Mark Regev

Mark Regev

Mark Regev (Hebrew: מרק רגב‎) is an Australian born Jew who migrated to Israel. He is the spokesman for the Prime Minister of Israel and an advisor on foreign press and public affairs, a position he has held since 2007.

Prior to occupying his current post, he has served as the spokesman of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Jordan Division at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Jerusalem, and embassies in Beijing, China and Washington, D.C.. He had also served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and as a lecturer on International Relations and Strategy at the Israel Defense Forces Staff College.

Born Mark Freiberg in Australia to Martin and Freda Freiberg, he is a graduate of Mount Scopus Memorial College, received his Bachelor's degree in Political Science and History at Melbourne University, and a Master's degree in Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as a Master of Science in Management from Boston University.

Prior to immigrating to Israel he was a prominent member of the Socialist-Zionist youth movement, Ichud Habonim and was active in the Melbourne University Jewish Students Society. When he entered the Foreign Ministry he adopted the Israeli family name of his adoptive kibbutz parents at Tel Katzir changing his name from Freiberg to Regev.

He is married and has three children.

In January 2009, Regev appeared on several international TV channels to defend Israel's actions in Gaza. Channel 4's Jon Snow accused Israel of being heavy-handed in causing unnecessary civilian casualties and using phosphorous ammunition in Gaza. Regev responded that Israel used no illegal military techniques, and that Hamas had turned civilian zones into combat zones by its presence there. Regev also stated that Gaza civilian statements of alleged Israeli atrocities, which Israeli was investigating, needed to be considered against the fact that Hamas still controlled the area and hence it was unlikely any Gazans would make public statements critical of Hamas. Regev stated that civilians showing wounds did not necessarily prove who wounded them, for instance Hamas has also used white phosphorous weapons. The interview became heated on both sides : Youtube recording of TV interview with Jon Snow.

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Targeting of civilian areas in the 2006 Lebanon War

Artillery and missiles fired into civilian areas in Lebanon and Israel by both the Israel Defence Forces and Hezbollah were a major component of the 2006 Lebanon war. Intended targeting aside, approximately one-quarter of the Israelis killed by Hezbollah and the vast majority of the Lebanese killed by Israeli forces were widely reported to be civilians. The Boston-based Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, a media watchdog group focused on monitoring any coverage it considers unfair to Israel, suggested that nearly half, or even most, of Lebanese casualties were combatants. Israel, Lebanon, and the international community have all expressed grave concern over the damage to civilian life and property that has resulted from the current conflict. Israel mostly blames Hezbollah, although expressing "some regret for collateral damage to civilians caused by return fire on Hezbollah positions." Hezbollah blames Israel entirely, downplaying strikes which have killed Israeli civilians as exaggerated or justifiable. Allies of each have expressed similar views.

Strikes on Lebanon's civilian population and infrastructure include Rafik Hariri International Airport, ports, a lighthouse, grain silos, bridges, roads, factories, ambulances and relief trucks, mobile telephone and television stations, fuel containers and service stations, and the country's largest dairy farm Liban Lait.

An "initial assessment" Amnesty International report on Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure states that "the evidence strongly suggests that the extensive destruction of public works, power systems, civilian homes and industry was deliberate and an integral part of the military strategy, rather than "collateral damage" – incidental damage to civilians or civilian property resulting from targeting military objectives." UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland called Israel's offensive "disproportionate" and declared that the "horrific" leveling of "block after block" of buildings in Beirut "makes it a violation of humanitarian law." Mr Egeland added that one third of the Lebanese dead were children. Around 900,000 Lebanese were displaced during the fighting.

There have been numerous reports of attacks on fleeing civilians. The BBC reported that families evacuating the village of Marwahin in Southern Lebanon were struck on an open road by an Israeli missile attack; killing 17, many of them women and children. Human Rights Watch called for an investigation into this incident. On 23 July 2006 three families fleeing Tyre at the command of the IDF were attacked by rockets fired from Israeli helicopters; they claimed to be prominently waving a white flag from their automobiles, however the Israelis had repeatedly warned civilians not to use vans due to their ability to carry Hezbollah rockets.

Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Israel had no intention to harm Lebanese civilians, but warned that civilians who live near Hezbollah weapon caches were in danger: "Because we know that some of their rocket caches, which are fired at Israel, are hidden in private apartments, I call on these residents to leave their homes. He who lives near a rocket is likely to get hurt." Hezbollah had placed large amounts of weaponry into sealed rooms in private home prior to the outbreak of the conflict, placing the Lebanese citizenry at risk of attack.

The civilian casualties have been characterised by some as the result of poor intelligence. In mid-June, the Lebanese Security Service allegedly arrested as many as 80 Lebanese citizens which they accused of working for Mossad. The loss of such a significant number of assets would have allowed Hezbollah time to redeploy to new locations prior to the conflict without Israel's knowledge.

