LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 07/09

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 6,34-44. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said, "This is a deserted place and it is already very late. Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat." He said to them in reply, "Give them some food yourselves." But they said to him, "Are we to buy two hundred days' wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?" He asked them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they had found out they said, "Five loaves and two fish." So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass. The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to (his) disciples to set before the people; he also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments and what was left of the fish. Those who ate (of the loaves) were five thousand men.

Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
Spiritual Canticle, 2nd redaction (copyright Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1991)
"It was already very late...They all ate and were satisfied"
My Beloved, the tranquil night at the time of the rising dawn, silent music,sounding solitude, the supper that refreshes, and deepens love. It should be known that in divine Scripture this term "supper" refers to the divine vision [Rv. 3:20-21]. Just as supper comes at the end of a day's work and the beginning of evening rest, this tranquil knowledge causes the soul to experience a certain end of her evils and the possession of good things in which her love of God is deepened more than before. As a result, he is the supper that refreshes by being the end of evils for her, and deepens love by being to her the possession of all goods.Yet for a better understanding of what this supper is to the soul - it is, as we said, her Beloved - we should note in this appropriate place what the beloved Bridegroom says in the Apocalypse: I stand at the door and knock; if anyone opens, I shall enter and we shall sup together [Rv. 3:20]. In this text he indicates that he carries his supper with him, and it is nothing but his very own delights and savors that he himself enjoys. In uniting himself with the soul he imparts them, and she likewise enjoys them. For such is the meaning of the words, "we shall sup together." Hence these words declare the effect of the divine union of the soul with God, in which God's very own goods are graciously and bounteously shared in common with his bride, the soul. He himself is for her the supper that refreshes and deepens love, for in being bounteous he refreshes her, and in being gracious he deepens love in her.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Hamas desperate for lull, but wants to show some type of  Victory. By: By: Khalid Abu Toameh.Jerusalem Post  06/01/09
Hamas must step down as Gaza's keeper- By Sultan Al-Qassemi 06/01/09
Protest over Gaza, but don't sink to Israel's level-By Marc J. Sirois 06/01/09
Israeli politicians should examine their own support for enemies of peace- The Daily Star 06/01/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for January 06/09
Israeli Troops Approach Gaza Population Centers-ABC News
Blair: Gaza cease-fire must halt Hamas smuggling-CNN International 
Israeli shells slam into Gaza as troops near population centers-AP
France asks Syria to help end Gaza conflict-Reuters
Israel looks warily to the Lebanon border-Jerusalem Post
Israel Applying Lessons From Lebanon War to Invasion of Gaza-Bloomberg
Report: Hizbullah on highest alert level-Ynetnews
Lebanon Tells Damascus it is Ready to Begin Border Demarcation-Naharnet
Lebanon's Elections Set for June 7-Naharnet
Jumblat, Arslan Discuss Gaza ... Meeting with Hizbullah Soon-Naharnet 
Lessons of Lebanon may have been learned, but even sophisticated ...guardian.co.uk
Aoun" Gaza is Destined to Victory-Naharnet
Israel looks to drive out Hamas-guardian.co.uk
Paris agrees to monitor Lebanon vote: Hariri-AFP
Lebanese official: Beirut won't be dragged into war with Israel-Ynetnews
After Lebanon fiasco, Israel talks down Gaza aims-Reuters
US Embassy in Iraq Largest, Most Expensive Ever-FOXNews 
Parliamentary elections set for single day: June 7- (AFP)
Hariri confident Hizbullah won't be suckered into new war-(AFP)
Israel intensifies violations of Lebanon's airspace-Daily Star
How a Turk became 'spokesman' for South Lebanon-Daily Star
Makdisi named to prestigious post at AUB policy center-Daily Star
Workshops foster dialogue among Lebanese, Palestinian youth-Daily Star
Protesters target US Embassy over Israel's Gaza rampage-Daily Star
Skiers flock to newly whitened slopes in Faraya-Daily Star 

