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Rockets continued to fall
on Western and Upper Galilee, as Israeli continues to strike at Lebanon
to put an end to the attacks. Israel's goal is to force the Lebanese government to take
control of southern Lebanon.
Even though the rocket attacks
on the Galilee
are still continuing, the Hizbullah is finding it
more and more difficult to launch them. The Hizbullah headquarters
in Beirut has been destroyed, communications with southern
Lebanon have been severed, and this morning Hizbullah centers in
Tripoli were attacked. The next stage is to clean up southern
Lebanon, ending the domination of the Hizbullah and its supporters - the Shi'ite
population. Leaflets calling on this population to leave already
have been dropped on the villages and towns of southern
Lebanon. In the meantime, the Israeli Air Force is attacking gas
stations and energy centers, making movement in southern Lebanon
difficult. The loss of communications and the loss of the
ability to move around will bring the rocket attacks to a
standstill. At the same time, rolling back the population from
the border will put the Galilee beyond the range of most of the
rockets.
"We are ready to discuss
the return of the kidnapped soldiers and the evacuation of the
Hizbullah from southern Lebanon," Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert said in response to the UN delegation that wants to come to
Israel to discuss the situation.
In the meantime, Saudi
Arabia has declared that the blame for the
situation lies with the Hizbullah. The Egyptians and the
Jordanians are giving out the same message. For the Hizbullah
this is the most worrying development in the last few days: It
is an opening of the rift between the Sunni majority in the
Arab world and the Shi'ite minority, which has put its trust in the Shi'ites
of Iran, who are not Arabs. Shi'ite Iran's attempt to
take control of the Sunni Arab's world is a major worry in the
Arab world. The Hizbullah has now put itself outside the Arab
fold - and in the Shi'ite-Iranian world. This will have major
consequences for the future of the Shi'ites in Lebanon and their
ability to continue living in Lebanon.
The Hizbullah has let
the Shi'ite-Sunni genie out of the bottle. The Shi'ites of
Lebanon are going to pay the price - and they have only
themselves to blame for their fate.
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