An IDF source said that aerial attacks were ruled out in favor of ground troops in the fighting with Hezbollah in the Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil, for fear of harming the few hundred civilians thought to remain. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed in the operation.

Israeli officials claim that they try to minimize the civilian casualties by dropping leaflets that warn civilians to leave the area before attacks.

On 24 July, it was reported that Army Chief of Staff Halutz, according to a "senior officer", had issued orders to destroy 10 multi-story buildings in southern Beirut for every rocket fired on Haifa. The same day the IAF/IDF confirmed it had destroyed ten buildings in Beirut, including what it described as "a vital target", but the nature of the target was not revealed. In response to the press reports, the IDF Spokesperson's Office first released a statement saying that reporters had misquoted "the senior officer", but later issued a new statement saying that the officer in question had made a mistake and was wrong in claiming that Halutz had issued such a "retaliation" directive.

On 26 July, during a security cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon is reported by The Daily Telegraph to have said that any civilians remaining in southern Lebanon after having received warning leaflets should be considered "terrorists".

On August 6, in reference to European Union criticism of civilian casualties resulting from IDF activity in Lebanon, Prime Minister Olmert said, "Where do they get the right to preach to Israel? European countries attacked Kosovo and killed 10,000 civilians. 10,000! And none of these countries had to suffer before that from a single rocket. I'm not saying it was wrong to intervene in Kosovo. But please: Don't preach to us about the treatment of civilians." According to Human Rights Watch, 500 civilians were killed during the Kosovo War in attacks confirmed to have been carried out by NATO forces. However, the Yugoslav government claimed that the bombings resulted in between 1,200 and 5,700 civilian casualties, and some sources put the death toll as high as 18,000.

An anonymous IDF rocket battery commander commented on the extent of the use of cluster bombs by saying "what we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs." An official IDF spokesman said, "International law does not include a sweeping prohibition of the use of cluster bombs. The convention on conventional weaponry does not declare a prohibition on phosphorus weapons, rather, on principles regulating the use of such weapons". The US government declared its intent to investigate whether Israel's use of US-made cluster bombs in southern Lebanon had violated secret agreements that restrict when it can employ such weapons. 90 percent of the cluster bomb strikes occurred in the last 72 hours of the war. As of 6 September 2006, at least 13 people were killed and dozens injured after the ceasefire in Lebanon by unexploded ordnance. Most of the deaths resulted from the submunitions of cluster bombs. The United Nations had found 100,000 unexploded cluster bomblets at 359 sites by that time.

However, the Israeli drops of leaflets before bombings have come under criticism for being used as an excuse to kill citizens who didn't leave. According to Human Rights Watch, "in Qana and other villages in southern Lebanon, thousands of residents have been unable to leave the area because they are sick, wounded, do not have the means to leave or they fear Israeli attacks on vehicles".

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a 30 July statement on the IDF's attack on Qana, "Issuing advance warning to the civilian population of impending attacks in no way relieves a warring party of its obligations under the rules and principles of international humanitarian law. In particular, the principles of distinction and proportionality must be respected at all times".

On August 6, 2008, Yonatan Shapiro, a former Blackhawk helicopter pilot dismissed from reserve duty after signing a 'refusnik' letter in 2004, said that some Israeli fighter pilots had deliberately missed targets in order to avoid harming civilians, as disquiet grew in the military about flawed intelligence.

On 13 July three Red Cross volunteers were wounded when an ambulance was hit.

On 18 July the IDF attacked a convoy of ambulances and trucks operated by the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent (UAERC) on the road between Damascus and Beirut. One truck was destroyed, two were damaged and four passenger vehicles were damaged, causing injuries.

According to CNN's Paula Zahn on 24 July, the Red Cross said that "an Israeli missile hit two clearly marked Red Cross ambulances that were parked inside the Lebanese town of Qana evacuating civilians—the wounded included a 60-year-old woman and 12-year-old boy who's now in a coma." The ambulances were hit around 11.15 pm while wounded patients were being from one ambulance to another. The ICRC recorded nine people including six Red Cross volunteers wounded in the attack. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer made the allegation that these attacks were staged one month later, but was rebuked by the Red Cross for relying on an unverified internet blog in making his accusation. Israel has since said it "cannot tell for sure" if it hit the ambulances.

It was reported on 26 July that "at least 10 Lebanese ambulances bearing the emblem of the international red cross have become targets in Israeli air strikes", resulting in the injury of six emergency workers. Additionally, an ambulance marked as belonging to the Shiite Amal militia was struck by Israeli aircraft fire near Tyre.

On August 11 it was reported that the IDF had wounded several aid workers during an airstrike that hit a Lebanese Red Cross ambulance in Tibnin, southeast of Tyre. It was also reported by Associated Press that an ambulance dispatched to deal with the casualties from the airstrikes against a civilian convoy originating in Marjayoun was also attacked. The Red Cross also confirmed that a Red Cross worker had been killed in the attack on the convoy.