Analysis: Hamas desperate for lull, but wants to show some type of 'victory'
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Jerusalem Post
As the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip entered its 10th day, Hamas has begun sending conflicting messages regarding its intentions.
These contradictory messages, Palestinian political analysts said, reflected the state of confusion in Hamas and raised questions as to who was calling the shots in the Gaza Strip. While some Hamas leaders have been openly signaling their readiness to accept a new cease-fire, others are still calling for pursuing the fight against Israel "until victory." What is clear is that Hamas is now desperate for a lull in the fighting. But it is also eager to score some kind of a "military victory" before a cease-fire is reached. Hamas can't accept a new cease-fire without having proved to the Arab and Muslim masses that it was capable of making Israel pay a heavy price for its military offensive. Hamas is fighting for its survival and its leaders know that their collapse would constitute a severe blow not only to the movement, but also to its patrons in Teheran and Damascus. "It's hard to tell who's in charge in the Gaza Strip these days," said a Ramallah-based analyst. "Hamas's political leaders have disappeared after throwing away their mobile phones. No one knows exactly what Hamas wants."
The analyst said that according to his sources, the embattled Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip were no longer in direct contact with their colleagues in Syria.
"The political leaderships of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Damascus have been disconnected from each other," he added. "I doubt if there's any coordination between them." He pointed out that the decision to dispatch two senior Hamas envoys to Cairo for talks about a cease-fire came as a surprise to the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. The two envoys are based in Damascus and report directly to Khaled Mashaal, he said.
Another Ramallah-based political analyst said that the political leadership of Hamas has given the movement's armed wing, Izaddin al-Kassam, full freedom to take any measures it deems necessary to prevent the collapse of the Hamas regime.
"The gunmen on the streets are now in charge," he noted. "This is a dangerous situation, because they don't report to anyone at the top. This has created a state of anarchy and confusion."
Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip said on Monday that the general feeling was that Hamas does not exist any longer as a governing body. "All their government institutions have been destroyed," said a Gaza City reporter. "The Hamas leaders are now behaving like al-Qaida's Osama bin Laden and [his deputy] Ayman Zawahiri. Their only public appearances are through recorded messages aired on Arab TV stations."
On Monday, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar made his first public appearance in a previously recorded message broadcast on a Hamas TV station. Zahar's appearance was reminiscent of similar appearances made by al-Qaida terror leaders.
Until two weeks ago, Zahar, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Interior Minister Said Siam - the three top Hamas leaders - were still sleeping in their homes and moving around freely and fearlessly. Until then, they were also frequent guests on various talk shows in the Arab media - especially Al-Jazeera, which is being accused by some Palestinians as serving as a mouthpiece for Hamas.
Sources close to Hamas said that in light of the new reality, where the Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip have virtually vanished, the armed wing was receiving its instructions from the movement's leadership in Syria.
The sources said that Mashaal, the Damascus-based leader of Hamas, was in direct contact with commanders of Izzadin Kassam in different parts of the Gaza Strip. "There's a vacuum in the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip," they said. "The Hamas leaders in Damascus are now in charge. There's no one to talk to in the Gaza Strip."

Lebanon's Elections Set for June 7
Lebanon on Monday officially scheduled its forthcoming parliamentary elections for June seven. The Interior Ministry, in a decree, said the elections would be held throughout all constituencies on Sunday, June 7.
Holding elections in all constituencies on the same day was a demand by the March 14 majority alliance.
Another decree would be issued at a later date setting the schedule for presenting nomination documents. Beirut, 05 Jan 09, 20:01

Solana in Beirut Wednesday
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is due in Beirut on Wednesday for talks with Lebanese officials on the situation in Gaza and implications of the war.
Press reports said Solana is also expected to discuss relations between Lebanon and Europe. Beirut, 06 Jan 09, 09:14

Hariri Hammers Israel
Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri on Monday accused Israel of seeking to split the Arabs by a series of "lies" about cooperation with so-called moderate Arab states. Hariri, in a statement released by his office, said the "Israeli enemy … seeks to strike at moderate Arabs everywhere."
"Had Israel really wished to engage with moderate Arabs as its president claimed, it would have accepted the Arab peace initiative of Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz when it was launched during the Beirut summit in 2002," Hariri said. Beirut, 05 Jan 09, 21:46

