July 2006 in The Middle East - 14 July 2006 (Friday)

14 July 2006 (Friday)

• 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict:
  • US President George W. Bush has said he will urge Israel to avoid civilian casualties in its attacks on Lebanon, but he's "not going to make military decisions for Israel". (Haaretz), (BBC NEWS).
  • Middle East crisis keeps oil near peak - There are fears the dispute will push oil prices up even further. (BBC NEWS)
  • An Israeli Navy missile boat is attacked 16 km off the shores of Beirut, by a Chinese-made, radar-guided C-802 missile . 4 Israeli crewmembers are missing. (Ynet), (Haaretz)
  • Hezbollah renews rocket fire against numerous Israeli towns. About 90 Katyusha rockets hit the cities of Safed and Nahariya, killing a 4 year old child and his grandmother in Meron village and wounding many other civilians. (Ynet), (Haaretz), (Getty)
  • Israel destroys Hezbollah headquarters and home of its head Hassan Nasrallah in southern Beirut, following repeated early warnings to local civilians. Other facilities in the area were struck earlier on Friday. Nasrallah vows to fight "open war" on Israel, striking towns "beyond Haifa". (Haaretz), (Boston Globe), (BBC NEWS)
  • Israeli fighters attack the Beirut-Damascus Highway, closing the country's main artery and further isolating Lebanon from the outside world. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer), (Fox)
  • Some 220,000 Israeli civilians spend the night in bomb shelters, after two civilians were killed in rocket attacks. 14 Israelis, including 4 children, remain hospitalized following yesterday's rocket attacks. (Haaretz), (Ynet)
  • Since Wednesday morning, Hezbollah militants fired at least 300 Katyusha rockets and 500 mortar shells against Israeli towns, killing 4 civilians and wounding more than 150. 63 Lebanese have been killed, and more than 159 have been injured. (Ynet), (Times Online)
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Operation Summer Rains):
  • About 1500 of Palestinian people cross the Gaza-Egypt border after Palestinian militants attack Egyptian policemen stationed at Rafah border terminal, blowing a hole in the wall near it. (Ynet), (Associated Press), (BBC NEWS), (Getty)
  • Israeli ground forces pull out of the central Gaza Strip, after several days of fighting in which about 30 Hamas militants were killed. Israeli forces remain in Gaza airport near Rafah, to thwart the delivery of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit into Egypt. (Haaretz), (BBC)
  • One Palestinian civilian is killed when his truck drives towards Israeli forces. (Ynet), (AL-JAZEERA)
  • Hamas militants launch 5 qassam rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot, causing local electrical malfunctions. (Ynet)