The number of homes destroyed by the IDF was estimated by Hezbollah to be over 15,000 completely destroyed and many more damaged. Other estimates were of 10,000 homes in need rebuilding or repairing.

According to a report by Lebanon's Council for Development and Reconstruction, "The government review shows that Israel has largely avoided some types of targets: major power plants, water treatment facilities, telephone systems, central government buildings and most factories. The bombing has focused on Shiite areas of southern Lebanon and the Beirut suburbs." Amnesty International have documented extensive Israeli strikes against Water treatment facilities, power plants, fuel depots, factories, supermarkets and bridges, among others.

Several critiques have been made of weapons allegedly used by Israel in the conflict such as phosphorus incendiary bomb and depleted uranium shells, though none of them are explicitly prohibited.

Of Hezbollah, Human Rights Watch has said that the rocket attacks in civilian areas are at best indiscriminate, and at worst deliberate targeting due to their anti-personnel nature, which suggest a will to maximally harm civilians: "Some of the rockets launched against Haifa over the past two days contained hundreds of metal ball bearings that are of limited use against military targets but cause great harm to civilians and civilian property. The ball bearings lodge in the body and cause serious harm." Hezbollah "used Chinese-manufactured 122 mm rockets, carrying 39 sub-munitions that scattered hundreds of ball bearings, against Israel" in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. Many of these ball bearing rockets remain unexploded in the north of Israel.

Unexploded cluster bombs dropped by Israeli warplanes or duds fired by artillery remain in much of South Lebanon, and have killed 12 people and wounded 39, according to Chris Clarke, head of the U.N. Mine Action Coordination Center attached to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. These unexploded cluster munitions have created "mini-minefields" and the casualties include three Lebanese bomb disposal experts. The U.N. Mine Action Co-ordination Centre in Tyre claims cluster bombs were dropped by Israel in 267 separate locations in South Lebanon and are still killing returning refugees. The United States has opened an inquiry into Israel's use of cluster bombs, which are supplied by the United States. According to The New York Times this is to determine whether Israel had infringed secret rules that restrict where cluster bombs could be used. On 6 October 2006, several weeks after the ceasefire, the New York Times reported that "Since the war between Israel and Hezbollah ended in August, nearly three people have been wounded or killed each day by cluster bombs Israel dropped in the waning days of the war, and officials now say it will take more than a year to clear the region of them. United Nations officials estimate that southern Lebanon is littered with one million unexploded bomblets, far outnumbering the 650,000 people living in the region".

On December 1, 2006, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan submitted a report to the Security Council president stating that, as of November 20, 2006, 822 cluster bomb strike sites had been recorded, with 60,000 cluster bomblets having been cleared by the UN Mine Action Coordination Center. On January 28, 2007, the State Department said that Israel may have violated agreements with the United States when it fired American supplied cluster munitions into civilian areas of southern Lebanon.

On 22 October, an Israeli government liaison said that the IDF had employed phosphorus munitions within the confines of international law, though he didn't specify where or against what types of targets they were used. Neither Israel nor Lebanon are a party to the Protocol, its violation by either thus of only political but not legal consequence.

Amnesty International has also called on Israel to consider refraining from the use of weapons with depleted uranium munitions, due to health risks. The effect of the radioactive dust created on impact is debated, though the weapon itself is considered "toxic and constitutes a health risk independent of any residual radioactivity" due to the nature of heavy metals. The Jerusalem Post reported that GBU-28 "bunker buster" munitions are in use by the IDF against civilian infrastructure which the IDF claim houses Hezbollah.

Hezbollah fired rockets, sometimes at a rate of more than 150 per day, at civilian targets throughout the conflict. Every major city in northern Israel was hit, including Haifa, Nazareth, Tiberias, Nahariya, Safed, Afula, Kiryat Shmona, Karmiel, and Maalot, along with dozens of kibbutzim, moshavim, and Druze and Arab villages. Hezbollah rocket attacks were responsible for all 43 civilian Israeli fatalities in the conflict, including four heart attacks during rocket attacks, in addition to at least 12 military fatalities. Because of the bombings by Hezbollah of Israel's northern cities, there was a large displaced Israeli citizen population within Israel. "Israeli officials have estimated the number of displaced northern Israelis at 300,000 since the fighting began" on 12 July. Many of the displaced Israelis stayed in Israel's southern most city, Eilat, where hotels were overbooked. Some were constrained to camp out on the beach instead. Other families stayed in university dormitories in larger cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem or in guests houses in kibbutzim south of Haifa. On August 2, 2006, it was reported that an estimated 200 to 300 rockets were aimed at fifteen targets inside Israel.

Hezbollah also used cluster weapons which can indiscriminately kill civilians. This was the first use of a Chinese made cluster bomb weapon.

However, the Hezbollah attack that initiated the conflict involved the firing of rockets on the Israeli towns of Even Menachem and Mattat, injuring 5 civilians. Four civilians were killed over the next two days.

