I wish I could feel more sorry for the people of Lebanon, but for all of the comments about how bad things are there I see a large number of people who have access to the internet to complain. I wonder how that happens.

Face it, if you had not permitted Hezbollah to shoot rockets into Israel for six years over an internationally recognized border; if you had not accepted them into your government; if you had not cheerfully sat by while Israeli children were murdered by the terrorists whom you nutured in your bosom, then Israel would not have had to defend itself.

If you are sorry now, then WHERE ARE OUR KIDNAPPED CHILDREN???? You are holding two soldiers who are our children and we want them back. It is time for Lebanon to feel a little of the despair and anguish which we have suffered at your hands for so long.

The man makes a good point...

I want to thank ABC for putting out this web site. I have not experinced this situation before but now i have and it is because my wife is in lebanon. I was born in Africa of lebanese parents and went to lebanon for the first time in my life 2 years ago and i fell in love with the place never in my life i tought i will feel like this. just a few points. I am not a UScitizen but a legal permanent resident so i cannot get my wife out and now with the bombing to the north is now causing problems for my wife and my inlaws who are elderly people whom are always in need of medical attiantion.

I am doing the best i can to get my wife out of lebanon temporarily but no luck yet.

Well let us all pray that things will get better and that peace prevail and that God will put love in our hearts so we can get along with one another.

Thanks and may God the almighty bless all of us.

No doubt Israel has had a terrible time with Hezbollah in the last six years and it's people have always had my sympathies.
But also in the last six years Israel has imprisoned and killed more Arabic people than Hezbollah or the whole lot of terrorist groups have killed Israelis and in the last three weeks Israel has killed more Lebanese children and destroyed more civilian needed infrastructure than any terrorist group has done to Israel in the that whole span of six years.
With a pre-current offensive kill ratio of 4 to 1 and now working well beyond the declared objective of self defense against Hezbollah, the people of Lebanon (and not Hezbollah) are being bombarded back into the stone age.
It's very hard, with any amount of sympathy I've had for Israel to see them as the victim when they have delivered their own bloody terrorism to the people of Lebanon (again not Hezbollah) for three weeks and have shown no regard for the lives of the innocent people and their children or any reasonable future and recovery for the survivors.
An organized state military preying on civilians is every bit a terrorist group as any "official" terrorist group might be....they just have more people willing to do the killing and a bigger budget to use in doing so.
Shame on you Israel.
And shame on my country for it's double standards.
Saddam didn't cause one third of the death and destruction to Kuwait as what is taking place against the civilians of Lebanon and yet our soldiers were on the ground and driving back the Iraqi bullies...Bud now?
In spite of the carnage that goes well beyond that Kuwait was subjected to, our leadership does nothing at all.
Nothing at all.
It's not a good time for Israelis or Americans to be proud.

Irit,
The two captured soldiers were not children,per se. They were military trained adults.
But even given the latitude to call them children...whether it were the two who were captured or the hundreds of Lebanese children who have been needlessly slaughtered without Israel so much as making eye contact with them to do so, they are all,...all of our children. And more importantly they are God's children.
Israel has now become as Hezbollah and no better because neither of them can recognize that as far as the children are concerned we are all one family.

Please help us, we are dying in several ways, at least help us not to die in hospitals !!!!

its a shame

What I remember as the start of this thing this time, was Hezbolla had captured two Israeli soldiers and wanted to negotiate with Israel about an exchange of prisoners. According to what I read, some of the prisoners held by Israel were women. I also read that Israel has over 9000 prisoners from Lebanon and Gaza. I don't know anything other than what I read, but I don't really understand why Israel refused to negotiate and instead started such a severe reaction. To me, unless there's a lot more going on that is not in print, it would seem much more humane to have at least tried to negotiate. I'm also confused as to how bombing another country to pieces can do anything except cause even more anger and eventually retaliation. Not to mention, people usually side with the underdog, and this is making Israel look like the bully. Whenever people see a lot of dead little kids, it never looks justified. Like the Oklahoma bombing. It was the little kids that died that horrified the world and made the bombers into hated monsters!! There seems to me more here than anyone is writing about. Something is fishy!!
And, of the thousand or so bombs dropped on Israel by Hezbolla, how can there have been so little destruction? Are they cherry bombs? Also, why is it every time people in Lebanon die, it's always mostly women and children? Aren't there any men in Lebanon? And, why is the whole world just sitting back watching all of this and acting like they are "working" "so hard" on a cease fire? It seems that it's only directed at Israel, does that mean that if Israel stops, Hezbolla will simply stop, too? If Hezbolla are terrorists, and nobody is of course talking to them, why does anyone think all that has to be done is to satisfy Israel and that will stop all of this? What if Hezbolla doesn't like the "agreement"? Then, what? Seriously, what will Hezbolla actually do? Will they simply blend back into the woodwork and come back another day? Is there anything that is being done to make sure that won't happen, other than trying to bomb every inch of Lebanon? Because obviously, they want something, and they have wanted it for a while. What is it?
There must be some way to have all parties live peacefully, other than applying brute force, which obviously doesn't work. Everyone needs to stop the killing and make concessions, I think.

