Free Republic

United Nations humanitarian chief Jan Egeland accused Israel on Wednesday of committing "catastrophic mistakes" in its attack on Hizbullah, which have caused civilian casualties and alienated the Lebanese public. "It will create a generation of hatred," he said in an interview held with The Jerusalem Post after he had concluded tours of northern Israel, Gaza and Lebanon. "I'm talking more as a friend of Israel than as an aid worker," said Egeland, who noted that he studied at Jerusalem's Hebrew University as a Truman Fellow, while his brother lived on a kibbutz. The UN's under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and...

"The air force is ready for any operation that will be necessary during the current military campaign against Lebanon," Brig.-Gen. Yohanan Locker, Commander of the IAF's Air Division, told The Jerusalem Post Thursday night. The officer revealed that IAF fighter jets, helicopters, and AWACs had participated in hundreds of airborne operations over Lebanon since two soldiers were kidnapped and eight others killed in a Hizbullah attack along the northern border on Wednesday. He said that the IAF F-15Is, F-16s, Apache helicopters, and other surveillance aircraft were participating in Operation Just Reward against Lebanon. The air force, he said, has struck...

In a sharp departure from Israel's response to previous Hezbollah attacks, the late-night cabinet session in Tel Aviv unanimously agreed that the Lebanese government should be held responsible for Wednesday's events. In the past, Israel has generally pointed its finger at Hezbollah's patrons, Syria and Iran. "Israel holds the sovereign government of Lebanon as responsible for the action which emanated from its territory and for the safe return of the abducted soldiers," the government said in a statement issued after the meeting. "Israel must act with appropriate severity in response to this attack and it will do so. Israel will...

Israel presses Gaza assault, 31 killed by Kerry Sheridan Fri Jul 7, 10:37 PM ET Seven Palestinians were killed as Israel pressed on with its bloody offensive in Gaza and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called on the international community to halt the deadly assault. UN chief Kofi Annan meanwhile called for an immediate stop to what he called Israel's "disproportionate use of force" in Gaza but also pressed for the release of an Israeli soldier snatched by Palestinian militants. Israel waged fresh air and ground attacks on northern Gaza, one day after reoccupying land in the deadliest 24 hours in...

The United States government has laid down three rules for the current Israel Defense Forces operation in the Gaza Strip, according to senior sources in Jerusalem: No harming Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas; no harming civilians and avoid damaging infrastructure. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will brief the cabinet on the international situation. Livni has been providing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with daily updates and is in touch with the UN secretary-general, the coordinator of foreign policy in the European Union and the foreign ministers of Italy, Spain and Qatar. Foreign Ministry officials expressed satisfaction over the weekend with the...