Aoun: Gaza is Destined to Victory
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun on Monday said "Gaza is destined to achieve victory over Israel." Aoun, talking to reporters after the weekly meeting by members of his Change and Reform bloc, said if Israel wanted to "create a pretext to attack Lebanon, we would defend ourselves." He refused to answer a question as to whether Hizbullah would attack Israel to support its ally Hamas in Gaza. Israel, Aoun added, is "destined to defeat." He criticized the "international community for covering up Israel's crimes since 1948 … and when Israel is tired they work out a cease-fire." Aoun also called on Premier Fouad Saniora to resign and charged him with "nibbling" public funds.Beirut, 05 Jan 09, 22:00

Jumblat, Arslan Discuss Gaza ... Meeting with Hizbullah Soon
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat discussed the situation in Gaza in overnight talks with Lebanese Democratic Party chief Talal Arslan.
Press reports on Tuesday said that a family dinner was given to Jumblat during his meeting with Arslan at the latter's mansion in Khalde south of Beirut.
They said the two leaders held closed doors talks prior to dinner. Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Jumblat stressed that the only talk at present was focused on "massive Lebanese national unified stand" over Gaza. Arslan supported Jumblat, saying: "Today there should be a unified stand in the wake of the remarkable U.N. absence."In response to a question about Israeli threats, Jumblat said: "If the Israelis did not learn a lesson from the 2006 (Lebanon war), then this would be further stupidity."Jumblat said he agreed during his meeting with Arslan to hold talks with Hizbullah, stressing that the delay in the long awaited reconciliation with the Shiite group was purely for tactical reasons. Beirut, 06 Jan 09, 09:40

Lebanon Tells Damascus it is Ready to Begin Border Demarcation
Lebanon has informed Damascus its readiness to begin border demarcation.
The daily An Nahar on Tuesday said Lebanon's foreign ministry has informed Damascus that the official delegation assigned to hold talks with Syrian officials on border demarcation between the two countries was ready to assume its mission.
It said Acting Secretary-General of the foreign ministry Ambassador William Habib heads the 5-member delegation.
An Nahar had earlier quoted diplomatic sources as saying that intensive global efforts would be launched throughout December and early next year to pressure Syria into facilitating border demarcation with Lebanon and settling the issue of missing Lebanese citizens in Syria.
It said these efforts aim at pressuring Syria into honoring commitments made by its President Bashar Assad to his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman last August, that also include implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
UNSCR 1701, which ended a 34-day war between Israel and Hizbullah in the summer of 2006, bans cross-border smuggling of weapons into Lebanon.
The report said concerned parties, particularly the United Nations and France, await the setting up of diplomatic ties between Damascus and Beirut before end of the year to activate implementation of other topics, especially border demarcation and the fate of Lebanese citizens missing in Syria.
The United Nations has officially announced that Damascus failed to provide the international organization with documents required to define borders of the Israeli-occupied Shabaa Farms to establish Lebanon's sovereignty over the terrain.
U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams on Thursday said he would visit Damascus early in January to discuss with Assad UNSCR 1701 and renew the request for documents supporting Lebanon's sovereignty over Shabaa Farms.
Williams said border demarcation should be achieved to facilitate efforts aimed at combating smuggling.
Beirut, 06 Jan 09, 08:37

