BBC 'Ignores' Hezbollah border bombs

[Teddy Bear]

Bearing in mind that there was a major conflict last year between Israel and Hezbollah, that was eventually 'resolved' with the condition that the Lebanese government and UN observers would keep the borders with Israel free of Hezbollah activity.

So if Hezbollah have been able to plant bombs along this border, the implications are fairly serious. It shows that the Lebanese government and the UN are ineffective in controlling this area which poses a severe threat for Israel, who are now weighing military options as a consequence.

So where does this story figure with the BBC? It doesn't - at least not without a search.
On their main Middle-East page, showing the top stories of the day, one can find under the sub-section of 'Other Top Stories' the headline Bombs found 'are old' - Hezbollah

It comes in this order:
OTHER TOP STORIES
UN signs Lebanon tribunal accord
School edits controversial books
Bombs found 'are old' - Hezbollah
Work starts by Jerusalem shrine
Iran envoy 'seized in Baghdad'
Egypt teenager dies of bird flu

Clearly they don't think this story has much importance, and if somebody wasn't already aware of the news about this - this headline wouldn't tell them very much. Even if you click on that headline, which as it says, basically gives the line from Hezbollah that the bombs are old, something that is refuted by Israel, you are not directed to any other page on this story.

So I ran a search and found there was a story

Israelis 'find bombs on border'

Patrols were the likely target, Israel says
The Israeli military says it has found four explosive devices near the border with Lebanon which it suspects were planted by Hezbollah militants.
Army patrols were thought to be the intended targets of the devices.

Hezbollah and UN officials said they were looking into the report, AP news agency reported.

Observers say if confirmed, the find signals a breach of the ceasefire by Hezbollah and failure by peacekeepers to prevent new attacks on Israel.

Defused and destroyed

The devices were reportedly found by troops on Monday between the Israeli community of Avivim and the Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras.

"A unit patrol of sappers discovered them. Army vehicles driving on the patrol route alongside the security fence could have been hit if the explosives, placed 50 metres from the fence, had exploded," Lieutenant Colonel Guy Hazoot told news agency AFP.

He said the devices hidden in containers that looked like boulders were defused and destroyed.

They were the first found by the Israeli military in the area since the 34-day conflict with Hezbollah last year, he said.

So why have they 'buried' it?

[Teddy Bear]

The following article reports on a fresh incident that has Lebanese troops firing on the IDF for 'incursions' into their territory, an allegation denied by Israel. Though the BBC article quotes several UN officials on this incident, they omit that of a UNIFIL spokesmen who supported the Israeli version.

"Liam McDowell, a spokesman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, said the exchange was initiated by the Lebanese army and that the Israeli bulldozer had crossed the border fence, but not the Blue Line, to clear mines. The border fence lies several dozen meters south of the Blue Line."

The BBC article

Clash on Israel-Lebanese border

Israeli troops regularly patrol the border area
Israeli and Lebanese forces have exchanged fire on their border.
Israel says its troops returned fire after being fired on while searching an area where explosives had been found. Lebanese officials confirmed the clash.

No casualties were reported. The UN force in southern Lebanon described the incident as serious.

It is the first such armed incident on the border since Israel's 34-day campaign against Hezbollah guerrillas ended in August last year.

Since that conflict the border between Israel and Lebanon has been policed by a combination of Lebanese government soldiers and UN troops.

Territory dispute

According to Israeli reports, Lebanese troops fired when an Israeli patrol crossed a security fence near the Israeli village of Avivim.

"We called for them to stop firing, they shot at us and we returned fire," an Israeli source told the Reuters news agency.


Israel insisted that the patrol had not actually crossed into Lebanese territory.

Lebanese officials said the Israelis were across the border.

"An Israeli bulldozer crossed into south Lebanon tonight. Our forces opened fire at it. It pulled back and there was a brief exchange of fire," an army official told Reuters.

Israel said the bombs discovered earlier in the week were recently planted by Hezbollah, in violation of the terms of the ongoing ceasefire.

Hezbollah has denied the charge, saying the bombs had been there since the conflict six months ago.

A spokesman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, Milos Strugar, described the clash as a "serious incident".