Did Israel use uranium-based weapons in southern Lebanon.

Did Israel use a secret new uranium-based weapon in southern Lebanon this summer in the 34-day assault that cost more than 1,300 Lebanese lives, most of them civilians?

We know that the Israelis used American “bunker-buster” bombs on Hizbollah’s Beirut headquarters. We know that they drenched southern Lebanon with cluster bombs in the last 72 hours of the war, leaving tens of thousands of bomblets which are still killing Lebanese civilians every week. And we now know - after it first categorically denied using such munitions - that the Israeli army also used phosphorous bombs, weapons which are supposed to be restricted under the third protocol of the Geneva Conventions, which neither Israel nor the United States have signed.

Lebanese blogosphere some of us are still here…

BEIRUT: For all its brutal destruction, the war that erupted in Lebanon this summer provoked a stunning amount of productive, creative activity in a most unexpected place: the Lebanese blogosphere. Trapped in the country and wary of the mainstream media coverage of the war, dozens of Lebanon-based bloggers took to the Internet and began publishing their own accounts of the siege, conveyed in anecdotes, musings, photographs, video footage and drawings. The result was a truly 21st-century war, its agony narrated personally and interactively for inquisitive Internet users everywhere - including in Israel.

2 dead because of damaged bridge in Lebanon…

 

BEIRUT: A young mother and her 1-year-old baby son were killed on Saturday as their car plunged off a badly damaged bridge in the Bekaa Valley. According to police reports, the father, who was at the wheel of the car, and their 5-year-old daughter were taken to hospital at Taanayel, both sustaining critical injuries.

A second incident involving Israeli fighter planes in Lebanon..

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologizes Sunday evening to a German parliamentary delegation for the misunderstandings last week between the Israel Defense Forces and German naval forces off the Lebanon coast. Olmert spoke during a 40-minute meeting in Jerusalem with a senior parliamentary delegation from the party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Earlier Sunday, Germany said on its navy, which is patrolling the Lebanese coast as part of an international peacekeeping force, had been involved in a second incident involving Israeli fighter planes. The Defense Ministry said it occurred on Thursday and involved a German navy helicopter and Israeli F-16 fighters. Previous Incident Peretz: Israel didn’t fire at German ship / Efrat Weiss Defense Minister Amir Peretz denies report that two IAF jets fired shots towards German vessel off shores of Lebanon. Peretz speaks with his German counterpart, guarantees him Israel will not attack country’s ships Full story “We are aware of the episode, but it was not menacing,” The spokesman said, after the Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported the Israeli planes had “dangerously badgered” The helicopter. The spokesman said the area was used by the Israeli air force for training, adding: “Perhaps other standards apply for them than for us.” On Wednesday, Israel denied a German newspaper report that two of its air force planes had fired twice as they flew over a German navy ship patrolling the Lebanon coast. But it did say jets had been scrambled when a helicopter took off from a German aircraft carrier without identifying itself. Germany confirmed at the time that that an incident had occurred, but gave no details. It subsequently received assurances from Defense Minister Amir Peretz that the air force would not carry out any hostile fire or maneuvers around German vessels. German defense minister to visit Israel, Lebanon Germany assumed command of a UN naval force off Lebanon this month, and has sent eight ships and 1,000 service personnel to join the international peace operation in the region. The naval force is charged with preventing weapons smuggling and helping maintain a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hizbullah guerrillas. Meanwhile, the German Defense Minister said Sunday that Germany’s Defense Minister Franz Joseph Jung will go to Israel and Lebanon this week, a trip that follows last week’s incident involving a German ship off the Lebanese coast and Israeli fighter jets. German officials said the Israeli jets fired in the air over a German intelligence-gathering ship in international waters. Israel denies that shots were fired and said the planes approached a helicopter after it took off Tuesday from a German ship without notifying Israeli forces.

Israeli warplanes and navy vessel clash in Lebanon…

BERLIN (Reuters) - Two Israeli warplanes and a German navy vessel have clashed off the Lebanese coast, the Defence Ministry in Berlin said on Wednesday without giving further details.

Germany daily Der Tagesspiegel earlier on Wednesday quoted a junior German defence minister as telling a parliamentary committee that two Israeli F-16 fighters flew low over the German ship and fired two shots.

The jets also released infra-red countermeasures to ward off any rocket attack, the paper quoted him as saying.

The minister did not say when the incident happened or what had caused it, the paper said.

“I can confirm that there was an incident,” a ministry spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday. An investigation was underway and he therefore was unable to provide further information, he added.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was checking the report.

Germany assumed command of a United Nations naval force off the coast of Lebanon 10 days ago and has sent a force of eight ships and 1,000 service personnel to join the international peace operation in the region.

The naval force is charged with preventing weapons smuggling and helping maintain a cease-fire between Israel and radical Lebanese-based Islamic group Hezbollah