bradylama]

200+ dead marines probably had something to do with that.

If Blue Helmets start pouring into the region, you think Hezbollah will just accept their fate and hand over all their Katjushas to the UN?

There won't be peace in the region until Hezbollah and Hamas are destroyed, or Israel is destroyed, and every single Israeli Jew massacred.

What the international community needs to do is perform joint operations with the Lebanese to destroy Hezbollah's military wing, if not Hamas entirely. Even if Peacekeepers would calm passions, they can't be there indefinately.

 

[John Uskglass]

What the international community needs to do is perform joint operations with the Lebanese to destroy Hezbollah's military wing, if not Hamas entirely. Even if Peacekeepers would calm passions, they can't be there indefinately.

That seems to be the only logical solution at this point. Though it feels....odd to wish to destroy a democratically elected government, it probably has to be done.

 

[SuAside]

well, as long as it's Israel thats trying to destroy Hamas & Hezbollah, they'll fail.

untie the hands of the UN, go offensive (if hezbollah attacks, track em down. if israel bombs, punish them.) & you might have some more favorable results (but far from perfect). of course, you'd need all influencial UN nations to be willing to go to war AND supply troops if necessary, which will never happens.

funny, i really dont see any viable solution for Israel, Palestina & the region. they've learned to hate each other for decades now. hell, it's already a new generation that's been bred with nothing but hateful propaganda that is fighting now. the original generation is fading out fast.

how do you stop something like that? the hate is just rooted too deep.

 

[Bradylama]

What the international community needs to do is perform joint operations with the Lebanese to destroy Hezbollah's military wing, if not Hamas entirely. Even if Peacekeepers would calm passions, they can't be there indefinately.

That seems to be the only logical solution at this point. Though it feels....odd to wish to destroy a democratically elected government, it probably has to be done.

I didn't mean to say Hamas the second time. They're both H words.

I don't think anything can ever be done about Hamas, really. Short of shoving all the Palestinians into Jordan, they have to give up at some point for any of this craziness to end.

 

[welsh]

The use of peacekeepers is probably a bad idea. Peacekeepers have been deployed between the Israelis and their neighbors before and it hasn't stopped much.

Remember a peacekeeper is not the same as a peacemaker.

The Israeli's are lashing out because they are expected to and have to. Domestically, they probably couldn't do much else.

This is a punitive operation- to punish Lebanon for not doing anything about the military wing of Hezbollah. Had this group been disarmed, than Hezbollah would have not the ability to use its military to attack Israel nor mess with Lebanese politics.

I think what the Israelis really want is not a destroyed Lebanon- which invites back the Syrians, but a neutral and passive Lebanon that won't attack them. What Israel wants with a Palestine is an Authority they can work with.

Noteworthy, Israel has not really gone after either Syria or Iran on this although those powers are behind this. This would suggest that Israel wants a local solution- to force the Lebanese into a choice- either it puts down Hezbollah or it will suffer more of the same.

I seriously doubt that this is the beginning of another occupation (which I doubt the Israeli population would support). At the same time the Israeli's send out a clear signal- if you play with us, we will hurt you ten times worse.

This might not be a good strategy for winning the hears and minds of their neighbors. It's crap PR for the "I Love Israel" Club at Beirut U. But I don't think the Israelis care very much.

Just because you live in peace with your neighbor doesn't mean you like him. Likewise, you can hate your neighbor and not launch rockets into his backyard.

(But if his cat walks on your lawn, than paint it with a nice coat of outdoor and it back into the neighbors pool and let the neighbor figure out the message).

 

[brandons1313]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/17/bush.tape/index.html

Bush caught off-guard in chat with Blair

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (CNN) -- An open microphone caught President Bush in an unguarded moment Monday as the escalating crisis in the Middle East prompted him to use an expletive in a conversation with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Bush and Blair were unaware that an event at the Group of Eight summit was a photo opportunity, with media representatives present. Blair later turned off the microphone.

The president was expressing frustration at the United Nations' stance on the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon. (Watch Bush use the 's' word during a chat with Blair -- 1:31)

Apparently not expecting an open mike to pick up his remarks, Bush told Blair: "See the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over."

Earlier Monday, Blair and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for the deployment of an international force in southern Lebanon to help end the spiraling conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Islamic militant group that holds seats in the Lebanese government. (Full story)

The United States and Israel say that Hezbollah receives financial and political assistance, as well as weapons and training, from Iran and Syria.

The fighting began last week after Hezbollah guerrillas abducted two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.

"What about Kofi Annan?" Bush asked Blair. "I don't like the sequence of it. His attitude is basically cease-fire and everything else happens." (Watch Bush explain why Israel has "every right" to defend itself -- :59)

Blair responded, "I think the thing that is really difficult is you can't stop this unless you get this international presence agreed."

Bush has resisted calling for a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel. The United States seeks Hezbollah's dismantlement under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for the "disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias."

Bush said that he feels "like telling Kofi to get on the phone with [Syrian President Bashar] Assad and make something happen. We're not blaming Israel, and we're not blaming the Lebanese government."

Bush also told Blair that he would be sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region soon.

