Middle East Inside Line: Hezbollah's "Evidence" on Hariri Assassination; A Nuclear Reactor in Lebanon?

Hezbollah's "Evidence": Two weeks ago, Hezbollah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accused Israel of being behind the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. He claimed aerial surveillance tapes showed Israeli intelligence had been tracking Hariri's movements before his death in a truck bomb explosion.

On Tuesday, UN-appointed prosecutor Daniel Bellemar, said that the "evidence", six DVDs that Nasrallah had already submitted, was "incomplete". "This can properly be done only if it is based on a complete record," Bellemare said.

Nuclear Reactor in Lebanon?: Referring to the country's electricity crisis, Nasrallah urged the Lebanese government on Tuesday to draw conclusions from current problems: Beirut should follow in Tehran's footsteps and build a nuclear reactor to Iran's Bushehr plant. Nasrallah added:

The cost of building the Bushehr reactor was less than Lebanon's investment in the electricity network. I call on the government to build a nuclear reactor to generate electricity, and then we can also sell energy to Syria, Cyprus, and other countries in the region.

On the same day, a clash between supporters of the Shi’ite Hizbullah and a Sunni conservative group killed at least three and wounded several others. It was reported that Muhammad Fawaz, the local Hizbullah commander in Bourj Abu Haidar, was slain along with his subordinate Ali Jouaz.

Gaza Latest (20 August): Aid Ship Mariam to Sail on Sunday?, UN Report on Gaza Restrictions, & Hamas v. Fatah

Will Mariam Sail to Gaza?: As Palestine Today reported Thursday that an aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip had departed from Algeria, the organizers of the Lebanese ship Mariam said that they plan to set sail from Lebanon on Sunday.

One of the organisers, Samar al-Hajj, said:

All on board were instructed to carry details of their blood groups in case they need blood transfusions in the event of being attacked by Israeli forces.

There are nuns, doctors, lawyers, journalists, Christian and Muslim women on board.

Gaza: UN Releases Report on War “No Judgement”
Turkey’s Israel “Problem”: Analysing the Supposed Threat from Washington (Yenidunya)

The Cypriot ambassador to Lebanon, Kyriacos Kouros, told The Associated Press that the Mariam will be turned back when it reaches Cyprus. Kouros said:

We decided that such a ship will not be allowed to enter Cyprus and if such a Gaza-bound ship docks in a Cypriot port the crew and the passengers will be deported to their country of origin.

Hajj's response was sharp and clear: "We are not children who can be told to stay home."

UN Criticism on Gaza: A report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) states that Israel Defense Force restrictions on Palestinian access to farmland on the Gazan side of the Israeli-Gaza border, as well as to fishing zones along the Gaza beach, over the last 10 years have affected about 178,000 individuals directly, in addition to causing millions of dollars in losses.

The report was based on more than 100 interviews and focus group meetings, as well as analysis of data gathered from other sources. The report says that 17% of Gaza lands and 85% of beachfront zone have been restricted. Live fire has killed 22 people and wounded 146 who entered restricted zones since the end of Operation Cast Lead in January 2009. OCHA estimated some $308 million has been lost.

Israel's official position is that the restriction zones are to prevent rocket attacks.

Hamas Targets Fatah: In response to a series of decisions taken by the Palestinian Authority, including banning the recitation of the Koran over mosque loudspeakers ahead of  the call to prayer, shutting down hundreds of centers for teaching the Koran, and firing hundreds of mosque imams Hamas accused Ramallah on Tuesday of "waging war on Islam and Allah". Hamas claimed the decision to ban the Koran recitation had been taken at the request of Jewish settlers who complained about the loud noise from the minarets.

However, the Palestinian Authority said all the centres were being used as bases and meeting places for Hamas supporters and the fired imams were affiliated with the Islamist movement.

Turkey Inside Line: Ankara's Ramadan Message to Israel, Chemical Weapons against Kurds, Relations with Iran, and Turkey's Gaza Probe

Ankara's Ramadan Message to Israel: On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wished all Muslims an "easy" month of Ramadan. Although this message was meant for the Palestinians, the first response came from Ankara. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, Justice and Development Party (AKP), excluded Israel's envoy Gabi Levi from the guest list for Eid al-Fitr, the annual dinner marking the end of Ramadan.

AK party chairman of foreign relations committee, Omer Çelik, said:

The reason for not inviting the Israeli ambassador is not on a personal level but rather a symbolic act against Israel's policies.

Anyone who is unjust or inequitable can not pass the threshold of the Justice and Development party’s headquarters.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry's response came quickly:

Once again it appears that Erdogan is initiating an escalation and searching for it. We will behave responsibly and not be pulled into the Turkish sword dance.

Ankara "Used Chemical Weapons": A report from Hamburg University Hospital concludes that eight PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) members killed last September were murdered by “the use of chemical substances.”

MPs from Germany's Christian Democratic Union party and the Green party have been pressuring the government to take an action against Turkey.

MP Andrej Hunko urged the German Foreign Ministry to file a complaint with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague.

Turkish-Iranian Relations: After Brasil signed a decree that the country will abide by United Nations sanctions against Iran, Ankara has decided to continue its close relationship with Tehran.

