Israel maintains troops at war on the borders with Syria and Lebanon
Israel maintains troops at war on the borders with Syria and Lebanon U.S.
Damascus accuses feed Nakba protests in the occupied yesterday
Israel maintained its security forces on a war footing at the borders of Lebanon and Syria, following clashes on Sunday in commemoration of the Nakba (catastrophe)-the exodus of thousands of Palestinians following the establishment of the State of Israel. The easy infiltration from Syria than a hundred protesters in the town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, territory occupied by Israel, provoked a storm of criticism from the media for "lack of preparation" of the Israeli Army.
According to a provisional report, Israeli forces killed at least 12 people at the borders with Lebanon and Syria: 10 Lebanese side and at least two in Majdal Shams. Another 300 Palestinians were injured in the Lebanese border in the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The press put the accent on the "siege" of Israel "attacked on all sides" and insists on the precedent means that the demonstrators could enter by force in the Golan. "There are no borders", headlines on the front page the Yedi Aharonot, Maariv and Israel while Hayom, two popular newspapers, speak of the "battle of the fence." Haaretz notes that the "Syrians are on the fence", referring to the 1973 surprise attack by Syria against Israel.
Blow to the army
Such was the blow to the image of the Army's own chief of staff, Benny Ganz, admitted that the balance of the intervention on the Golan "is not good." Strategic Affairs Minister, Moshe Yaalon, told the radio that Israel must "make clear to all who seek to enter by force in our country, whether armed or not, that Israel is a sovereign country."
Several commentators felt that the events of Sunday could be a dress rehearsal before September, when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expected to ask the UN to recognize a Palestinian state in failing to restart negotiations with Israel. "The Arab revolution strikes at the gates of Israel," said the columnist Aluf Benn in Haaretz.
On the ground, the Israeli army continued its "advanced state of alert in both the northern military region (Gaza and Egypt) and Central (West Bank)," said General Yoav Mordechai.
On the diplomatic front, Israel filed a complaint against Syria and Lebanon to the presidency of the Security Council and UN Secretary General. Lebanon did the same against Israel.
The White House accused Syria of fueling the Palestinian protests to distract attention from the face of repression against opponents of the regime of Bashar Assad. Furthermore, he regretted the deaths and called for maximum restraint on the Israelis and Palestinians, but said Israel has a right to prevent unauthorized crossings.
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