This is no place to determine who is right and who is wrong. Israel might be acting in self defense, but self defense DOES NOT INCLUDE PUNISHING THE SICK AND CHILDREN FOR SOMETHING THAT IS OUT OF THEIR HANDS. It is one of those simple things that do not need much discussion. If a hospital needs fuel, it needs fuel. If it does not get fuel (and AUH is not the only hospital running out of fuel) people start dying. Who wants to have that on their conscience?

What ever the rights and wrongs of whether Israel should be in Lebanon - nothing can condone what is happening to the hospitals and children who are the victims of this insane world we all live in!

what we are seeing now is not only a loss for the lebanese people but for the whole world... im lebanese and i have the canadian nationality and i've never seen in my life such a beautiful and charming country, such courageous people who have a dream of simply living peacefully on their land away from all the eyes on us... all we asked for was a chance and thats what we get.Children dying, people homeless, fear in the air, teens feeling hopeless for there future... Im against israel and against huzballah and thats what most of lebanese people think. Protecting civilians and providing fuel for humanitarians need are a duty to all the countries who "beleive" in human rights.
We will survive...

Put concisely:
Israel is no longer currently attacking lebanon to punish it for it's sins of the past.
Israel is attacking Lebanon in such a way as to destroy it's hope for a future.

Enough.
Enough is enough.
The devil is in the details.
Now with respect to the children caught in this conflict, an example must be set by those of us who are old enough to read, type, report, challenge hypocrisy. In sum, we must draw an exemplary line, one we all and the children can understand and live squarely by: always treat people as people.
Bring in the fuel, support a stage for the meaningful negotiators, question, report,and above all, Stop The Madness. NOW.

Let the fuel get in, there's no reason to let thousands die for a "Total destruction" War.None has the right to kill innocent people alive.

I must say I found many of the posts to be quite interesting, and I strongly agree with Linda's, specifically.
Israel sure seems to have a broader plan..
Come to think of it, Israel could've prevented this whole thing. Instead, it only purposely accumulated time and events in order to seemingly have enough reason to justify such a strong offensive.
The 1st post here was by an Israeli, who said something that seemed logical too.
He or she was talking about how it's the Lebanese government's fault and responsibility, and that is because it had permitted Hizbollah to not only grow inside the lebanese society and government, but also to fire rockets constantly at Israeli towns, thus causing damage despite the Blue line (the internationally recognized border). Israel does have a right to DEFEND herself, true. While this is simple math to an outsider, one has to consider what Hizbollah really is, and how much power they hold. They are supported by over 1 million Shiites, besides the financial and material support from Iran and Syria. Those people are powerful, and we all agree they should have their power lessened. But that is simply not the way of doing it. Let's not forget the Lebanese government is a fragile one, powerless, young, inexperienced. And not all Lebanese people support Hizbollah to start with.. Christians are seriously deranged by them, and some Lebanese want nothing better than getting rid of them. But again, that is not the way of doing it. You simply cannot ignore something that big, nor can you fight it without consequences. The best way would be to work with them, and be smarter than them by channeling their power, and taking all logical and legitimate reason that gives them power.


Look at it this way:
Hizbollah claims that Israel still occupies Lebanon in the Shebaa farms, and claims that that is the only reason of its existence, given it is a resistance force.
Now tell me why didn't Israel opt for the easier way around, which is pulling out from the Shebaa farms, be it Syrian or Lebanese, thus giving no reason for Hizbollah to even EXIST?
Instead, they stayed in Shebaa, gave Hizbollah a reason to keep firing northern Israel,
and, it has to be said, Israel has constantly over the 6 last years violated international norms, by crossing the blue line, by flying over Lebanese airspace..etc/

This brings me back to my point that Israel (backed by the US evidently) has a broader plan. They wanted to keep Hizbollah up and running, and in my opinion for a bunch of reasons.
The most obvious one is to justify a direct attack on Hizbollah, aiming to annihilate the group once and for all. I personally think it is a foolish and naive way of dealing with an extremist group. Those people are an ideology. Destroying all Hizbollah infrastructure and supplies does not mean erasing them. It only means intensifying attacks and frankly giving Hizbollah reason to be even more dangerous.

