Tag Archive for Lebanon

| July 31, 2012
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Lebanon: Cosmetics & Medical sector flooded with Israeli products

‘Campaign to Boycott Israel’ Supporters in Lebanon learn that beauty market has been ‘invaded’ by Israeli-made wares.

By Ynetnews

Therapeutic and cosmetic laser surgery is an integral part of a booming medical tourism industry in Lebanon. But unknown to most patients, the Lebanese market hosts a wide variety of medical equipment originating in Israel.

Beauty before boycott?

Beauty before boycott?

According to Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar online newspaper, the boycotted products make their way into the Lebanese market disguised as imports from the US, Europe, and Dubai. They are marketed through reputable local distributors authorized by Lebanon’s health ministry.

The issue is under investigation and scrutiny of the Campaign to Boycott Israel Supporters in Lebanon, which found that the Lebanese market has been “invaded” by four such Israeli companies. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 28, 2012
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Hezbollah airs Clip showing 2006 kidnapping of IDF reservists

Video released shows Hezbollah terrorists crossing into Israel, firing at military vehicle, but Regev, Goldwasser not shown

Roi Kais

Six years after the incident which led to the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah released on Friday a video it claims documents the abduction of IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.

Ehud Goldwasser Photo: Reuters

Ehud Goldwasser Photo: Reuters

Eldad Regev Reproduction photo: Hagai Aharon

Eldad Regev Reproduction photo: Hagai Aharon

The video, which was broadcast on the Al Mayadeen satellite network, shows a Hezbollah cell crossing the border into Israel and opening fire on an IDF Hummer from several dozen meters away. After identifying a hit, the terrorists approach the vehicle. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 27, 2012
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Lebanon’s judo squad refuses to train next to the Israelis

Lebanon’s Olympic judo team has refused to train next to the Israeli competitors at sessions ahead of London 2012.

By Danny Caro and Marcus Dysch

 

Olympic officials were forced to erect a special screen at the Excel venue following a complaint from a member of the Lebanese delegation.

Alice Schlesinger, who is on the Israeli judo team

Alice Schlesinger, who is on the Israeli judo team

It is understood the two squads had been warming up next to each other when the complaint was made on Friday afternoon.

An Israeli official at the venue confirmed a partition had been used to block the view and said the session had then continued with minimum disruption. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| July 23, 2012
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Lebanese farmers engage army with mortar & machine-gun fire to protect their marijuana

No casualties as farmers defend their lucrative, yet illegal marijuana crop against Lebanese security forces.

By Reuters

Farmers armed with machine guns,rocket-propelled grenades and mortars forced government troops to abandon an operation to destroy their illegal cannabis crop in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on Monday, a witness said.

Lebanse security forces.

Lebanese security forces. – Photo by Reuters

No casualties were reported in the exchange of fire but two security force vehicles were hit by bullets, the witness said.

During Lebanon’s civil war, which took place between 1975 and 1990, the fertile Bekaa Valley produced up to 1,000 tons of cannabis resin annually and 30 to 50 tons of opium, used to make heroin. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 17, 2012
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Spain is to Withdraw Half of its UNIFIL Troops from Lebanon

Spain is to reduce from its 1,100 troops in Lebanon as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

By DPA

 

Spain will withdraw up to half of its military contingent in Lebanon by the end of the year, Defense Minister Pedro Morenes said Tuesday, justifying the decision partly on budget cuts demanded by the country’s economic crisis.

UNIFIL forces August 3, 2010 (AP)

UNIFIL forces on patrol in southern Lebanon, August 2010.- Photo by AP

Spain has had about 1,100 troops in Lebanon since 2006 as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). That outfit was originally created in 1978 to restore peace and security after Israel’s withdrawal from the country. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| July 15, 2012
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Report: Hezbollah’s drone crashed in Lebanon

Lebanese report says UAV crashes in Baalbek town of Younin. Crash site cordoned off then ‘sanitized’ 

By Roi Kais

 

An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle belonging to Hezbollah crashed in northeast Lebanon Saturday, Lebanon’s Christian channel MTV reported. No additional details were immediately available. The channel is not affiliated with Hezbollah.

Israel’s ‘Shoval’ (UAV-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). NOT the type used in Lebanon – Photo: courtesy of the Israel Air Force

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that eye witnesses noticed an unidentified object falling from the sky in the Baalbek town of Younin. The object, which was in flames, led to a fire in the area prompting Civil Defense teams and security agencies to the scene. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 12, 2012
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Minister Ya’alon threatens Hezbollah, demands US toughen its Iranian stance

Strategic affairs minister says Iran believes itself immune from further US action before the November election & warns Hezbollah of “heavy price” if it attacks Israel at behest of Tehran or Damascus.

By REUTERS

 

The United States must do more to show Iran it is serious about curtailing its nuclear ambitions because the current pressure is not working, Vice Premier Moshe Ya’alon said on Thursday.

PM Netanyahu & Deputy PM Yaalon - Photo: Reuters

PM Netanyahu & Deputy PM Yaalon – Photo: Reuters

Ya’alon also fired a warning at the terrorist Hezbollah movement in neighboring Lebanon, saying the Shi’ite group would be crushed if it tried to attack Israel at the behest of Tehran in any future war.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| July 12, 2012
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Olmert: Even before Lebanon War II, Israel knew it was hopeless to retrieve the abducted IDF soldiers

The capture of reservists Ehud Goldwasser & Eldad Regev in a cross border raid in July ’06 triggered a 34-day war in Lebanon; their bodies were returned in a 2008 prisoner-exchange deal.