Sarkozy Determined to Help Settle Issue of Lebanon-Syria Border Demarcation
French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged the Lebanese people to continue efforts to revive the "Lebanese miracle" and promised to exert more efforts to solve lingering issues between Beirut and Damascus.
"My message to the Lebanese people is very simple. Continue efforts… towards dialogue and reconciliation and building a free and democratic Lebanon," Sarkozy told several Beirut dailies in remarks published Monday.
His comments to An Nahar, As Safir and L'Orient-Le-Jour came as the French president embarks on a four-nation tour of the Middle East on Monday.
He will be in Egypt, the West Bank and Israel on Monday and in Syria and Lebanon on Tuesday.
"I believe the Lebanese together are achieving something exceptional," which includes "reviving the Lebanese miracle," he said, adding "the international community, and particularly France, support Lebanon in its attempts to achieve it."
About the upcoming parliamentary elections, Sarkozy said: "The legislative elections should be held with utmost transparency and in a democratic spirit, free from violence."
Sarkozy announced that he would reiterate during his second visit to Beirut France's support for Lebanon and congratulate Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and all officials on the progress made since the Doha Accord was signed in May last year.
Asked if he could persuade Damascus into solving the problem of border demarcation with Lebanon after he was able to help establish diplomatic relations between Syria and Lebanon, Sarkozy replied: "I took a risk on a personal level in restarting dialogue with Damascus and I assume full responsibility in particular towards my Lebanese friends."
He said what has been achieved in Lebanon in the past six months wouldn't have been possible without such a risk.
He said Lebanon and Syria are now cooperating "to restore relations based on trust and mutual respect."
"I am not naïve and I realize that there are still several stages that need to be crossed," he said.
"Be sure that in the future I will show the same level of determination to follow up other commitments made by President Michel Suleiman and (Syrian) President Bashar al-Assad during their summit, particularly the issue of border demarcation or settle the painful issue of the missing," Sarkozy stressed.
On the international tribunal that would try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's suspected assassins, Sarkozy said that France is "committed to enforce international justice and fight impunity…We fully trust the work of the investigative commission and certainly respect the decisions" of the court.
Sarkozy said his visit to Beirut is also aimed at encouraging French peacekeepers in south Lebanon.
He will be the first leader of a major power to visit the region since Israel began its military offensive on Gaza on December 27.
Hamas "bears a heavy responsibility in the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza," Sarkozy said.
While condemning the Israeli ground offensive itself, Sarkozy told the newspapers: "I want to say again here that we condemn with the same firmness (Hamas') continuing rocket fire, which is an unacceptable provocation.
"Hamas, which decided to break the truce and to resume rocket fire on Israel, bears a heavy responsibility in the suffering of the Palestinians of Gaza," he added.
"The launching of the Israeli ground offensive makes the need to get a ceasefire even more urgent," said Sarkozy.
"This offensive, we have condemned along with our European partners, because it takes us that little bit further away from the changes of peace, and because it makes it more difficult to get aid to the people of Gaza.
"And I will say again to the Israeli authorities that it is absolutely essential that they let humanitarian aid through to Gaza," he added.
Beirut, 05 Jan 09, 08:50

