WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2006  2:30 PM
 

Shalom from Jerusalem,

Fierce ground clashes between Israeli and Hizbullah forces have broken out for the first time in the week long conflict, occurring just north of the Israeli Galilee town of Safed near Moshav Avivim.  There are unconfirmed reports at this hour of two Israeli army deaths in the intense fighting, with others wounded. This came after a small IDF ground force crossed the international border earlier in the day to directly confront nearby Hizbullah fighters.  As I stated yesterday, some sort of cross-border operation seemed imminent as more reserve units were being called up to free regular soldiers for such operations.  A much larger operation to clear Hizbullah fighters from the border zone is expected by many analysts in the coming days.  

Further west, another Hizbullah rocket barrage struck the port city of Haifa and other areas this morning, directly hitting one apartment building and sending a huge plume of gray smoke over Israel’s third largest city.  However the attack caused no deaths since building residents had either already fled the city or had rushed to nearby bomb shelters. Two people were lightly wounded from shrapnel elsewhere as dozens of rockets came crashing down. Around 1,000 Hizbullah rockets have struck Israeli territory in the last week—the largest barrage upon Israeli population centers since the 1967 Six Day war.

Meanwhile at a special security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem this morning, senior government ministers decided to continue on with the military campaign until two captured Israeli soldiers are released and the Iranian and Syrian backed Shiite group stops firing rockets into Israel.  This was the official statement issued after the cabinet session:   "The intensive fighting against Hizbullah will continue, including attacks on Hizbullah infrastructure and command posts, its operational abilities, its armaments, and the leadership of the organization."  This comes as army officials say they estimate they will need at least another 10 to 14 days to effectively destroy Hizbullah’s fighting capability.  After the cabinet session, it was announced that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Jerusalem this coming Sunday.

Action also intensified today along Israel’s other war front in the Gaza Strip and north of Jerusalem.  The army crossed again into central Gaza in search of a captured soldier being held in the area. The operation involved at least 30 armored vehicles, mostly tanks. Five IDF soldiers were wounded in the initial phase of today’s operation.  Several Palestinian rockets were fired into Israeli territory once again from the Gaza Strip.  Meanwhile officials said that a rocket fired yesterday that landed near a western Negev kibbutz was a new and more lethal version of the Palestinian Kassam rockets that have struck Israeli territory hundreds of times in recent months.  It was identified as a Grad-type rocket.  In Nablus north of Jerusalem, three Palestinian fighters were reportedly killed in clashes with IDF troops who surrounded a building where various militants were believed to be holed up.  

As I wrote yesterday, I am scheduled to be interviewed on the prophetic possibilities of the ongoing conflict live via satellite on the Lesea television network Harvest program. That is broadcast at 9:00 AM EST, or 6:00 AM PST.  However the international time I gave out on Tuesday was incorrect.  It should read 13:00 GMT.  That interview can be viewed live via their web site, www.lesea.com   Click on the “view” bottom under the WHT satellite tag on the left of their home page.  

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DAVID DOLAN is a Jerusalem-based author and journalist who has lived in Israel since 1980.  His new DVD, titled “FOR ZIONS’S SAKE—REPORTING FROM THE LAND OF THE BIBLE,” is now available on both PAL and NTCS versions.  Details are posted at his web site, www.ddolan.com