Today's Situation

PLUS ÇA CHANGE..., July 12, 2007

For the first time since November 2006, an IDF soldier has been killed in the Gaza Strip. The soldier, who has not been named, was killed on Thursday morning, and two others were lightly hurt, when a bomb exploded near to them in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip. According to the Haaretz website, Hamas' armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, said its militants ambushed the troops as they entered the camp. An IDF spokeswoman said troops were operating in the area to prevent hostile actions against Israel. Palestinian witnesses say 10 tanks, two bulldozers covered by a helicopter raided the camp before dawn Thursday morning. Hamas reports two wounded in the clashes.

The operation continued late into Thursday morning, Israel Radio reported, with the IDF arresting dozens of Palestinians and bringing them into Israel for questioning.

Exactly a year after the start of the Second Lebanon War, three of Israel's leading dailies lead their Thursday edition's with reports that relate - directly or indirectly - to the most controversial conflict in Israel's history.

According to Haaretz, reservists serving along the Israeli-Lebanese border - including those who are serving very close to the point where 8 soldiers were killed an two kidnapped - the situation in the north has not changed and the army is unprepared to thwart any future kidnap attempts.

According to the report, compiled by military correspondent Amos Harel, soldiers from three reserve units that recently completed operational duty in the North complained of equipment malfunctions and shortages, as well as other signs of neglect. In response, IDF said that great efforts have been made to change situation along the border, and tens of millions of shekels have been invested in improving defenses and equipment.

In its lead story, Maariv claims that Hizbollah used weapons that the IDF left behind during the withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 to carry out the July 12 attack that led to the war. According to the paper, details of the revelation will appear in a book about that the publisher is set to issue in the coming weeks.

The Jerusalem Post, meanwhile, carries comments by deputy IDF chief Moshe Kaplinsky, who told military correspondents on Wednesday that while the IDF is concerned about Syria's military build-up, war against Syria over the summer is improbable. He added that a year after the Second Lebanon War, the IDF was fully prepared to counter any attack on the State of Israel - from Syria, Hizbollah, Iran or Hamas.

Arutz 7 notes that 60 members of Peace Now are demonstrating Thursday in Kiryat Shmona, on the Golan Heights, to mark a year since the Second Lebanon War. 'The government must understand that without peace treaties there will never be true quiet in the North,' said Peace Now Chairman Yariv Oppenheimer. 'Only direct negotiations with Syria and Lebanon's leaders will prevent a similar scenario to the one we saw here last summer,' he added.

On the diplomatic front, all the papers report that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will meet on Monday. The meeting is due to take place in Jericho. Israel Radio adds that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to arrive in Israel on Monday or Tuesday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials. It is unclear whether she will attend the Olmert-Abbas meeting.

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