Jigs
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Thursday, February 17, 2011
JERUSALEM – Agence France-Presse
Israel warned Iran and its ally Hezbollah not to test it, charging that Tehran was preparing to send warships into the Mediterranean as the Lebanese militia threatened to occupy northern Israel in the event of a new war. The Egyptian authority that runs the Suez Canal on Thursday denied any Iranian request.
On Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said two Iranian warships were sailing north in the Red Sea headed for the canal for the first time since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, branding this a "provocation." And Defense Minister Ehud Barak labeled the act "hostile."
"Tonight two Iranian warships are supposed to cross the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Syria," Lieberman told a conference of American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. "The international community has to understand that Israel cannot ignore these provocations for eternity," Lieberman said.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment but Barak's office issued a terse statement saying that Israel was closely monitoring developments.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said: "We'll be watching to see what they do," confirming that he was talking about the same vessels to which Lieberman was referring. Crowley, however, did not call them warships or identify them as Iranian, saying that he knew neither their intention nor destination.
In a speech on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned off Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, after the Shiite militia chief told his fighters to prepare to storm the Galilee hills of northern Israel in the event of a new conflict like that of 2006.
"Nasrallah declared today that he will conquer the Galilee," Netanyahu told the American Jewish leaders. "I have news for him. He won't." He spoke after Nasrallah urged his fighters to be prepared to take the Galilee in any future conflict and warned that his followers were ready to kill Israeli leaders "anytime, anywhere."
"Let there be no doubt, Israel has the ability to defend itself," Netanyahu said. "We have a strong army and a determined people. We seek peace but the army is ready to defend Israel against its enemies."
Nasrallah's calls were made in a televised speech to mark the 19th anniversary of the death of key Hezbollah militant Abbas Mussawi in an Israeli missile strike. "I say to the fighters of the Islamic Resistance: Be ready. If a new war is imposed on Lebanon we may ask you to take Galilee, to free Galilee," he said. "I hope the people of Israel have good bomb shelters."
Netanyahu responded with a jibe at Nasrallah's reclusive habits since Israel declared him its enemy number one and threatened to assassinate him. "He who hides in a bunker should stay in a bunker," the Israeli premier said.
The Hezbollah leader's comments followed warnings by Barak that the Israeli military might have to enter Lebanon again to ensure the Shiite militia remembered the lessons of the bloody war the two sides fought in 2006. The war killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, most of them civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
Egypt's Suez Canal Authority on Thursday said it has received no request to allow Iranian warships passage to the Mediterranean. "We did not receive any request for the passage of Iranian warships," Ahmed al-Manakhly, head of the canal's operations room, said, adding he had no idea if any such ships were nearing the canal.
Separately, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported: "The Suez Canal Authority categorically denied the truth of reports that Egypt denied passage to two Iranian warships through the canal."
JERUSALEM – Agence France-Presse
Israel warned Iran and its ally Hezbollah not to test it, charging that Tehran was preparing to send warships into the Mediterranean as the Lebanese militia threatened to occupy northern Israel in the event of a new war. The Egyptian authority that runs the Suez Canal on Thursday denied any Iranian request.
On Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said two Iranian warships were sailing north in the Red Sea headed for the canal for the first time since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, branding this a "provocation." And Defense Minister Ehud Barak labeled the act "hostile."
"Tonight two Iranian warships are supposed to cross the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Syria," Lieberman told a conference of American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. "The international community has to understand that Israel cannot ignore these provocations for eternity," Lieberman said.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment but Barak's office issued a terse statement saying that Israel was closely monitoring developments.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said: "We'll be watching to see what they do," confirming that he was talking about the same vessels to which Lieberman was referring. Crowley, however, did not call them warships or identify them as Iranian, saying that he knew neither their intention nor destination.
In a speech on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned off Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, after the Shiite militia chief told his fighters to prepare to storm the Galilee hills of northern Israel in the event of a new conflict like that of 2006.
"Nasrallah declared today that he will conquer the Galilee," Netanyahu told the American Jewish leaders. "I have news for him. He won't." He spoke after Nasrallah urged his fighters to be prepared to take the Galilee in any future conflict and warned that his followers were ready to kill Israeli leaders "anytime, anywhere."
"Let there be no doubt, Israel has the ability to defend itself," Netanyahu said. "We have a strong army and a determined people. We seek peace but the army is ready to defend Israel against its enemies."
Nasrallah's calls were made in a televised speech to mark the 19th anniversary of the death of key Hezbollah militant Abbas Mussawi in an Israeli missile strike. "I say to the fighters of the Islamic Resistance: Be ready. If a new war is imposed on Lebanon we may ask you to take Galilee, to free Galilee," he said. "I hope the people of Israel have good bomb shelters."
Netanyahu responded with a jibe at Nasrallah's reclusive habits since Israel declared him its enemy number one and threatened to assassinate him. "He who hides in a bunker should stay in a bunker," the Israeli premier said.
The Hezbollah leader's comments followed warnings by Barak that the Israeli military might have to enter Lebanon again to ensure the Shiite militia remembered the lessons of the bloody war the two sides fought in 2006. The war killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, most of them civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
Egypt's Suez Canal Authority on Thursday said it has received no request to allow Iranian warships passage to the Mediterranean. "We did not receive any request for the passage of Iranian warships," Ahmed al-Manakhly, head of the canal's operations room, said, adding he had no idea if any such ships were nearing the canal.
Separately, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported: "The Suez Canal Authority categorically denied the truth of reports that Egypt denied passage to two Iranian warships through the canal."