Israeli troops approach Gaza population centers
By IBRAHIM BARZAK and STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writers Ibrahim Barzak And Steve Weizman, Associated Press Writers –
GAZA CITY, Gaza – Israeli shells slammed into Gaza and ground forces edged closer to major population centers Tuesday, taking more civilian lives after Israel ignored mounting international calls for an immediate cease-fire.
In fighting that raged early Tuesday morning, at least 18 people were killed in shelling up and down the Gaza Strip from tanks and naval craft, local hospital officials said. Only two of the dead were confirmed as militants.
Tanks rumbled closer to the towns of Khan Younis and Dir el Balah in south and central Gaza but were still several kilometers (miles) outside, witnesses said, adding that the sounds of fighting could be heard from around the new Israeli positions. Israel already has encircled Gaza City, the area's biggest city.
Israel launched its offensive on Dec. 27 in a bid to halt repeated Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern towns. After a weeklong air campaign, Israeli ground forces invaded Gaza over the weekend. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 100 civilians, according to United Nations figures. Nine Israelis have died since the operation began.
The rising civilian death toll has drawn international condemnations and raised concerns of a looming humanitarian disaster. Many Gazans are without electricity or running water, thousands have been displaced from their homes and residents say that without distribution disrupted, food supplies are running thin.
In one incident overnight, three people were killed when Israel attacked a U.N. school where hundreds had taken shelter.
"There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorized and traumatized," said John Ging, the top U.N. official in Gaza, blaming the international community for allowing the violence to continue.
"I am appealing to political leaders here and in the region and the world to get their act together and stop this," he said, speaking at Gaza's largest hospital. "They are responsible for these deaths."
Israel says it won't stop the assault until its southern towns are freed of the threat of Palestinian rocket fire and it receives international guarantees that Hamas, a militant group backed by Iran and Syria, will not restock its weapons stockpile. It blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, saying the group intentionally seeks cover in crowded residential areas.
The army says it has dealt a harsh blow to Hamas, killing 130 militants in the past two days and greatly reducing the rocket fire. At least 15 rockets were fired Tuesday and one landed in the town of Gadera, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the Gaza border, lightly wounding a 3-month-old infant, police said.
Israeli forces have cut the main Gaza highway in several places, compartmentalizing the strip into the north, south and Gaza City itself and preventing movement between them. Israel also has taken over high-rise buildings in Gaza City and destroyed dozens of smuggling tunnels — Hamas' main lifeline — along the Egyptian border. Late on Monday, a paratroop officer and three Israeli infantrymen were killed in two separate friendly fire incidents, the military said. Heavy Israeli casualties could threaten to undermine what so far has been wide public support for the operation.
The international community, on the other hand, has been more cautious, defending Israel's right to defend itself but expressing concern about the rising civilian death toll. A high-level European Union delegation met with President Shimon Peres on Tuesday in a futile bid to put an end to the violence. Commissioner Benita Ferraro-Waldner acknowledged Israel's right to self-defense, but said its response was disproportionate. "We have come to Israel in order to advance the initiative for a humanitarian cease-fire and I will tell you, Mr. President, that you have a serious problem with international advocacy, and that Israel's image is being destroyed," she said, according to a statement from Peres' office.
She said international relief organizations have complained that there is a serious problem distributing aid in Gaza. In Geneva, the international Red Cross said Gaza was in a "full-blown" humanitarian crisis. Its head of operations, Pierre Kraehenbuehl, said the few remaining power supplies could collapse at any moment, leaving 500,000 people without clean water and at risk of disease.
The EU delegation was one of a flurry of diplomatic efforts to forge a cease-fire. French President Nicolas Sarkozy left Israel after meetings with leaders.
Europe "wants a cease-fire as quickly as possible," Sarkozy said Monday, urging Israel to halt the offensive, while blaming Hamas for acting "irresponsibly and unpardonably." Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stressed to Sarkozy that any agreement "must contain at its foundation the total cessation of all arms transfers to Hamas," said Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev.
Regev noted that Hamas used a previous six-month truce to double the range of its rockets. About one-eighth of Israel's 7 million citizens now live in rocket range.
In New York, Arab delegates met with the U.N. Security Council, urging members to adopt a resolution calling for an immediate end to the attacks and a permanent cease-fire.
In Washington, the State Department said the U.S. was pressing for a cease-fire that would include a halt to rocket attacks and an arrangement for reopening crossing points on the border with Israel, said spokesman Sean McCormack. The crossings, used to deliver vital food shipments into Gaza, have been largely closed since Hamas took control of Gaza in June 2007. A third element of a U.S.-backed cease-fire would address the smuggling tunnels used by Hamas.
President George W. Bush emphasized "Israel's desire to protect itself." "The situation now taking place in Gaza was caused by Hamas," he said.
A top exiled Hamas official in Syria, Moussa Abu Marzouk, rejected the U.S. proposal, telling the AP the U.S. plan seeks to impose "a de facto situation" and encourages Israel to continue its attacks on Gaza. In Tuesday's fighting, six civilians were killed when a shell fired by an Israeli ship hit their house on the Gaza shore, hospital officials said. Local residents said the gunboat apparently fired at a group of militants next to the house who were preparing to ambush advancing Israeli troops. Two of the militants were killed in the blast.
Palestinians said Israeli attacks intensified before dawn and at least 10 more civilians were killed when shells hit houses on the edge of Gaza City and in the Jebaliya refugee camp, to the north. U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said the overall Palestinian toll since the opening of the Gaza campaign on Dec. 27 stood at about 500, with about 125 of them civilians.
Holmes said Gaza was in the grip of an "increasingly alarming" humanitarian crisis and was running low on clean water, power, food, medicine and other basics.
Israeli leaders say there is no humanitarian crisis and that they have allowed the delivery of vital supplies. On Tuesday the Israeli military said three soldiers were killed and 24 wounded in a friendly fire incident when an Israeli tank shelled a building in which they had taken cover Monday night during fighting outside Gaza City. The military said a colonel who commanded an infantry brigade was among the wounded.
In a separate friendly fire incident, also Monday, a paratroops officer was killed in northern Gaza, the army said. In all, six soldiers have been killed since the offensive began. Israeli forces detained 80 Palestinians — some of them suspected Hamas members — and transferred several to Israel for interrogation, said military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to release the information.
Israel's operation has sparked anger across the Arab world and has drawn criticism from countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Jordan, which have ties with Israel and have been intimately involved in Mideast peacemaking.
**Barzak reported from Gaza City, Weizman from Jerusalem.