"She's going," Bush said. "I think Condi's going to go pretty soon."

Despite the president's remarks, the White House told The Associated Press that it had nothing to announce about a Rice trip to the Middle East.

Earlier Monday, Annan said the Security Council would have to discuss the matter of an international presence, but he said a force would be only a part of a comprehensive plan to stop the cross-border attacks.

Annan appealed to both sides to "focus their targets narrowly and to bear in mind that under international humanitarian law, they have an obligation to spare civilian lives" and infrastructure.

There's a video of him talking to Blair on there. OMG!!! The president said shit!!

 

[Bradylama]

It'd be neat if he spoke like that all the time.

He's a lame duck president anyways, so why not? It'd certainly make him seem more forward and honest, which is precisely what he could need.

Other news:

Toronto Star
BEIRUT — Diplomatic efforts to end Israeli-Hezbollah fighting gained traction Monday, with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert saying he would halt fighting if two Israeli soldiers were freed, rocket attacks stopped and the Lebanese army deployed along the border.
Although Olmert said Israel would have no mercy on Hezbollah militants, he appeared to scale back previous demands for Hezbollah to be dismantled.

“We shall seek out every installation, hit every terrorist helping to attack Israeli citizens, destroy all the terrorist infrastructure, in every place, ” said Olmert in Jerusalem. “We shall continue this until Hezbollah does the basic and fair things required of it by every civilized person.”

Hezbollah-patron Iran, meanwhile, said a cease-fire was feasible and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special political adviser emerged from talks with Lebanon’s prime minister to say he would present “concrete ideas” to Israel to end the fighting.

“We have made some promising first efforts on the way forward,” adviser Vijay Nambiar said, while warning “much diplomatic work needs to be done.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki — in Damascus, Syria, for talks with Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa — said a cease-fire and prisoner exchange would be “acceptable and fair.”

U.S. President George W. Bush bluntly expressed his frustrations with Hezbollah’s actions, suggesting Syria could use its influence with the guerrillas.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Monday for the deployment of international forces to stop the bombardment of Israel and to persuade the Jewish state to stop attacks on Hezbollah.

The fighting began when Hezbollah kidnapped two soldiers in a cross-border raid. Since then, Israel has pounded Lebanon with airstrikes and Hezbollah has fired barrages of rockets and missiles into Israeli towns and cities.

Overnight attacks by Israeli warplanes and big guns killed 17 people and wounded at least 53, Lebanese security officials said. The death toll since fighting began July 12 after Hezbollah captured the Israeli soldiers has climbed above 200 — 209 in Lebanon, 24 in Israel.

Israeli government spokesman Asaf Shariv said Monday ground troops entered southern Lebanon, attacked Hezbollah bases near the border and quickly returned inside Israel.

A large explosion was heard Monday evening across Beirut in the heavily hit southern suburbs where Hezbollah’s headquarters is located. In the south, nine civilians were killed, including two children, when an afternoon strike hit a bridge at the entrance to the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanese security officials said.

An Israeli missile also targeted a building housing the offices of Al-Manar, Hezbollah television, in the southern market town of Nabatiyeh, wounding seven people.

Hezbollah Katyusha rockets landed in the Israeli town of Atlit, about 56 kilometres south of the border and 10 kilometres south of the port of Haifa. Nobody was hurt. Later, guerrillas fired three rocket barrages into Haifa, destroying a three-story building and wounding at least three people, Israeli medics said.

Guerrilla rockets killed eight Israelis in an attack on Haifa Sunday in what was believed to be Hezbollah’s deadliest single attack on Israel.

A Lebanese TV station showed video of an object falling to the ground in the Jamjour district near the Hezbollah stronghold of southern Beirut, but the Israeli army said reports that it was an Israeli aircraft were false.

A Lebanese security official said the object was a fuel tank dropped by an Israeli aircraft over Kfar Chima, a town near southern Beirut. After it dropped the fuel tank, the aircraft fired two missiles at three cargo trucks in the area, killing four people and wounding two others, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Israel said its planes and artillery struck 60 targets in Lebanon overnight in retaliation for Sunday’s 20-rocket barrage on Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city and one that had not been hit before the latest fighting.

Seven Canadians of Lebanese origin, including several members of the same Montreal family, were killed by an Israeli strike on their village in the south where they’d come for a summer visit, Canada’s Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Ambra Dickie said.

Thousands of stranded Canadians should be able to start getting out of war-torn Lebanon by mid-week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday.

“We expect to be able to evacuate people by mid-week,” said Harper in St. Petersburg, Russia, where the Group of Eight summit wound up.

“We’re in line with the Americans and British on that and we are working very closely with them on evacuation.”

Harper also offered his condolences to the families of seven Canadians killed in an Israeli bombing raid in Lebanon, but said he was not going to be critical of Israel for defending itself.

Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said commercial ships are being secured and will be positioned off the coast of Lebanon Wednesday to evacuate as many as 40,000 Canadians stranded in the country.

Ceasefire eh? It's neat because if Hezbollah doesn't accept, then they're extending hostilities, which risks a loss of support for them. If they do, though, then they become marginalised as a power in Lebanon.