Rockets fired by Hezbollah also landed and resulted in casualties in the Israeli Arab population. Nasrallah has apologized for the first two Arab fatalities, two brothers aged 3 and 5 in the mixed city of Nazareth.

As for the Arab citizens of Israel in Haifa, Nasrallah said on Al-Manar television, “I have a special message to the Arabs of Haifa, to your martyrs and to your wounded. I call you to leave this city. I hope you do this.…Please leave so we don't shed your blood, which is our blood.” Some analysts have drawn a comparison between these warnings and the alleged Arab leaders' endorsement for flight in 1948.

Israel, former UN ERC Jan Egeland, Lebanese civilians, and Alan Dershowitz criticized Hezbollah for what they viewed as it using Lebanese citizens as human shields – an accusation Hezbollah denies. In their investigations of the matter, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International found no evidence to support the allegation that Hezbollah had used human shields, and Human Rights Watch says there is no basis for the allegation.

Human Rights Watch later printed an editorial reiterating these concerns in the context of strong criticism of the conduct of both sides in the conflict on October 5.

There have been other reports of Hezbollah using civilians as human shields. On July 12, the very same day that Hezbollah sparked the war by kidnapping the two Israeli soldiers, the Israeli government publicized photographic and video evidence of Hezbollah's human shield tactics. The Sunday Herald Sun printed pictures that were smuggled out of Lebanon. One showing militants in a Lebanese town riding a truck equipped with an anti-aircraft gun, another showing a militant carrying an AK-47 rifle. The photographer, a Melbourne man who refused to give his name, stated that he was less than 400 meters from the block when it was obliterated. He said that "Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets ... Until the Hezbollah fighters arrived, it had not been touched by the Israelis. Then it was totally devastated. It was carnage. Two innocent people died in that incident, but it was so lucky it was not more." The New Yorker reported how a Sidon mosque was used as a Hezbollah weapons cache before it was bombed by Israel.

Israeli military spokesman, Capt. Jacob Dallal, further noted that much of the weaponry threatening Israel was deliberately being stored among civilians: "A lot of the rockets are stored in people’s homes in urban areas, fired from within villages and brought in from the Damascus-Beirut highway." The IDF also claims that Hezbollah militants are preventing or impeding the evacuation of civilians from southern Lebanon despite warnings by Israel to do so, thereby keeping civilians inside the military theatre and exposing them to danger.

During a raid in Baalbeck, Israeli forces found what IDF commanders described to the media as "a hospital building that served as a Hezbollah office complex." Israeli soldiers gathered weapons, documents, and other useful intelligence information from the hospital. According to Al Arabia's website, Hezbollah fighters wear uniforms in battle but "dress normally" when among civilians. Hence, fallen Hezbollah fighters in civilian areas are likely to be accounted as civilians casualties.

A recent editorial in the The Washington Times detailed preparations taken by Hezbollah in advance of the July war to hide weaponry in private civilian homes.

On September 6, 2007, the Associated Press reported on a new Human Rights Watch report found that most of the civilian deaths in Lebanon resulted from "indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes," and found that Israeli aircraft targeted vehicles carrying fleeing civilians. The report stated that Hezbollah "did at times fire rockets from, and store weapons in, populated areas and deploy its forces among the civilian population." In a statement issued before the report's release, the human rights organization said there was no basis to the Israeli government's claim that civilian casualties resulted from Hezbollah guerrillas using civilians as shields. Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch executive director, said there were only "rare" cases of Hezbollah operating in civilian villages. "To the contrary, once the war started, most Hezbollah military officials and even many political officials left the villages," he said, "Most Hezbollah military activity was conducted from prepared positions outside Lebanese villages in the hills and valleys around." Roth also stated that "Hezbollah guerrillas did not wear uniforms, making it hard to pick them out from civilians." Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mark Regev denied the accuracy of the Human Rights Watch report.

UN's Secretary-General Kofi Annan criticized Israel for using cluster bombs, while Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland accused Israel of "completely immoral" use of the munitions in the country. Amnesty International stated on 30 August 2006 that it was "outrageous" that Israel had not yet provided maps indicating where cluster bombs were used, reiterating that their use "in the heart of where people live clearly violates the prohibition on indiscriminate attacks" and was therefore "a grave violation of international humanitarian law". On 1 September 2006 IDF said it would provide UNIFIL with maps of South Lebanon that indicated where bombs or other devices that did not explode may be found.

Amnesty International condemned both Israel and Hezbollah and called for UN intervention, stating early on that the region "has seen a horrendous escalation in attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure. Yet the G8 leaders have failed conspicuously to uphold their moral and legal obligation to address such blatant breaches of international humanitarian law, which in some cases have amounted to war crimes". Amnesty International later accused Israel of war crimes due to its assault on Lebanese civilian infrastructure.