On Wednesday, Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said that the country will support gasoline sales by Turkish companies to Iran, despite U.S. sanctions.

Tupras, Turkey's sole refiner and gasoline exporter, which buys 33 percent of its crude from Iran, declined to say whether the company had traded with Tehran. However, a Tupras official said, "For us, Iran is more important than America, because we get crude oil from them. We don't get anything from America."

Meanwhile, Ankara denied a report in Italian daily Corriere Della Sera that it will "send sophisticated weapons, rockets and guns to Syria that will end up in Lebanon", with the Iranian army delivering weapons to Hezbollah. Ankara denied these rumours.

"The claims mentioned are without basis," said a senior foreign ministry official.

Turkey's Own Probe: On Thursday, the AFP news agency reported that Turkey had set up its own inquiry into Israel's raid on the Freedom Flotilla on 31 May.

AFP says PM's Office will "investigate the attack and the treatment the activists faced" and present its findings to the United Nations committee of enquiry. committee.

On the same day, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu again blamed Israel:

No one else can take the blame for killing civilians in international waters. Israel has killed civilians, and should take the responsibility for having done so.

Gaza Latest: Mariam to Sail to Gaza?, Israel Sends Ships to Turkey and More Flotillas on the Way?

Another Friction between Israel and Lebanon?: Mariam, the Lebanese ship that was to set sail towards Gaza several weeks ago, was expected to start its mission last weekend. What makes this ship different from other flotillas is that it is full of women.

"They are nuns, doctors, lawyers, journalists, Christians and Muslims," said Mona, one of the participants who, along with the other women, has adopted the ship's name, Mariam.

The co-ordinator of the voyage, Samar al-Haj, told The Guardian this week the Lebanese government had given permission for the boats to leave for Cyprus, the first leg of the journey.

However, we haven't heard about the Mariam since Sunday.

More Flotillas on the Way to Gaza?: Having Israel sent three ships including the Mavi Marmara to Turkey, it is reported that the same ships may sail to Gaza again.

Huseyin Oruc, a board member at the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Aid (IHH), which owns the ships, told Reuters TV that if the blockade on Gaza continued, the boats may take part in another mission. He continued:

If the problem is not solved, many flotillas ... will sail to Gaza. If necessary, these boats can also be used for this.

We have purchased these three boats for Palestinian needs. If it is necessary, we can use easily use them. These boats are humanitarian boats.

Oruc also said that the ships had been painted and repaired to hide evidences. He continued:

Thousands of bullets hit the boat, and it was damaged everywhere. When they captured the boats, the Israelis hid all of this proof on the outside of the boat. They have been repaired and were painted.

A New Convoy to Gaza: A convoy of hundreds of vehicles and flotilla of ships are expected to leave from London in September. In the website of the group, they said:

The London expedition will merge with two other land convoys, from Casablanca in Morocco and Doha in the Gulf, in a 500-vehicle convoy through Egypt into Gaza’s Rafah crossing. Simultaneously, a sea flotilla carrying aid will approach the shoreline of Gaza.

Lebanon-Israel Update: UN Support for West Jerusalem; Washington's Dilemma over Beirut

On Wednesday, a Lebanese source told the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar that the Lebanese Army was first to open fire in Tuesday's clash with Israel Defense Forces. However, the source also stated that it was their right "to defend Lebanon's sovereignty", implying that Israeli soldiers were on the Lebanese side of the borderline.

Israel, in an official letter of complaint to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, asserted that IDF soldiers did not cross the border. An official with the United Nations peacekeeping force, UNIFIL, later said that the Israeli units were in their territory, and Milos Strugar, UNIFIL's senior political advisor, added that UN deals "with complaints on provocations of Lebanese soldiers against IDF units on a daily basis".

Meanwhile, the US Government finds itself caught between its ally Israel and the need to bolster Saad Hariri's "moderate" government and a Lebanese army which is to be distinguished from Hezbollah militants.

Middle East Inside Line: Israel’s Lebanon Message, Hezbollah’s Response, Livni Challenges Netanyahu

On Tuesday,Washinigton's "we don't want to see this happen again" response was criticised by West Jerusalem as "neutral". The next day, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that the firing by Lebanese armed forces on Israeli troops was "totally unjustified and unwarranted" while calling on both sides to show restraint and urging the United Nations to oversee a calming of the crisis:

We appreciate the work of the United Nations both in the meeting today and creating the cease-fire yesterday. We're going to be working intensively to see that tensions along this border are eased.

However, the Obama Administration might have some friction from Congress over military aid to Lebanon. For 2010, the US approved $100 million in assistance to the Lebanese military, as well as $109 million in economic aid and $20 million in anti-narcotics funds. The amount of aid for 2011 is approximately the same.

Talking to The Jerusalem Post, Florida Representative Ron Klei said "the continued support of the Lebanese Army" will "come up in conversations in the Congress". Klei added:

If in fact it’s factually shown that this was a Lebanese government authorized action, I think a lot of members would be very concerned about continuing to provide military support to Lebanon. I certainly would be.

However, even Klei admitted that hostility to Lebanon might be overtaken by the need to maintain a pro-American government in Beirut: 

It doesn’t mean there’s going to be a certain reduction, because unfortunately for that region it’s the lesser of two evils. We’d much rather work with the army than Hezbollah.