More Israelis killed by Hezbollah rockets and Hezbollah refuses ceasefire

[oberliner]

Hezbollah rockets today killed seven innocent Israeli civilians.

Hezbollah spokesman today says that Hezbollah will not abide by a ceasefire until all Israeli forces have withdrawn from Lebanon.

American progressives need to send a strong message to Hezbollah:

Stop shooting rockets at Israeli villages.

Return the two Israeli soldiers being held.

Agree to an immediate cease fire.

Of course, American progressives should send an even stronger message to Israel:

Stop bombing areas with Lebanese civilians.

Release prisoners held in administrative detention.

Agree to an immediate cease fire.

Step two for both sides:

Hezbollah disarms and disbands as a militia group.

Israel withdraws all forces from Lebanon, including Shebaa farms.

[5X]

1. Immediate cease fire, unconditional. Period.

[ThomCat]

2. So, if Hezbollah agreed to all of this

put down their arms and meekly waited for Israel to leave, how long do you really think it would take? How long an occupation would you find aceptable, and how much more destruction and how many more deaths?

Give that they haven't ever stopped kidnapping and killing people in lebanon even after 2000 when they stopped occupying Lebanon. It is rediculous to think that Israel is going to stop their military operations. You seem to give Israel a hell of a lot of credit for benevolence that they have never demonstrated.

[oberliner]

3. This should have happened already

I think that if Hezbollah had disarmed and disbanded in 2000 when Israel left Lebanon then there would not have been any of the kidnapping and killing of people that you describe.

I do not think that Lebanon should be occupied by anyone. I think the Lebanese army should be the only military force in the country and that they should be the ones at the border with Israel.

My belief is that if Hezbollah returned the soldiers and disarmed that all actions against Lebanon by Israel would stop.

I agree that Israel has not acted benevolently in this matter, but I would argue that Hezbollah's unwillingess to disarm has fueled that behavior.

[ThomCat]

5. Disarming would be an act of faith in Israel's honor and honesty.

Do you really see any reason for such faith?

You would have to ignore everything they did during the occupation, everything they have done covertly since then, and everything they are doing to Palestinians to have that kind of faith.

[damntexdem]

9. Had Hezbollah disarmed and disbanded in 2000, ...

Lebanon would likely now be part of Greater Israel.

But both sides are terrorists that need to be stopped.

[burythehatchet]

4. Since we're making a wish list

Give the Lebanese government a map of the thousands of Israeli land mines in South Lebanon.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. Sigh.

Israel won't agree to stop killing people until after Hezbollah has stopped killing people.

Hezbollah won't agree to stop killing people until after Israel has stopped killing people.

Neither side trusts the other enough to agree to cease fire simultaneously.

Even if there were a cease-fire, the root cause of the problem - the Palestinian issue - would remain unaddressed.

Even if the Palestinian issue were addressed, some of the arab factions would go on launching terrorist attacks on Israel.

The arab factions opposed to Israel are sufficiently fragmented that negotiating with them will mean negotiating with dozens of people with different views and agendas at once.

The only person in the West who has any influence on Israel is the President of the United States, and anyone who doesn't support Israel unconditionally will have a very hard time getting elected to that position.

No-one in the West has any influence over most of the arab factions.

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.
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Can anyone see any possible grounds for any optimism about the future of the Middle East whatsoever?

[sistersofmercy]

7. I agree with you 100%

Our grandchildren will be discussing this issue. To me all that you said is the sad reality.

[damntexdem]

8. Immediate cease fire by Israel and Hezbollah.

Stop attacks on civilians -- and Israel is the major culprit on this one.

No press censorship, no interference with press reports: a must if the world is to get a clear picture and know how to respond.

However, both sides place military resources next to civilians areas. Moving forces away from civilian areas must be a major aim of negotiations.

And no group near Israel can imaginably be so stupid as to agree to be disarmed. Negotiations have to be over when and how arms are used.

Prisoner exchanges are always worthy items for negotiations, but they are MUCH LESS essential than others, such as the ending of targeting of civilians.

[baldguy]

10. Current deaths as of today:

Israel: 63
UN: 4
Canada: 8
Lebanon: 900*

*Of these, an est 39 have been Hezbollah fighters.

Just who is killing innocent civilians?

[zonkers]

11. If they would have let the Deep Purple concert happen, this all wouldnt

be going on.

[allemand]

12. Hizbollah offers Israel end to rocket attacks

"(If) at any time you decide to stop your campaigns on our cities, suburbs, civilians and infrastructure, we won't strike with rockets any settlement or Israeli city ...," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a taped televised message.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060803/wl_nm/mideast_lebanon_nasrallah_dc_1

[bigtree]

13. that's what I understood to be their stated position

If Israel stops, they will also

That doesn't sound as simple as ' Hezbollah refuses ceasefire'

[Moderator]

14. Locking

Per the new GD rules any thread started
about Israel/Lebanon must have a link
to a news source.

Please read the new rules here:


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