Amnesty International has also accused Hezbollah of war crimes due to “deliberately failing to distinguish between civilian and military targets, and of wrongfully seeking to justify its barrage by claiming to be retaliating for Israel’s attacks on Lebanese civilians.” On November 21, 2006, Amnesty International released a report stating that there was not "conclusive evidence of intent" by Hezbollah to use the civilian population as “human shields” for its military activities.

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United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 is a resolution that was intended to resolve the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.

It was unanimously approved by the United Nations Security Council on 11 August 2006. The Lebanese cabinet, which includes two members of Hezbollah, unanimously approved the resolution on 12 August 2006. On the same day, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that his militia would honor the call for a ceasefire. He also said that once the Israeli offensive stops, Hezbollah's rocket attacks on Israel would stop. On 13 August the Israeli Cabinet voted 24-0 in favor of the resolution, with one abstention. The ceasefire began on Monday, 14 August 2006 at 8 AM local time, after increased attacks by both sides.

On August 14, Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said on Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV that he is not in favor of Hezbollah's disarmament, since the Lebanese army is not strong enough to defend Lebanon and the Israeli army is still occupying Lebanon, and that his fighters would not be forced to disarm by "intimidation or pressure." Along the same lines, on August 16, 2006, senior Hezbollah official Hassan Fadlallah stated that the issue of his organization's disarmament was not on the agenda. Similarly, after adoption of the resolution Lebanese Defence Minister Elias Murr said on August 14, 2006, in a television interview that "the army won't be deployed to south Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah.

Israel, for its part, indicated that if Hezbollah is not disarmed, as called for in the Resolution, Israel will resume operations in Lebanon. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev told the Associated Press on August 18 that Israel is keeping its commitments in the UN ceasefire resolution and expects Lebanon to do the same. "That resolution clearly calls for the creation of a Hezbollah-free zone south of the Litani River, and anything less would mean that the resolution is not being implemented," Regev told AP.

Hezbollah agreed to disarm its forces south of the Litani River, but not to pull its forces out of southern Lebanon. "Hezbollah individuals are people who live in the south and they will not leave their homes and villages, but an armed Hezbollah will not be in the south," said Mohamad Chatah on August 16, a senior adviser to Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora. UN Resolution 1701 prohibits all armed militias from operating anywhere in all of Lebanon ("no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state" and "full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of resolutions 1559 and 1680, that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of 27 July 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese State"), but does not specify whether the militias should disarm or be put under the control of the Lebanese government. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who said that the "ball is now in the court of the government of Lebanon" to ensure no armed militias operate in southern Lebanon.

On August 21, the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet reported that Turkish authorities intercepted five Iranian cargo aircraft and one Syrian aircraft carrying missiles to Hezbollah. The aircraft were forced to land at Diyarbakır Airport in southeastern Turkey. The aircraft were not allowed to take off after US intelligence sources found there were three missile launchers and crates of C-802 missiles on board the planes which were identical to the missile that struck the Israeli Navy Ship "Hanit" during the war. Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said that Israel would continue to prevent weapons from reaching Hezbollah from Syria and Iran. "I will not allow the situation that happened before the war to return," said Peretz during a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. He also asked that Turkey send troops to the international force deploying in Lebanon.

On June 30, 2006, UNIFIL was made up of 1,990 troops from China, France, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Poland, and Ukraine, supported by 50 military observers from UN Truce Supervision Organization and about 400 civilian staff members.

As of January 8, 2007, UNIFIL has grown to 11,512 military personnel from the following nations: Belgium (375; 394 pledged), China (190), Denmark (78, warships; 150 pledged), Finland (205), France (2,000), Germany (1,500, surveillance ships and planes; 2,400 pledged), Ghana (660), Greece (225), Guatemala (1), Hungary (4), India (878), Indonesia (850), Ireland (164), Italy (2,415; commands UNIFIL forces), Luxemburg (2), Malaysia (220; 360 pledged), Nepal (234), Netherlands (161), Norway (134), Poland (319), Portugal (146, military construction engineers), Qatar (200), Slovenia (11), Spain (1,277, armored vehicles), South Korea (270 special forces pledged, 80 support personnel pledged), Sweden (68, and a ship), Turkey (509), and Ukraine (200), supported by 53 military observers from UN Truce Supervision Organization and about 308 local civilian staff members.

Other countries have been reported as willing to send troops, but have not shared troop numbers. They include: Australia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria (160 frigate crew members), Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, New Zealand, Russia (400), and Thailand.

Israel indicated that it is not in favor of troops being included from countries that have offered to send troops but do not recognize Israel as a state, such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

India, at the same time, is considering withdrawing its current peacekeeping forces from southern Lebanon.

Complicating matters, Syria threatened to close the Lebanese-Syrian border — Lebanon's only land outlet — if UN troops are sent there.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also warned that deploying foreign troops along the border would be a “hostile” act against Syria.