Report: Hizbullah on highest alert level
Source tells Al-Hayat Shiite group 'determined not to give Israel a chance to avenge its defeat in the July 2006 war'
Roee Nahmias Published: 01.06.09, 11:13 / Israel News
Hizbullah forces have been put on the highest alert level, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat reported on Tuesday.
On Monday Ynet reported that Lebanon was anxiously following the developments in Gaza. According to Al-Hayat, Hizbullah raised its alert level after Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called up thousands of reserve soldiers and said some of them would be deployed along the northern border.
A Lebanese source was quoted by the paper as saying that the Shiite group is determined "not to give Israel a chance to avenge its defeat in the July 2006 war and has therefore raised its alert level for defense purposes."
The source further said that Hizbullah fears a surprise attack by Israel in south Lebanon and that the Jewish state may "take advantage of the transition period between the two American administrations to embark on a new adventure in order to impose a new reality along the Lebanese border.
According to another source, the Lebanese army was working in close cooperation with UNIFIL forces to "make sure that no element uses territory in the south to fire rockets toward Israel and get Lebanon involved (in the conflict)".

France asks Syria to help end Gaza conflict
06 Jan 2009
Source: Reuters
DAMASCUS, Jan 6 (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked Syria on Tuesday to help convince Hamas to cooperate in international efforts to end the Israeli assault in the Gaza Strip.Without naming the Palestinian Islamist group, Sarkozy said that he "didn't have any doubt" that Syria would help convince Hamas to agree to a deal. Sarkozy was speaking after a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. Syria, along with Iran, is a main backer of Hamas