So tearing the reasons of Hizbollah to even exist is established.
Consider Israel wanted an even more direct way of erasing the group, why not respect the "law of war" which is basically the rule of proportionality.. Why are Lebanese people (different from Hizbollah) paying the price of Operation Annihilating Hizbollah Foolishly? Why are children, and please let's not differentiate between Muslim, Christian or Jewish children, dying? Why are so many innocents paying the price? I know war inevitably takes innocent lives, but that is more than just incident casualties. Destroying the ecosystem is another inexcusable thing. Cutting off power and supplies from hospitals is inexplicable. We could go on forever..
I'm not saying Israel isn't suffering from attacks too. It's just not enduring a full brought-on war, in every sense.

Let's see in the coming episodes what Israel and the US have to suprise the world even more..

I will leave politics to people in power. But we, as human beings, should understand that war is never a solution. We should learn to live together the same way we lived for centuries before any superficial declaration of state or whatever.
People in hospitals should be provided with care, and should be aside from the mad conflict. They are powerless, and under the merci of God.
Any preventive measures against Hospitals is a barbarian act, and should face serious consequences.
The situation with the American University of Beirut is no exception and should be delt responsibly and as soon as possible.
It is the duty of everyone, which is in a better shape then those in hopitals, to help his brother in need. We are all powerless in front of God. Being the lovely creatures that we are, we should behave responsibly and help people in position less favorable than us.
I ask everyone to raise this issue so that people responsible respond immediately and humanitarely.
PEACE.

The United States,the largest, most well funded, best armed and trained military in the history of mankind hasn't been able to reign in the Taliban in Afghanistan or the resistance in Iraq for several years now. Truth be known the US has never been able to even stop violent, gang related crime on their own streets! Israel, an equally formidable world military presence hasn't been able to reign in Hamas or Fatwa or Hezbollah for years either. Even their current dominance and demolition of Lebanon has had no effect to this end. In fact Hezbollah is more difiant and combative now than ever.
Yet The Israeli and US governments want a devastated Lebanon (whose military was never a match for Hezbollah in the first place) to reign in Hezbollah as a pre-condition to any remote hope of a cease fire or peace talks in order to end Israel's steady bombardment of non-military targets populated by and depended upon for civilian survival.
Why don't they just end the charde and demand that the Lebanese government touch the moon as a pre-requisit to a cease fire. That would be equally achievable...or not!
It is hardly the first time unreasonable and unrealistic demands were made to buy whatever time was needed to carry out an agenda unencumbered, while hiding behind claims that their opposition simply wasn't cooperative, although that "cooperation" was beyond anyone's ability to deliver it.
We've seen years of it just between Israel and the Palestinians within Israel's borders.
It's the oldest trick in the book.
By the way…how are things in Gaza these days?

Disgust and Shame are the only words I can find to describe what I feel about this whole situation.
I don't even know where to start... All those governments in the west, east (including Lebanon and Israel) are acting like they are playing a board game, as if their decisions had no consequences. And we call this the Elite of our planet to take the decision to just wait and watch what is happening in this crisis... And all those country that are being congratulated like France, UK, Italy, and Spain to name a few because they are condemning the Israeli attacks are a bunch of hypocrites. They might as well just keep quiet. So far all I see are talks and no actions...
I've always thought that things happen for a reason but could never explain the reason for all the natural catastrophes like hurricane, tsunami and earthquakes but in this case the explanation is simple we are governed by a bunch of stupid greedy Muppets, we "elected"...
When will it all stop? God help us all...

Dear all
politics is as dirty as war..
and war does not differentiate these days between the real military targets and innocent people. In Fact, people "playing" the war (game) see the targets as if they're playing a computer game. They don't give a damn about whoever is within this target or close to it. In view of this savage situation and emotionless world, we can at least try to help those who are still alive. Please, please, please get the fuel to the all hospitals...for God sake

its quite obvious now that Israel is at war with the lebanese people not just hezbollah.. its after a huminatarian crisis in Lebanon

What a shame! The Lebanese people have suffered enough. This humanitarian act needs to happen!

This is a critical situation affecting one of the oldest and most prominent American institutions in the Middle East. If the AUB Medical Center goes down due to lack of fuel, it will be the signal of the canary dying in the mine. When that happens, civilians will start dying on a massive scale, far beyond just the war injured. All manner of "preventable deaths" will escalate, from even simple "treatable" medical conditions, to the very real threats of starvation, dehydration and water borne illnesses, as food delivery, refrigeration, and water treatment also halt. Hospitals struggle to stay in operation, generating their own electricity, at a time when it was recently costing roughly 250 British pounds (or $500) to fill up a car with a tank of gas. This is an urgent news story that deserves to be told now, not held until these events unfold before our eyes to our great alarm, and "surprise." The canary now lies, gasping, on the floor of his cage.