This resolution was based on an initial draft prepared by France and the United States. Lebanon and the Arab League pressed to have parts of the Siniora Plan, which required Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon, included in the final resolution.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said on August 6th that the draft resolution was "not adequate," and House Speaker Nabih Berri, serving as a diplomatic conduit for Hezbollah, rejected the draft. The draft made no mention of Israeli forces withdrawing from Lebanon.

Lebanon proposed changes on August 7th. It agreed to dispatch 15,000 troops to its southern border if Israeli troops would leave the country, handing over their positions to the UN Interim Force. The draft UN resolution called for "the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations." A second resolution would later establish an international peacekeeping force that would help Lebanon's army take control of the country's southern border, where Hezbollah had held sway since the Israeli withdrawal in 2000.

On August 8th, several changes were made to the proposal. Lebanon and its Arab League allies pressed the UN to call for an immediate Israeli withdrawal. Such a withdrawal had not been mentioned in the draft resolution; an omission that Lebanon's government and Arab League diplomats called unacceptable. Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora's Cabinet, which included two ministers from Hezbollah, made its decision on troop deployment unanimously, ministers said. The Lebanese proposal also called for Israel to hand over Shebaa Farms to the UN.

Dan Gillerman, Israel's Ambassador to the UN, said he had problems with the idea of a UN force being deployed to stabilize the region, and pointed to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon as an example. Israel's Security Cabinet recommended that the Israeli military expand its campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Diplomats at the UN and in Beirut stepped up efforts to secure a UN resolution.

Despite the expanded ground campaign, the Israeli Security Cabinet was likely to sign off on the UN resolution at its meeting on August 13, Israel's Ambassador to the US, Daniel Ayalon, said before the Council vote. A final text of the resolution was distributed to the full UN Security Council, which unanimously accepted the resolution.

The resolution demands a full cessation of all hostilities, the release of abducted Israeli soldiers, the deployment of 15,000 international troops to police the Lebanon-Israel border -- an increase from the then-current 2,000. The UN troops in the area would be joined by 15,000 Lebanese troops. The deal also calls for the release of two Israeli soldiers whose capture by guerrillas sparked the conflict.Tzipi Livni, Israel’s foreign minister, insisted that Israeli troops would remain in southern Lebanon until a multinational UN force is deployed, implying that deployment of Lebanese forces would not be sufficient for Israeli withdrawal.

Leaders around the world praised the agreement, while noting this was not the end of the crisis. The Lebanese cabinet voted unanimously to accept the terms on 12 August. Nasrallah, in a speech televised on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television on 12 August, said: "We will not be an obstacle to any decision taken by the Lebanese government".

The Israeli government accepted the terms on 13 August, but did not cease offensive actions until its deadline at 8:00 a.m. (local time) 14 August. On 13 August, Israel advanced to capture as much high-ground territory as possible before the ceasefire, and bombed targets up to 15 minutes before the deadline. Hezbollah also continued what they called "defensive operations," and vowed not to cease their operations as long as Israel occupies Lebanon. Hezbollah launched 250 rockets into Israel, the most since the war began. Hezbollah and the IDF fought the fiercest engagements of the conflict; 32 Israeli soldiers were killed, but Hezbollah did not release any casualty numbers.

As of February 2009, the key points in the resolution were insignificantly addressed. In a special report, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon mentions Hezbollah's intransigence as the main problematic factor. "Hezbollah continues to refuse to provide any information on the release or fate of abducted soldiers, and places conditions and demands for the release that are far outside the scope of resolution 1701," Ban wrote in the report. The report also points out that Hezbollah has replenished its stock of rockets and missiles in South Lebanon, and is now in possession of 10,000 long-range rockets and 20,000 short-range projectiles.

In 2009, Israel filed a complaint with the U.N. that Lebanon was not complying with the resolution after a Katyusha rocket was fired from Lebanon and landed next to a house in northern Israel and injured three people. The complaint affirmed Israel's right to defend itself and its citizens.

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Ali-Reza Asgari

Brigadier General Ali-Reza Asgari (Persian: علي رضا عسگری) is a retired Iranian general of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, former deputy defense minister, and former cabinet member of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.

Asgari had been "pushed aside" from his ministerial role after President Ahmadinejad, a former rival, came in to power in 2005. Asgari disappeared in Turkey in early 2007, and news reports indicate that he has either defected or been kidnapped by Western intelligence agencies. His disappearance has also led to reports that Iran will retaliate by kidnapping American or Israeli officials in Europe. According to The Sunday Times, Asgari has been described as a "gold mine for western intelligence” by an Israeli defence source who claimed that they had been following him since the 1980s.

Ali Reza Asgari was born in Shiraz, Iran. His age has been variously cited as 46, 57, and 63. Asgari is married to Ziba Ahmadi and Zahra Abdollahpour and has five children.