Israel Applying Lessons From Lebanon War to Invasion of Gaza
By Gwen Ackerman
Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The mosques, squares and narrow alleyways Israeli troops are fighting through in their invasion of the Gaza Strip should be familiar: Many of the soldiers trained in a mock Arab city built on a base in southern Israel.
Exercises at the fake complex are just one way Israel has applied the lessons of its 2006 war with the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group in Lebanon to its current confrontation with Hamas in Gaza. In Lebanon, the military suffered from leaks of sensitive information; this time, the army confiscates mobile phones from soldiers entering the battle zone.
The fallout from the one-month Hezbollah war, in which the military came in for harsh criticism for failing to properly train reserve battalions and keep equipment up to date, is guiding Israeli strategy in ways that may influence the outcome of the Gaza conflict, which has killed 530 Palestinians and left at least five Israelis dead.
The changed tactics are no guarantee of eventual success; still, “lots of lessons have been implemented,” said Gerald Steinberg, a political scientist and military expert at Bar Ilan University, near Tel Aviv. “The ground operation came earlier and more strongly, and the troops are clearly better trained.”
Israel on Jan. 3 broadened what started as an aerial bombing campaign aimed at stopping rocket attacks on its southern towns into a ground war that has sent thousands of Israeli troops into Gaza. The seaside strip is controlled by Hamas, which the U.S. and the European Union say engages in terrorism.
‘Serious Failings’
Israel’s perceived shortcomings in Lebanon were tackled by a government-appointed panel, a parliamentary committee and the state comptroller. “We found serious failings and flaws in the quality of preparedness, decision-making and performance” by top military commanders, the panel, headed by retired judge Eliyahu Winograd, said in its final report.
The study by the state comptroller found that the reserve units that fought in Lebanon lacked proper training and sufficient ammunition because of budget cuts. The parliamentary committee concluded that the army began the Lebanon assault without planning, and delayed a ground offensive.
“After the Lebanon war, the army set up about 60 committees to investigate the problems and after learning the lessons from each, set up a process of training that has gone on for the last two years,” army spokeswoman Major Avital Leibovitz said in a telephone interview.
Role-Playing
In the model city, troops played the roles of civilians, the enemy, the media and soldiers, according to Leibovitz, who described the exercises. Electronic-sensor vests were worn so commanders could monitor reaction and behavior, she added.
“We train forces so they can operate without targeting civilians,” Leibovitz said. In the Gaza attacks, the army also calls ahead to people in buildings the air force intends to hit to minimize civilian fatalities, she said.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have retaken land where Jewish settlements, evacuated in 2005 when Israel left Gaza, once stood. The northern end of the 40-kilometer (25-mile) strip, from which most of the estimated 3,200 rockets aimed at Israel last year were fired, has been cut off from the south, they say. The army declined to comment.
Military equipment is in better shape than two years ago, when soldiers complained about antiquated and ill-fitting gear.
“There were no reports that the army was unprepared this time in terms of outdated equipment,” Steinberg said. “Parents now don’t have to go out to buy flak jackets or helmets.”
Holiday Attack
Israel, which allowed journalists to follow troops almost freely in Lebanon, is curbing access this time. The military campaign came between Christmas and New Year’s, when many foreign correspondents were on holiday. Israel has banned entrance to Gaza to all media.
The blanket prohibition on information keeps Hamas fighters from locating Israeli troops and also helps keep international protests in check, said Nachman Shai, a brigadier general who was the army spokesman during the 1991 Gulf War.
“This is clearly an effort to control what goes out,” said Galia Golan, a political scientist at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center. “It is absolutely clear that civilians are being killed, and obviously they want to keep as much of that away from the media as possible.”
Leibovitz and her English-speaking army spokesmen are the foreign media’s principal way of getting information from Hamas- controlled areas. The only other reports come from Palestinian journalists, who are working without electricity and are in danger should they leave their homes.
Avoiding Details
When army spokesmen do give information, they keep it brief. “The military is operating in Gaza, and we don’t comment on the details,” a spokeswoman said yesterday in response to a question about troops taking control of the former Jewish settlement of Netzarim.
Daily statements on the numbers of air strikes and targets, Hamas gunmen killed and Israeli casualties are the only other information released.
“The basic message here is that we are in a different war, in a different place, with a different strategy,” said Leibovitz. “The army, as a whole, is in a different place than it was two years ago.” To contact the reporters on this story: Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at gackermanbloomberg.net;

Blair: Gaza cease-fire must halt Hamas smuggling
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Any cease-fire in the Gaza conflict will require "clear and definitive action" to halt the smuggling of weapons and money into the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with former British premier Tony Blair in Tel Aviv.
"If there is strong action on that front, so that Israel feels it has achieved something -- namely the end of the smuggling of weapons and finance to Hamas -- then I think it is possible to resolve this reasonably quickly," Blair told CNN.
"If that doesn't happen, if we're not in that position, then obviously it's going to go on."
Blair is now the envoy of the Mideast Quartet, whose members -- the United Nations, United States, Russia and the European Union -- are attempting to find a resolution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He is one of several European officials now in the region in an effort to bring an end to the Israeli campaign against Gaza. Watch Christiane Amanpour's interview with Blair »
French President Nicolas Sarkozy met Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to press for a 48-hour humanitarian cease-fire -- a plan Olmert's government considered and rejected last week. And a European Union delegation will also meet with Palestinian and other regional leaders during its visit.
But Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said any cease-fire must guarantee "real quiet" -- and prevent Hamas from replenishing and expanding its arsenal.
Hamas won control of the Palestinian Authority parliament in elections in 2006 and wrested control of Gaza from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party in 2007. But it refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, and Israel, the United States and the EU consider it a terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, Arab foreign ministers met at the United Nations to work up a U.N. draft resolution calling for Israel to stop its offensive in Gaza and for Hamas, which rules the territory, to cease firing rockets at the Jewish state.
Abbas plans to present the Arab League's draft resolution to the Security Council on Tuesday. The resolution will also demand that Israel open the border crossings to a steady supply of humanitarian aid, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said.
-- CNN's Christiane Amanpour and Michal Zippori contributed to this report.