military response to Hezbollah rocket attacks on the Israeli town of Haifa in which eight people died.
In a statement received by BosNewsLife Sunday, July 16, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Middle East said it feared more violence after "rockets fired from Israeli warplanes" landed "close to the Mouseitbeh Adventist School," early Thursday, July 13. The rockets reportedly took out all three runways of Beirut International Airport, the country’s only international airport, and other targets in and around Beirut.
The Adventist church in Lebanon has about 300 members and runs two schools as well as the Middle East University, the regional church’s only institution of tertiary education.
"As a routine precautionary measure expatriate church personnel have been placed on "Low Threat Alert" which is in compliance with the church’s Evacuation Plan document issued by the headquarters office in Cyprus," the church said. "This requires staff to prepare an evacuation/survival kit, maintain close contact with their respective embassies, keep their mobile phones on at all times and appraise us of any fresh developments," said Conrad Vine, secretary-treasurer of the Adventist church in the Middle East.
LARGE BLOCKADE
"Currently there is an air, land and sea blockade enforced, which would make a potential evacuation order more complicated to facilitate," Vine said in remarks distributed by the Adventist Press Service. Among those evacuating this weekend were believed to be Christians in southern Lebanon, controlled by the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah.
In a written statement to BosNewsLife defending the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel has "no interest or desire to hurt the Lebanese or the Palestinian peoples," but that his government "is determined to continue doing whatever is necessary in order to achieve our goals," which include an end to rocket attacks and winning the release of three abducted soldiers.
"This [has been] a very difficult morning for all of us," Olmert said, following the rocket attacks on Haifa, the worst strike against Israel, since it began an offensive against Hezbollah after the group’s captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid last Wednesday, July 12.
At least 10 rockets struck Haifa, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Lebanese border. One of the rockets hit a storage and maintenance area at Haifa’s main railroad station, causing the eight casualties, officials said. Hours later, air raid sirens blared throughout Israel’s third largest city.
"SEVERE BLOWS"
"The severe blows on Haifa follow the murderous attacks on population centers throughout the country," Olmert said. "These attacks are designed to hurt civilians because this is Hezbollah’s criminal war against Israel and its residents."
Tensions also remain high in Gaza, where the militant group Hamas was involved in kidnapping one Israeli soldier. About 100 Lebanese, mostly civilians, have died since fighting broke out. The death toll of Israeli civilians is at least 12, news reports said. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora called Israel a "criminal machine" and appealed to the United Nations to broker an immediate ceasefire.
Israel’s government countered that the Lebanese government has so far refused to crackdown on Hezbollah by sending the Lebanese army into the southern areas. Since Saturday, Israel hit the Beirut seaport and the northern city of Tripoli for the first time, and also bombed buildings used by Hezbollah in Beirut and Baalbek. "Nothing will deter us, whatever far-reaching ramifications regarding our relations on the northern border and in the region there may be," Olmert added in the statement obtained by BosNewsLife.
He said there was no other choice as Hezbollah, which means ‘Party of God’ is dedicated to eliminating Israel and has formally advocated ultimate establishment of Islamic rule in Lebanon. Hezbollah was founded in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The group has "several thousand supporters and a few hundred terrorist operatives," the US State Department says.
CHRISTIANS PRAY
Several Christian groups have been praying for Israel, which is now fighting at two fronts in Gaza and Lebanon.
At the same time rights groups, including Open Doors, have expressed concern the strikes may increase anti-Christian sentiments in predominantly Muslim areas in Gaza as well as in Lebanon. Christians are often seen as more "pro-Israel" and pro-Western by Muslim militants. (Stay with BosNewsLife for continuous coverage. With reports from Israel, Lebanon, BosNewsLife News Center and BosNewsLife Research).