By Gili Cohen

 

Israel’s leadership knew it was hopeless to try and retrieve Israel Defense Forces soldiers abducted in 2006, an action which sparked the Second Lebanon War, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday.

Ehud Olmert and Dan Halutz - 12.7.2012 - Moti Milrod

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, & former IDF chief Dan Halutz, in Tel Aviv, – Photo by Moti Milrod

The capture of army reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in a cross border raid in July 2006, exactly six years ago, triggered a 34-day war in Lebanon. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| July 10, 2012
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Report: Hezbollah nabs 3 ‘Mossad spies’

Shiite terror group claims to have exposed spy ring in Beirut; says operatives were on Israel, CIA’s payroll

By Roi Kais

 

Hezbollah announced that it has arrested three people it believes were running a spy ring on behalf of the United States and Israel, the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news network reported Tuesday.

Hezbollah Chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah Photo: Reuters

Hezbollah Chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah – Photo: Reuters

The suspects, identified as Mohammed al-Husseini, Jihad Jaloul and Mohammed al-Sabaa, were apprehended in a southern Beirut suburb, the report said.

A report by the Lebanese daily An-Nahar added that the men “were not members of Hezbollah but had good relations with people in the group.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| July 9, 2012
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IDF concerned Lebanon planning water diversion

 Israel is deliberating responses to the possibility that Lebanon will divert water from the Hatzbani River.

 

By YAAKOV KATZ

 

The IDF is deliberating responses ahead of the possibility that Lebanon will divert water from the Hatzbani River, a move that Israel has in the past viewed as a casus belli – justification for war.

Kayaking down the Hatzbani River – Photo: Phillip Pasmanick

Israel’s concern stems from the construction of a large tourism center on the Lebanese side of the river, not far from the Israeli town of Metulla.

A senior IDF officer in the Northern Command said that construction of the center needed to be closely tracked due to the possibility it would be used to divert water from the Hatzbani, which supplies 25 percent of the Jordan River’s waters.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| July 8, 2012
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US court fines Iran $813m for 1983 Lebanon attack

WASHINGTON: A US federal judge has ordered Iran to pay more than $813 million in damages and interest to the families of 241 US soldiers killed in the 1983 bombing of a Marine barracks in Lebanon.

By AFP

 


“After this opinion, this court will have issued over $8.8 billion in judgments against Iran as a result of the 1983 Beirut bombing,” Judge Royce Lamberth wrote in a ruling this week, a copy of which was seen Friday by AFP.

In1983, 241 American soldiers, including 220 Marines, were killed in near Beirut's international airport. PHOTO: FILE

In1983, 241 American soldiers, including 220 Marines, were killed in near Beirut’s international airport. – PHOTO: FILE

 

“Iran is racking up quite a bill from its sponsorship of terrorism,” the Washington judge added, noting that “a number of other Beirut bombing cases remain pending, and their completion will surely increase this amount.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| July 6, 2012
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‘Next Lebanon war will be different’

As IDF marks six years since Second Lebanon War, officials say future conflict will entail ground operation, ‘incredible damage’ to Beirut

By Yoav Zitun

 

IDF officials painted a bleak picture of a future conflict between Israel and Lebanon, saying that it will probably entail a massive response by the IDF, including the deployment of ground forces.

Israel-Lebanon border Photo: Avihu Shapira

Israel-Lebanon border – Photo: Avihu Shapira

On the eve of the sixth anniversary of the Second Lebanon War, IDF officials expressed grave concern over the future of the relative calm noted on the Lebanese border.

Between the Islamist dawn in Egypt, the bloody uprising in Syria and the overall instability in the Middle East, the situation in Lebanon is seen as fairly stable; but IDFofficials warned Thursday that as Hezbollah’s grip on the country grows, looks may be deceiving. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 5, 2012
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‘Hezbollah setting IDF up for another Goldstone’

Senior IDF officer says destruction in Lebanon will be extensive due to Hezbollah establishing command posts and bases in villages; potential attack on Iran could spark conflict with Hezbollah.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 4, 2012
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‘Beirut banks funneling illicit funds for Hezbollah’

Report says Hezbollah using Lebanon’s banks in money-laundering scheme, calls on firms to dump Lebanese debt.

By JOANNA PARASZCZUK

 

In a move that could destabilize Beirut’s financial position, a US pressure group urged international financial firms on Tuesday to ditch Lebanese debt and securities, saying that Hezbollah is using Lebanon’s banks in a large scale money-laundering scheme that is also helping Iran evade banking sanctions.

Lebanon’s Central Bank in Beirut – Photo: Mohamed Azakit/Reuters

New York based United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) made public the results of a three-month, confidential investigation into the influence of Iran and Hezbollah on Lebanon’s banking system and its sovereign bond market.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| July 3, 2012
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‘IAF strikes Hezbollah target in Lebanese territory’

Lebanese media states strike either targeted spying device or Hezbollah telecommunications line; IDF refuses to confirm attack.

 

The Israel Air Force bombed an intelligence- gathering device in southern Lebanon on Monday, according to Lebanese media reports.

One of the reports claimed that the attack was carried out by an air-to-surface missile which struck a “device” between the southern towns of Zrariyeh and

Tayr Filsay.
IAF A-4, F-16 jets at Hatzerim [file]

IAF A-4, F-16 jets at Hatzerim - Photo: Reuters/Amir Cohen

Al Manar TV said that the attack targeted a device that had been installed on a Hezbollah telecommunications cable.

Naharnet said that Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati asked UNIFIL to investigate the bombing.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
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