NOTHING justifies keeping vital fuel and other supplies away from a hospital. Please continue to publicise this story.

Let's see repeated articles on Beirut hospitals under duress....for God's sake, it's a war.

Israel is not deliberately stopping or harming humanitarian supplies to the Lebanese. Yes, there is infrastructure damage - the same infrastructure that Hezbollah uses to re-supply - that was a normal consequence of disrupting the terrorists.

The terrorists are using citizens as human shields in Lebanon. That's how they operate everywhere. If you want relief for the Lebanese, then hope that Israel can finally remove them from Lebanon, where most of the population wants them and Syria out of their lives.

It's amazing the cluelessness and illogic of some commentors here.

this is scary, something needs to be done right away

Situations like these are just one of the many examples of the horrible domino effects a war has on a country, no matter how "justified" the war may seem in principle. The bottom line is that it is always the innocent that suffer the most as they have nothing to gain from a war, but much to lose.

You must cover this story on ABC, consequences of the embargo on Lebanon are catastrophic, literaly strangulating the country, we shall not kneel however...

Please cover this story on the nightly news. The American people need to know the impact of this tragedy on the civilians of Lebanon so they can understand how the innocent are impacted by this war. The real news of this conflict lies in the tragedy that this story converys; not in how many rockets were fired by Hezebollah today.

putting the humanitarian obligations to help everyone who is stuck in such quagmire, Israelis and Lebanese, This stern position of Israel and USA defeats every attempt to limit the funadmentalism that is overtaking the region. The USA is losing their freinds in the region. Moderate on all sides, Arab, Israelis and Westerners are now an endangered species.

The lack of fuel in the next few days will make the tragedy in Lebanon even worse. Hospitals will basically shut down and all the injured people will be thrown out. I plead for this issue to be discussed on abc so that the public and media pressure allows the entrance of fuel and the prevention of another catastroph

The Lebanese deserve everything they are getting. Any country that allows a terrorist organization to set up camp in tneir borders should expect exactly what they are getting. At least the Israelis have the decency to drop leaflets telling people to get out.

Hassaine - you expected Israel to NEGOTIATE? What are you smoking over there? Hezbollah, for years has provoked Israel. Consider a mosquito buzzing around your head. You swat it away several times & it keeps coming back. Finally, you get out the spray & kill every bug in sight. Just as you would not endlessly shoo away a buzzing mosquito, so would Israel finally bring out the big guns to swat their tormentors.

It appears that Lebanon has no men. They just have terrorist cowards who have to hide behind women and children. If Lebanon had any real men, they would have dealt with Hezbollah years ago.

My heart aches for the children. However, my heart also aches for the children who are taught to hate non-muslims. They never really have a childhood - they just have a training ground that breeds hate. The parents should be ashamed of themselves. No good parent would allow children to eat, breathe, and sleep the hatred for Israel that these terrorists do. If we could save the children by taking them away from their parents and giving them a decent childhood, free from hate, the world would be a much better place.

WaterBird,

Before you give such a passionate speech on a subject which you give the appearence of having first hand knowledge of, analyze the facts. I will never defend teh actions of Hezbollah, but the fact of the matter is, how do you combat a group that has unlimited weapon stores and gurantee prosperity and protection? your analogy of a buzzing mosquito causes me a lot of concern. The solution you seem to be aiming at is a complete and utter destruction of terrorists and the civilians indiscriminantly. And Lebanon preaches no hatred towards non-muslims. If you actually go to the country, and understand their rich diverse culture depends specifically on cooperation with people of all races and creeds. Like all races, you will have your extremists, but they make up only a fraction of the population. Your gung-ho approach will not solve the extremist situation, but will fuel it further. It is time to let cooler heads prevail, and analyze the true victims here, innocent victims on both the Lebanese and Israeli sides of the conflict.
Has anybody also thought of the fact that once this conflict began, the world forgot about Palestine, and Israel has reclaimed the lands in the Gaza strip and the West Bank they relinqueshed last year... suspicious

Reading some of the comments published on this subject, I am concerned not only about what is happening in the Middle East, but also in the US and the rest of the world. Where are the peace-makers? the moderates? have we become so polarized that we no longer see human suffering? I cry for the innocent on both sides, and if there are hospitals in trouble in Israel, I would want international intervention there too. I am shocked to see that some readers feel that the Lebanese civilians have asked for this. My 86 year old father is a decent man who spent his entire life serving others and is currently lying in a Hospital bed in Lebanon. He does not deserve this war, nor being pushed out of the hospital for lack of fuel. Have some compassion! Hatred has never made the world a better place to live. We need the moderates to end this war!