In the 1980s Asgari was commander of the Revolutionary Guard in Lebanon and during the 1990s he was the top Iranian intelligence official in Lebanon, where he worked with the Shia militant group Hezbollah(a group considered a terrorist organization by the United States.) One report said that during this time, Asgari was involved in the alleged transfer of captured Israeli pilot Ron Arad to Iran. The Israeli website Debkafile claims that Asgari ran Iranian operations in Iraq, and is linked to the January 20, 2007 Karbala provincial headquarters raid.

According to The Sunday Times, Asgari was recruited as a spy in 2003 during a business trip; however, it is not known what Western intelligence agency recruited him. He decided to defect once it was suspected by the Iranian VEVAK that he was a mole.

Reports say that two other people had reserved a room for Asgari at the Ceylan Hotel in Istanbul for three nights, but that after arriving Asgari reserved a room at the cheaper Hotel Ghilan. It is not clear if he ever checked into the hotel, and a later report suggested that no such hotel exists.

Some Arab diplomats told the media that Asgari was kidnapped by the US CIA and or Israeli Mossad. On March 6, a top Iranian police chief confirmed that kidnapping was a possibility.

According to the Islamic republic state-run newspaper Iran, Asgari was captured by a joint team of Mossad and CIA and then tortured by them. This claim of torture was denied by a source in the Iranian military, who said that the Iranians have no information on his current situation. In an interview with Fars News, Asgari's daughter said that "I'm sure that United States and Israel have kidnapped him".

Asgari may have been able to leave Turkey under a different passport.

On March 8 The Washington Post said that Asgari is willingly cooperating with Western intelligence officials, and is providing information on Hezbollah and its Iranian connections. Among other things, this includes information with regards to the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. Asgari also smuggled out intelligence documents and maps that detail Iranian involvement with Muslim militia groups, including Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad in Palestine, and the Iraqi Mahdi army and Badr Organization. A US intelligence official said that his defection was "orchestrated by the Israelis", although Israeli spokesman Mark Regev has denied this. The New York Post reported that an Iranian dissident group helped plan the defection and is negotiating with Western intelligence agencies for a "permanent place of exile".

In an interview on July 10 with the news agency Mehr, Ziba Ahmadi said that 90% of the evidence points towards Israel being responsible for her husband's disappearance, although she has not received any information on him.

After 15 British navy personnel were seized by Iranian forces on March 23, 2007, some media reports suggested that the Iranian government wanted to trade them for Iranian personnel allegedly abducted, including Asgari.

In early July 2007 the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported that Asgari told US interrogators that Iran is secretly attempting to enrich uranium with a combination of lasers and chemicals at a weapons facility in Natanz; this would act as a backup if the publicly known facilities and activities were stopped by sanctions or military strikes.

In December 2007 when the US intelligence community released the findings of an NIE stating that Iran had stopped its secret nuclear weapons program in 2003 (as opposed to the 2005 NIE which said they were continuing), some observers suspected that Asgari played some role in providing intelligence or prompting the reassessment; however, current officials have said that there was no single thing which prompted the reversal, though another source cited current diplomatic and security officials as saying that a defector was likely to be the cause of the new information.

In late March 2008, Dr. Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, an Iranian human rights activist who lives in Germany, was detained at Ataturk International Airport after an Iranian official requested that he be deported to Iran. According to the Iranians, he had played a role in Asgari's defection.

In an interview with Newsmax, Ebrahimi explained that he and Asgari had met in the mid-1990s when they worked at Iran's embassy in Beirut. When Asgari was on his trip in Syria in 2007, he called Ebrahimi in Germany to say that his special passport only had two days remaining and that he did not wish to go back to Iran; following Ebrahimi's advice, he rented a car, left his wife in Damascus to drive to Turkey, and paid US$1500 to a Turkish border guard to enter without a visa. Contacts of Ebrahimi's were said to meet him in rooms reserved at the Gilan hotel, but the meeting did not take place because of a police presence outside the hotel.

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Ma'ale Adumim

Ma'ale Adumim (Hebrew: מַעֲלֵה אֲדֻמִּים‎) is an Israeli Settlement and city located east of Jerusalem in the West Bank and on the edge of the Judean desert. It is located within the boundaries of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, but has had its own mayor and municipality independent of the council's jurisdiction since achieving city status in 1991.

Ma'ale Adumim was built on land that was classified as "miri," or state-owned, under Ottoman and Jordanian rule. Established in 1976 on territory captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, it was built as a planned community and suburban commuter town to nearby Jerusalem, to which many residents commute daily. According to Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) figures, the city had a total population of 33,000 at the end of 2007, making it the second largest Israeli city in the West Bank after Modi'in Illit. The mayor of Ma'ale Adumim is Benny Kashriel, recently elected to a third term by a large majority.

The first 23 families moved into Ma'ale Adumim on the seventh night of Hanukkah, 1975, although the town was recognized officially only in 1976. The chief urban planner was architect Rachel Walden. It achieved local council status in March 1979. The city is located along Highway 1, which connects it to Jerusalem as a freeway and the Tel Aviv area. The urban plan for Ma'ale Adumim, finalized in 1983, encompasses a total of 35 square kilometers, of which 3.7 square kilometers have been built so far, in a bloc that includes Ma'ale Adumim, Mishor Adumim, Kfar Adumim, and Allon.

