Diary of August 9 2006: The fall of The War Generals Kiriyat Shmona a Ghost Town

Local Editor

The occupation forces drove more of its soldiers forward to the battle fields in hope of achieving some kind of military success before the Security Council announces its decision. Enemy's cannon fire and jet fighters flamed the confrontation lines with bombing and destruction.

However, the men of God were on the lookout for the elite and fought fierce battles in the towns of Ayta Al Shaab, Dibble, and Taybeh. The enemy announced the death of 15 soldiers, the wounding of 38, in addition to the destruction of a number of Merkava tanks.

At the same time, the resistance rained hundreds of missiles on the enemy occupation settlements. The most prominent was the bombing of Bisan, Haifa, and Jinnin with "Khyber 1" type missiles. They also bombed the military bases Branit and Evanit. The settlement Kiriyat Shmona, inhabited by 24 thousand settlers, was totally evacuated turning it into a ghost town.

The "Israeli" series of massacre continued. 6 citizens met their doom in raids targeting the town of Mashghara. Four met the same fate in the town of Irsaal.

The Hizbullah secretary-general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah directed his speech though Al Manar TV station confirming that "Hizbullah's stand is one that is dedicated to national and governmental solidarity regarding the present consensus on the 'Seven point plan'". He also warned from "American-"Israeli" attempts going since day one of the aggression, aiming to instigate turmoil and internal disunity in Lebanon." 

He continued to say that the "American-French draft is arbitrary, unjust, and provides the "Israelis" with more than they need or ask for and more than they were able to take in battle."

The "Israeli" Ministerial Council endorsed the recommendation of War Minister Amir Peretz about expanding the "military operation in southern Lebanon". The Ministers Council entrusted enemy PM Ehud Olmert and Peretz to appoint the date and depth of the operation. The goal of this assault was identified as "Discover and destroy Katyusha launchers targeting the settlements."

The field report examined in the meeting indicated the "Descend of "Israel's" place in the field and internationally and its weak achievements." It also pointed that the "Continuation of the battle in Bent Jbeil has wearied down "Israeli" public moral."

The Ministers Council focused on five main points: 

- Bring back the kidnapped soldiers back home immediately without any conditions or reservations
- Immediate cessation of all hostile operations from Lebanese against "Israel" or against any ‘Israeli' targets including ending missile attacks on "Israel"
- The full execution of Security Council Resolution 1559
- The deployment of a successful international force in the south of Lebanon with the help of the Lebanese army along the ‘Blue Line'
- Finally to bring down Hizbullah's ability to reconstruct its operational capabilities.

The chief of "Israeli" staff removed the commander of the northern region of the army Audi Adam (the son of the Zionist general Ikoael Adam who was killed by the resistance in heroic confrontations against the "Israeli" invasion year 1982 in Khaldeh), and replaced him by the Assistant Chief of Staff Moshe Kaplinsky who was assigned the mission of supervising the land, sea, and aerial aggression on Lebanon.