Ma'ale Adumim is mentioned in the Joshua 15:7: The boundary ascended from the Valley of Achor to Debir and turned north to Gilgal, facing the Ascent of Adumim which is south of the wadi. Literally "Red Heights", it takes its name from the red rock lining the ascent from the Dead Sea and the historic people known as the Edomites.

In 2005, the population of Ma'ale Adumim was 33,259. According to CBS figures for 2001, Ma'ale Adumim was 99.8% Jewish. That year, there were 12,700 males and 13,000 females, with 44.1% of the population 19 years of age or younger, 14.2% between 20 and 29, 23.1% between 30 and 44, 12.6% from 45 to 59, 2.1% from 60 to 64, and 3.9% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was 3.3%. The completion of a new neighborhood, temporarily known as 07, will add approximately 15,000 residents. The population is expected to reach 45,000 in the next few years.

According to the CBS, as of 2000, there were 9,965 salaried workers and 660 self-employed. The mean monthly wage in 2000 for a salaried worker in the city is NIS 6,337, a real change of 8.9% over the course of 2000. Salaried males have a mean monthly wage of NIS 8,153 (a real change of 9.0%) versus NIS 4,615 for females (a real change of 6.3%). The mean income for the self-employed is 7,098. A total of 396 people receive unemployment benefits, and 388 receive income supplements.

According to the CBS, there are 14 schools and 5,793 students in the city, although several more have been added in the last few years. Ma'ale Adumim has 10 elementary schools with 3,524 elementary school students, and 7 high schools with 2,269 high school students. 66.9% of 12th graders were awarded a matriculation certificate in 2001. A large portion of Ma'ale Adumim's budget is spent on education. Schools offer after-school programs, class trips, and tutoring where needed. A special program has been developed for new immigrant children. Additional resources are invested in special education and classes for gifted children, including a special after-school program for honors students in science and math.

Ma'ale Adumim is built on land that was stated-owned under the Turks, during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. It remained state-owned under Jordanian occupation prior to 1967. In the Six-Day War, this territory was conquered by Israel, which again classed it as state land, despite claims of ownership by Palestinian residents of Abu Dis. In 1982, the Jahalin Bedouin who had been living on the outskirts of the city were moved to another site. However, many Bedouin enter the city every day and have jobs there.

The Ma'ale Adumim Magen David Adom ambulance squad is responsible for the entire region from the outskirts of Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, and provides care to Palestinian Arabs and Bedouins living in this area.

The Palestinians see Ma'ale Adumim as a threat to the territorial continuity of a future Palestinian state due to its strategic location between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank. This claim is disputed by mayor Benny Kashriel and others, who say that continuity is easily attained by circling Ma'ale Adumim to the east.

Currently, Israeli drivers use a bypass road that exits the city to the west, entering Jerusalem through the French Hill Junction or a new tunnel that goes under Mt. Scopus. These routes were built in the wake of the First and Second Intifadas when Palestinian snipers shot at motorists and cars were stoned. The previous road passes through Azariya and Abu Dis.

In March 2005, a report by John Dugard for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights stated that the "three major settlement blocs - Gush Etzion, Ma'ale Adumim and Ariel - will effectively divide Palestinian territory into cantons or Bantustans." Israel denies these charges, and claims the solution is a by-pass road similar to those used daily by Israelis to avoid driving through hostile Arab areas. Ma'ale Adumim is expected to remain under Israeli control in future agreements with the Palestinian Authority.

The 07 development project in east Ma'ale Adumim was supported by Ariel Sharon in 2005. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev denied the 07 extension plan is a violation of the roadmap peace plan, under which Israel agreed to freeze all building in the settlements.

A project to link Ma'ale Adumim and Jerusalem, known as the E1 project - short for "East 1," as it appears on old zoning maps - has been criticized by the Palestinian Authority and other parties, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US President George W. Bush. The E1 neighborhood, tentatively called Mevaseret Adumim, is slated for completion by 2020, with 3,500-5,000 residential units. The new headquarters for the Judea and Samaria District police, formerly located in the Ras el-Amud neighborhood of Jerusalem, is now under construction there.

The Byzantine monastery of Martyrius, once the most important monastic centre in the Judean Desert in the early Christian era, is located in Ma'ale Adumim. Other archeological sites on the outskirts of Ma'ale Adumim include the Khan el-Ahmar, also known as the Inn of the Good Samaritan (cited in a parable by Jesus, in Luke 10:30-37), and the remains of the Monastery of St. Euthymius. Khan al-Ahmar is a 13th century travelers inn for pilgrims on the route between Jerusalem and Mecca via Nabi Musa. The Monastery of St. Euthymius, built in the 5th century, was destroyed by the Mamluk sultan Baybars.

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